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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/6738
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have to write a scientific paper for a university course. As far as I know, and as far as I have ever seen, tables and figures are always inserted at the top of a page, instead of at the exact position in the middle of the text, allowing for a few lines above, below or between the tables. As far as I have heard, that is the scientific standard; it keeps the text together and more readable; the problem that figures are not at the exact same location as before, but maybe on a different page, is made up by the fact that every figure/table has a number, and therefore finding the figure described in the text should not be too hard.

Now I'm in a group with a few other students (I'm responsible for typesetting and compiling our report), who insist they've never heard that, and want me to insert their tables and figures in the middle of the text.

Am I wrong and overreacting, or is there any regulation or standard that wants figures to be at the top of the page (I really have never seen a scientific paper with a text above a figure)? How is that called, such that I can justify and back up my opinion?

Original score: 0