Endpapers
OUP describes endpapers as optional elements in hardback or case-bound books that may be illustrated. Because endpapers can be obscured or absent in library, paperback, or digital versions, essential images or information should also appear elsewhere.
Endpapers are pages at the front and back of a hardback/case-bound book that may carry maps, figures, or other artwork. Essential information should not exist only there.
Key details
Important caveats
Access Boundary
["Do not place essential information only on endpapers; OUP warns that they may be obscured or omitted in other formats or library copies."]
Scope Boundary
["Endpapers are format- and production-dependent, not a universal requirement for books or digital editions."]
Further guidance
Practical Application
Use endpapers for appropriate decorative, illustrative, or supplementary matter in a case-bound book, following the publisher’s production rules. Do not put information there if readers must have it to understand or use the work.
Purpose
["Use endpapers for supplementary visual material or design treatment at the ends of a case-bound book."]
Reader Check
Would losing access to the endpapers make the main text incomplete or unusable?
Worked Example
A map that enriches a travel history may appear on endpapers, but required safety instructions or essential references should also appear in the accessible main content.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Front and end matter — Oxford Academic (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · OUP book-workflow guidance for forewords, prefaces, half-title/frontispiece, epigraph, illustration/map lists, contributors, reader notes and endpapers