APA Style Manual (p. 195): 7. How to Format & Present Tables

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7th APA Publication Manual

Topics

1. When to use a table?

2. What are the components to be included in a table?

3. Where to place a table in an APA-style paper?

4. How to refer to tables in the text?

1. When to use a table?

  • To present the results of multiple statistical tests or many descriptive statistics, such as, summarizing participant demographic data by presenting group’s exact scores.
    • c.f., A figure would emphasize similarities or differences between groups.

2. What are the components to be included in a table?

  1. Table number: Use Arabic numerals (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3).
    1. One double-spaced line above the table title (in case the table is embedded in the text – see also “Where to place a table in an APA-style paper”).
    2. Flush left (not indented or centered).
    3. Bold.
    4. No period.
    5. Assign the numbers in the order of mentioning the tables.
      1. Tables that appear in appendices follow a different numbering scheme.
    6. Do not label two tables as Table 1A and Table 1B. Number tables separately (e.g., Table 1 and Table 2).
  2. Table title: Give every table a brief but clear and explanatory title.
    1. One double-spaced line below the table number.
    2. Ttle case.
    3. Italic
    4. No period.
    5. Abbreviations that appear in the headings of the body of a table may be parenthetically explained in the table title. For example,
      1. Hit and False-Alarm (FA) Proportions in Experiment 2
      2. Note: Define abbreviations used in the table even if they are also defined in the text (exceptions).
  3. Headings: Must include column headings, including stub heading (the heading for the leftmost column)
    1. Sentence case for all headings in a table.
    2. Center all table headings.
    3. May be singled-spaced, one-and-a-half-spaced, or double-spaced.
    1. Usse singular nouns for all headings including stub headings and collum spanners (e.g., Meausre, Item).
      1. Unless they refer to a group (e.g., Children, Women)
      2. Table spanners may be singular or pulural.
    2. Column heading is a heading that identifies the entries in just one column in the table body.
      1. A column spanner is a heading that covers two or more columns, each with its own column heading.
      2. Therefore, a column spanner would want to be place above the each individual coclumn heading.
        1. Headings stacked in this way are called decked heads.
          1. Often used to avoid repetition in column heads.
          2. If possible, do not use more than two levels of decked heads.
            1. More complex tables may require table spanners.
              1. Table spanner: Heading that covers the entire width of the table body, allowing for futhre divisions within the table when the column headings remain the same.
              2. Table spanners can also be used to combine two tables, provided they have identifical column headings.
    3. Stub column is the leftmost column: Usually lists the major independent or predictor variables.
      1. For stub heading, “Variable” can be used when no other heading is suitable.
        1. Write the entries in the stub column in parallel form.
        2. Number entries in the stub column only in a correlation matrix or when they are referred to by number in the text.
          1. To show subordination within the stubb column, use indentation rather than creating an additional column.
            1. For example, “Male,” “Female” are indented under the heading “Gender.”
              1. Set indentation using the paragraph-formatting feature of your word-processing program rathe than by using the tab key.
              2. In typeset articles, the indentation is equal to one em space; this can be approximaed in draft manuscripts by setting the paragraph indentation to 0.15 in. or inserting an em space fromt he special charaters menu.
  4. Body:
    1. Sentence case for all word entries in the table body.
    2. May be singled-spaced, one-and-a-half-spaced, or double-spaced.
    3. If entries are longer than one line, use a hanging indent of 0.15 in. or one em space.
    4. Center most of the entries.
      1. However, aligning entries flush left is acceptable if it improves readability of longer entries.
        1. In the stub column of the table, center the stub heading and alight the entries flush left beneath it.
        2. If entries in this column are significantly shorter than the stub heading (e.g., single-digit numbers), one can center them.
    5. Decimal Values: Express numerical values to the number of decimal places that the precision of measurement justifies.
      1. If possible, carry all comparable values to the same number of decimal palces.
    6. Empty cells:
      1. When data are not applicable: Leave the cell blank.
        1. Use a general or specific table note if you need to explain why the cell is blank.
      2. When data were not obtained: Insert a dash in that cell.
        1. Use a general note to explain the use of the dash.
    7. Citations in Tables: Use the formats described in Section 8.11.
      1. Use & for the word “and.”
  5. Notes: Three types of notes (general, specific, and probability) appear below the table to supplement or clarify information in the table body. Notes are optional.
    1. General Note: Qualifies, explains, or provides information relating to the table as a whole and explains any abbreviations, symbols, special use of italics, bold, or parentheses, etc.
      1. It can include any acknowledgments that a table is reprinted or adapted from another source.
      2. Explanations of abbreviations and copyright attributions for reprinted or adapted tables appear at the end of the general note, in that order.
      3. [Format] Italicized Note. follwed by a period, followed by non-italicized contents that end with a period.
    2. Specific Note: Refers to a particular column, row, or cell.
      1. Indicated by superscript lowercase letters (e.g., a , b , c ).
      2. Within each table that has specific noes, order the superscripts from left to right and from top to bottom, starting at the top left and beginning with the letter “a.” The corresponding specific note below the table begins with the same superscript letter.
        1. Place a superscript space before the superscript letter in the table body (e.g., Group a).
        2. Place a superscript space after the superscript letter in the specific note. For example,
          1. a n = 25, b This participant did not complete the trials.
    3. Probability Note: Use when it is difficult to report exact p values in a table.
      1. for example, * p < .05, ** p < .01, and *** p < .001.
      2. In general, do not use any p value smaller than .001.
      3. Daggers are sometimes used to indicate non-significant trends (e.g., †p < .10) or to distinguish between one-tailed and two-tailed tests.
      4. [Format]
        1. In a table body, position asterisks and daggers immediately after the entries they belong to, with no space in between (e.g., .02*).
        2. In the probability note, place asterisks and daggers immediately before the p, with no space in between (e.g., *p < .002).
      5. One-tailed vs. two-tailed tests: Use an asterisk for the two-tailed p values and an alternative symbol (e.g., dagger) for the one-tailed p values, and specify the convention in the probability note. For example,
        1. *p < .05, two-tailed. **p < .01, two-tailed. †p < .05, one-tailed. ††p < .01, one-tailed.
      6. Indicating significant differences between values: To indicate statistically significant differences between two or more table values(e.g., post hoc tests), use lowercase subscript letters.
        1. Explain the use of the subscripts in the table’s general note. For example,
          1. Note. Means sharing a common subscript are not significantly different at α = .01 according to Tukey’s hoestly significant difference procedure.
    4. [Formatting of Notes]
      1. Begin each kind of note (i.e., general, specific, probability) on a new line below the table body in the order of
        1. General note – Specific Note – Probability Note.
          1. Subsequent specific notes or probability notes begin on the same line as the first specific note or probability note, respectively, while being separated by a period and a space.
            1. Lengthy specific notes may be presented on separate lines if this improves readability.
      2. Double-space all table notes, and align all notes flush left.
  6. Use standard abbreviations and symbols for all statistics (e.g., M, SD, SE, F, df, n , p), Greek letters (e.g., α, β, χ2), and units of measurement.
    1. No need to define them in a note.
    2. “no.” for number and “%” for percent can be used without providing a definition.
    3. Other abbreviations should be defined.
      1. Define the abbreviations in the order that they appear in the table, starting at the top left and moving left to right, top to bottom.
  7. Borders and Shading
    1. General guideline:
      1. Use a border at the top and bottom
      2. Beneath column headings (including decked heads) and above column spanners.
      3. To separate a row containing totals or other summary information from other rows, you can use a border.
      4. Do not use vertical borders to separate data, and do not use borders around every cell in a table.
      5. Avoid shading.
        1. To emphasize particular cells, use a specific or probability notes.
        2. Italics or bold may be used with explanation in the general note.
        3. If shading is necessary, explain the purpose in the general note.
  8. Long or Wide Tables
    1. Too-long multipage tables or too-wide multipage tables should repeat the heading row or stub column (leftmost column), respectively, using the automated table-formatting tools of the word-processing program.
      1. If a table is too wide and too long to fit on one page, create separate tables.

3. Where to place a table in an APA-style paper?

  • There are two placement options.
    • Option 1: Place all tables on separate pages after the reference list with each table on a separate page (recommended for publication).
    • Option 2: Embed each table within the text after its first callout.
      • Position the table after a full parargraph, ideally the paragraph where it is first called out.
      • Add a double-spaced blank line between the text and the table.
      • Place the table so that it fits on one page if possible.
      • Put a short table at the beginning or end of a page rather than in the middle.
  • Align all tables with the left margin regardless of where they appear in the paper.

4. How to refer to tables in the text?

When you call out a table, tell readers what to look for in that table. For example,

  • As shown in Table 1, the demographic characteristics…
  • … of the results of the testing (see Table 3).

Here is a link to APA sample tables.

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