The following checklist may be helpful in ensuring that your table communicates most effectively and conforms to APA Style and formatting conventions:
- Is the table necessary?
- Does it belong in the print version of the article, or can it go in an online supplemental file?
- Are all comparable tables in the manuscript consistent in presentation?
- Is the title brief but explanatory?
- Does every column have a column head?
- Are all abbreviations explained, as well as special use of italics, parentheses, dashes, boldface, and special symbols?
- Are the notes in the following order: general note, specific note, probability note?
- Are all vertical rules eliminated?
- Are confidence intervals reported for all major point estimates? Is the confidence level - for example, 95% - stated, and is the same level of confidence used for all tables and throughout the paper?
- If statistical significance testing is used, are all probability level values correctly identified? Are asterisks attached to the appropriate table entries only when needed (as opposed to stating exact probabilities)? When used, is a probability level assigned the same number of asterisks in all tables in the same paper?
- If all or part of a copyrighted table is reproduced or adapted, do the table notes give full credit to the copyright owner? Have you received written permission for reuse (in print and electronic form) from the copyright holder and sent a copy of that written permission to the journal editor with the final version of your paper?
- Is the table referred to in text?
The information above is adapted from page 150:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (2009). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
