Making Journal-Quality
Tables
Nola du Toit
Center for Family and Demographic Research
Spring 2008
Why make tables into journal-quality
tables?


Easier to read

Standard way of presenting findings

Reader does not have to struggle to find information
A presentation of your hard work

Makes your paper (and you) look professional

Example of a bad table….
Sex
Fem a l e
M ale
93%
7%
Race/Ethnicity
African American
White
Hispanic
Native American
47%
29%
22%
2%
Age
Mean Age
Age Range
18-19 years old
20-24 years old
25-34 years old
35- 44 years old
45 and older
36
18-68
3%
11%
38%
18%
30%
Single
Dating
Cohabiting
Married
Multiple Partner Fertility*
Multiple Partner Fertility
Single Partner Fertility
38%
32%
11%
19%
44%
56%
Educational Attainment
Less than or some High School
High School Graduate
Some College/Trade School
College Graduate
25
18
46
22
Employment
Unemployed
Employed (Full- and Part-time)
70%
30%
Think about…

Who is your audience?

What are you presenting?
Who is your audience?

Class paper

Still has to look professional

Tip: Create a shell that you can use for all future work
Who is your audience?

Conference presentations

Make a table to save space

Present only most important results
Who is your audience?

Journal submission

Specific to journals

Check their websites


Manuscript submission guidelines
Look at recent publications
Examples of Journal Preferences

American Sociological Review


e.g. Standard errors, deviations, etc in parentheses under
coefficients, etc…
Criminology

e.g. Table not in text, only space-holder where table would
be, etc…
Think about…

What are you presenting?

Descriptive results

Bivariate, multivariate, etc

Only significant results

Better in graph form?
What all tables should have…
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Title

Reference

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e.g. Table 1a., Table 13….
Be consistent!



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With period/without period in title
Font
Names of variables, etc
Decimals all in line
What all tables should NOT have…

Vertical lines

Bold or italic lettering in the body

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Only okay for titles
Too many numbers behind decimal

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Usually only require two numbers behind the decimal
Include the 0

0.98 not .984357

Example of a good table….
Table 4. Summary of γ, the Effects of Determinants X on the Living-Standards Factor
Item
Demographic Variables for Head
Male
Age
Age Squareda
Head's Education
Completed primary or incomplete secondary
Completed secondary or higher
Completed secondary
Higher
Unknown
Other
Household has electricity
Residence in a small city
Residence in a capital or large city
a
Estimated
Positive and
Significant
Negative and
Significant
85
85
74
85
11
0
85
0
85
76
60
19
20
12
76
60
19
20
12
0
0
0
0
0
61
71
82
61
60
74
0
11
7
The living-standards factor was estimated to increase with the head's age up to age 59.7, which is
the average "turning point" among all the estimated models.
Making the table…

Getting data into Excel

By hand

Or the easy way
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Formatting the table
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Getting the table into Word
Getting SAS results into Excel

Use HTML output

Tools  options  preferences  results  create HTML
(check box)  select a folder for saving  select style
minimal

Run SAS
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HTML page opens

Select all  copy  paste into Excel

OR right-click on file  choose to open with Excel
Getting Stata results into Excel

Run Stata

Highlight table

Right click
Select copy table or copy table as HTML
Paste in Excel


Copy table
Copy table as HTML
Formatting your tables in Excel

Select cells and use toolbar
or


Select cells  right click  select format cells
Just a few examples…
Formatting numbers on your table

Right-click on table  select format cells

Number, percentages
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Decimal places
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Custom placeholders


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# for an insignificant zero
0 for leading with a zero
? for lining up decimals

0.900 vs. .9
Merging headers

To make the headers cover more than one column

Highlight cells  click on merge
Adding borders

Highlight cells  click on tables icon
Adding borders
Highlight cells
 right-click on cells

select format cells
 select border
 select border type,
color, and placement

Getting your table into Word




Highlight table  right-click  select copy
Open word document
Find location in word document
Click on file
select paste special
 select picture
(enhanced metafile)

Formatting your table in Word

To change the size, layout, etc of table in Word

Right click on table
 select format picture

Change size, placement,
etc…
Helpful sites
Criminology
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/submit.asp?ref=0011-1384
JMF
http://oregonstate.edu/%7Eacock/tables/
AJS
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/page/AJS/instruct.html
The CFDR can help!
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Thanks to Meredith, Aurea, and Heidi
Thanks to David for his input