Now that you know how you should format your manuscript to conform to the style of a given journal, will get down to applying the same understanding to formatting tables presenting numerical data, again to make them appear quite similar to other tables already published in the same journal. For this task, we once again begin by examining each part of a typical table and noting how it is styled or formatted, beginning with the table number and working our way down to source or sources, which is the last item that ends a table.<\/span><\/p>\n As before, the variations in style are many and trivial\u2014but call for no deep knowledge of typography or typesetting skills to match a given variation.<\/span><\/p>\n Typically, tables are numbered in the order in which they appear in a given manuscript, the word \u2018Table\u2019 preceding the number, as in Table 1. Together, they constitute the label. The number is then followed by the title of the table, as in \u2018Table\u00a02. Average monthly temperature (\u00b0C) in Paris: 1925 to 2025\u2019. Now let us dissect or deconstruct the formatting by noting the trivial details as we mentally answer the following questions. Table titles can be informative phrases or, less typically, declarative sentences (\u2018Effect of regular exercise on blood pressure\u2019 versus \u2018Regular exercise lowers blood pressure\u2019). Note the form used by the journal. However, the difference is immaterial for formatting. Again, note the details by answering the following questions. A table is a matrix of rows and columns, each with its heading. Note how the headings are styled or formatted keeping in mind the variations already touched upon earlier (case, weight, posture, etc.). In addition, note the following points. Note the choices made by the journal for row headings using the same questions as above, except that vertical alignment does not apply to row headings.<\/span><\/p>\n Footnotes may be marked by superscript numerals or superscript letters or other symbols such as *, \u00a7, and \u00b6. The numerals or letters may also be in bold or italics or both or neither and are usually assigned in the normal reading order, from top to bottom as we read from the left to the right.<\/span><\/p>\n The footnotes are explained at the foot of the table, each marker being followed by the requisite text, as in \u2018a<\/sup><\/i><\/b>Mean value representing peroxidase activity\u2019 or \u20183<\/sup><\/i><\/b>at ambient temperature\u2019. Although seemingly straightforward, some minutiae of formatting need to be kept in mind, such as the following. \u2022 Space<\/b> Is the marker separated by a space from the text that follows? The choice of alignment for a given column of numbers is not \u2018mere formatting\u2019 but ought to be governed by what those numbers represent. Here are the straightforward \u2018rules\u2019.How to label a table?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Grouping<\/b> Is the label on the same line as the title that follows or does each begin a new line?
\n\u2022 Case<\/b> How is the word \u2018Table\u2019 capitalized? \u2018Table\u2019, or \u2018cap and lc\u2019, which is shorthand for capitals and lower case? Or \u2018Table\u2019, or \u2018cap and sc\u2019 (capitals and small capitals)? Or \u2018TABLE\u2019, or \u2018all caps\u2019?
\n\u2022 Weight and posture<\/b> Is the word in bold or in italics or both or neither?
\n\u2022 Form of the number<\/b> Is the number an Arabic numeral or a roman numeral (1 or I, 4 or IV, and so on)? Is the number in bold or in italics or both or neither?
\n\u2022 Punctuation<\/b> Is the number followed by space or a period or a colon or some other mark?<\/span><\/p>\nHow to write the title of a table?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Case<\/b> Is the title in sentence case (normal capitalization) or in title case (every major word capitalized, as in \u2018Effect of Regular Exercise on Blood Pressure\u2019) or in all capitals?
\n\u2022 Weight and posture<\/b> Is the title in bold or in italics or both or neither?
\n\u2022 Terminal punctuation<\/b> Does the title end with a period?
\n\u2022 Alignment<\/b> Is the title left aligned or centred (the two most common options)? Both the label and the title keep the same alignment.<\/span><\/p>\nHow to write column headings for a table?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Vertical<\/i> alignment<\/b> Some column headings may run to two or more lines whereas other may fit just one line. In that case, do all the headings align at the top (\u2018hung\u2019 headings) or at the bottom (\u2018stacked\u2019) or centred within their respective cells?
\n\u2022 Horizontal alignment<\/b> Left aligned or centred or right aligned or justified?
\n\u2022 Treatment of units of measure<\/b> Typically, column headings incorporate the unit of measurement, as in \u2018Body weight (kg)\u2019 or Density \u2018(g\/cm\u00b3)\u2019. Are the units given in parentheses, as illustrated here, or are they separated from the quantity with a comma, as in \u2018Body weight, kg\u2019 or \u2018Density, g\/cm\u00b3\u2019? Some journals even use a separate column for units. Note also whether the journal uses a slash or a negative exponent (g\/cm\u00b3 or g cm\u2212<\/sup>\u00b3). If this sounds tedious, Editage’s Manuscript Formatting<\/a> service can take care of all these nitty-gritty details for you.<\/span><\/p>\nHow to format row headings for a table?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
How to format footnote markers for a table?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
How to write table footnotes?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Form of marker<\/b> Is the marker at the foot formatted identically with that within the body of the table? Some publishers, for example, do not use superscripts here.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Case<\/b> Does the explanation start with a capital letter? Note that in the two examples shown above, the first one does but the second one does not (\u2018a<\/sup><\/i><\/b>Mean\u2019 versus \u20183<\/sup><\/i><\/b>at<\/span>\u2019<\/span>).
\n\u2022 Terminal punctuation<\/b> Does the explanation end in a period or has no terminal punctuation? Most such explanations are not complete sentences, which is why some publishers skip the terminal punctuation.
\n\u2022 Grouping<\/b> Are multiple explanations run together or does each begin a new line?<\/span><\/p>\nHow to align columns in a table?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Right alignment<\/b>, if all numbers in a column share a unit and are whole numbers.
\n\u2022 Decimal alignment<\/b>, if all numbers share a unit but at least some of them are decimal numbers.
\n\u2022 Left alignment<\/b>, if the numbers in a column do not share a unit and represent different quantities (one row presents the average temperature; another, average humidity; yet another, rainfall or precipitation; and so on).<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"Manuscript](\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MF-footerbanner-reading-about-formatting.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"