Table Formatting

1. It is not necessary to delineate each cell of a table, but it is necessary to indicate, usually with a heavy or bold line, where a table starts and where it ends – the ‘Borders and Shading’ feature in Word works well in this regard.
2. Noticeable column titles can be accomplished with a bold font.
3. Merging or splitting cells and splitting tables can often be used to accomplish complex layouts.
4. Numbers should be right-justified and aligned to the decimal place.
5. All tables presented must be referred to in the text of the results section [e.g. “Plant growth increases as light levels increase (Table 1)]”

Table Titles

Table information is always placed above a table and is referred to as the “title” with specifications as follows:

• each table is sequentially numbered and “Table” is written out in full to start the title e.g. “Table 3. Mean values of ...”
• the information contained within the title should include enough information to be interpreted as an individual item, i.e. without the rest of the text from the report (just in case someone wants to take your work and display it elsewhere)
• include column headings and their respective units
• include a meaningful, but short description of the column headings, any formulae that were used (if not presented in the table itself), and any other information to interpret the table
• the title should never begin with the words “Table of…”
• notes are placed at the bottom of the table, with each note on a separate line; notes provide any additional information such as footnotes to specific measurements, statistical significance values, or missing data