Creating Effective and Clear Tables

What is it about?

Sometime in the past you were likely taught about the importance of “bringing your best to the table”—in other words contributing your best ideas and results. Indeed, it is an important key to success. But what ideas and results you bring to the table may not be enough. Sometimes it is how you present your ideas and results that distinguishes you and determines your success. This consideration also holds true while writing a scientific paper, when you want to bring your best to another type of table—the table within your manuscript that shows your data. With this type of table, it is also important to understand that how you present your data can affect the success of your paper. In this article, I provide some basic tips on how to create a table that presents your data in a clear and visually appealing manner.

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Why is it important?

There are elements off style that, when followed, make the information in a table clearer and easier to read. Tables are difficult to read to begin with, so why add additional burden on the reader to guess what is in a table by creating a poorly designed table?