APA Tables and Figures: A Formatting Review Before Submission

Your table looks tidy, but does it meet the assignment? Start with the course instructions, then check the display’s number, title, labels, notes, and connection to your text. A formatting review should make existing information easier to read without silently changing the data, supplying missing evidence, or treating a source credit as copyright permission.

Direct answer

To review APA tables and figures before submission, match the assignment requirements to visible evidence in your document, then correct any gaps. Purdue Online Writing Lab’s APA tables and figures guidance explains the APA seventh-edition conventions: bold display numbers, italic title-case titles, clear headings or labels, references to displays in the text, and notes where needed. Tables and figures use separate numbering sequences in order of first mention; formatting them correctly does not verify their underlying information or establish permission to reuse them.

What do your actual assignment instructions require?

Read the assignment before changing the display. Look for directions about required content, placement, appendices, source use, and any template you must follow. If course directions appear to conflict with APA guidance, ask the instructor which requirement governs rather than silently choosing.

The Polished Display Trap is the mistake of treating a neat table or figure as a fully checked one. You can recognize it when the review stops at borders and alignment without checking whether the display answers the assignment, appears in the text, or identifies borrowed material.

Build your review around observable evidence. “Looks professional” is difficult to check; “the paragraph names the table and explains its purpose” gives you something concrete to inspect.

How can you map criteria to evidence and action?

The criteria below are illustrative classroom review criteria, not an institutional rubric.

(sample text for demonstration only)

The APA-specific formatting checks draw on Purdue OWL’s guidance linked above; your actual assignment determines which course requirements apply.

Keep the distinctions visible. A missing title is a formatting problem. An unexplained abbreviation is a reader-comprehension problem. A value that disagrees with the original record is an evidence problem, even if you discover it during formatting.

If your content is settled but the display loses headings, shifts position, or breaks awkwardly during export, that is a document-formatting support question. The document-formatting service checklist for college papers can help you define the requested scope before handing over a file.

What does a worked alignment decision look like?

Consider a hypothetical assignment asking a student to compare classroom review records in a table and explain the distinction in the surrounding text.

(sample text for demonstration only)

For this exercise, the illustrative criteria require a clear comparison, APA-style presentation, and an explicit mention in the paragraph. These are invented teaching criteria, not requirements attributed to a university.

The comparison contains categories rather than measurements. It therefore needs meaningful headings, but not invented units, participant details, or statistical notes.

What would the weak version look like?

(sample text for formatting purposes)

Notes

“The table below shows the information.”

The content is readable, but its identity and purpose are weak. “Notes” does not explain the comparison. “Item” and “Information” leave the reader to infer what the columns represent, and the surrounding sentence adds no useful direction.

What would the stronger version look like?

(sample text for formatting purposes)

Table [assigned number]

Purposes of Classroom Review Records

Note. The record labels and purposes are invented for this formatting demonstration.

“Table [assigned number] distinguishes the planning sheet’s topic notes from the revision log’s change notes.”

The bracketed wording is a placeholder: replace it with the number established by your manuscript’s mention order. These website tables demonstrate content and hierarchy, not the exact border styling of a finished APA document.

Why is that the right revision?

The stronger version preserves the original categories while making their relationship explicit. It adds a display identifier, uses a descriptive title, sharpens the column headings, and replaces a location-based reference with a numbered callout.

The worked decision is deliberately limited: revise the presentation, but do not add findings. Nothing in the hypothetical material supports a claim that a planning sheet improves performance or that a revision log is more effective. A formatting review should not manufacture that conclusion.

The demonstration note also has a limited purpose: it identifies invented teaching material. It does not mean every student-created table needs a note announcing that the student made it.

Apply the same decision to your draft: identify the criterion, locate the evidence, and make the smallest change that resolves the gap without altering the underlying meaning.

Which APA details should you inspect in the display itself?

Check the display as a reading object, not just a collection of formatting settings. The reader should be able to identify it, understand its categories, and interpret any qualifications without guessing.

Are the number and title doing different jobs?

The number identifies the display; the title explains its content. Under Purdue OWL’s APA guidance, table and figure numbers are bold, while titles are italicized and use title case. Both appear above the table or figure.

Keep table numbering separate from figure numbering. Order each series by first mention in the text, not by the order in which you created or pasted the displays.

Do not merge the identifier and title into an improvised heading. Cut a heading such as “Figure: Results” and replace it with a bold figure label and assigned number, followed by a separate italic title that identifies the actual content.

Do the table headings explain what the cells contain?

Every column needs an intelligible heading. Replace vague labels such as “Information” or “Details” with names that identify the category represented.

For quantitative content, check that any supplied units, abbreviations, and category definitions remain clear. Do not infer a unit from the size of the values or copy one from a neighboring table. If the source material does not establish it, flag the gap for the writer to resolve.

For a textual comparison, headings such as “Record” and “Purpose” may be sufficient. Adding statistical notation to a nonstatistical table would create confusion rather than rigor.

Are borders organizing the table or enclosing every cell?

Remove vertical lines and cell-by-cell boxes. Purdue OWL advises restrained horizontal borders that support the table’s structure rather than a spreadsheet-style grid around every entry.

Use alignment, spacing, and necessary horizontal rules to make headings and sections clear. Removing borders must not make adjacent columns difficult to distinguish.

Inspect the exported document as well as the editable file. A table that works in the editor may wrap headings or separate explanatory notes after export.

Can the figure be understood at its final size?

For figures, inspect the content inside the image as well as the number and title above it. Check axis labels, category names, symbols, legends, and any text embedded in the graphic.

A descriptive title cannot repair unreadable labels. If shrinking the figure makes its labels illegible, revise the layout or obtain a clearer source image rather than assuming the reader can zoom in.

In a lab report, unclear units or symbols can obstruct interpretation of measurements. In a conceptual diagram, unclear arrow labels can obscure the relationship being proposed. The formatting task changes with the information the figure carries.

What belongs in a note, and what requires a source check?

Use notes to explain information the reader needs but cannot obtain from the title, headings, or display itself. According to Purdue OWL’s table and figure guidance, notes can address the display generally, explain particular entries, or clarify probability notation when applicable.

For an ordinary textual table, a general note might define an unfamiliar abbreviation or explain a category boundary. Start a general note with italicized Note. followed by the explanation in regular type.

Do not add probability notes merely because the table looks scientific. They belong only where the underlying analysis and notation require them. Formatting cannot establish statistical significance.

Does reused material have the right attribution?

If you reproduce or adapt a table or figure, inspect the original source and identify what you borrowed. APA attribution for reused displays involves the applicable source credit and reference information; follow Purdue OWL’s guidance on documenting sources rather than adding an unsupported “Source: Internet” line.

Distinguish reproducing a display, adapting it, and constructing your own display from borrowed information. Those situations may require different wording. Redrawing someone else’s figure does not make its underlying content yours.

If the source is known but the credit wording or reference entry is uncertain, citation-formatting support is the relevant next step. Supply the original source and describe what you changed; a screenshot alone may not establish the necessary publication details.

Does correct attribution establish permission?

No. Citation acknowledges a source; permission concerns whether and how material may be reused.

Check the actual source, license, publisher guidance, or rights-holder information. Do not add “used with permission” unless permission has actually been obtained and documented where required. Whether permission is needed depends on the material, its terms, and the intended use—not on whether the APA formatting looks correct.

A formatting review should distinguish what is documented from what remains unresolved. It should not offer a legal guarantee.

Can your display pass an independent reading test?

Run the Detached Display Test: temporarily view the table or figure with its title and notes, but without the surrounding paragraph.

Ask yourself:

• Can I identify what the display represents?
• Do the headings, labels, and symbols make sense?
• Are any necessary definitions or qualifications available?
• Can I identify the source of borrowed material?

Then restore the paragraph. Does it explain why the display belongs in your argument, rather than merely announcing its existence?

This test exposes the Polished Display Trap: an attractive display can still leave its reader guessing. However, passing the test does not verify the data. Compare values, labels, and source details against the original records separately.

Which surrounding phrases should you cut?

(sample text for demonstration only)

Cut: “As you can see in the table below, the information is presented.”

Replace: “Table [assigned number] distinguishes the planning sheet’s topic notes from the revision log’s change notes.”

The replacement identifies the display and gives the reader a reason to consult it. Use your own supported distinction, not the demonstration’s content.

Also cut “the figure proves” when the figure merely illustrates a model or summarizes observations. Replace it with a precise verb—such as “depicts,” “compares,” or “summarizes”—that matches what the display actually does.

Common questions

Should tables and figures go in the text or at the end?

Follow the assignment’s placement instructions and required template. If the course directions leave placement unclear, check the assigned style guidance or ask the instructor before moving displays. Do not assume that placing every display at the end satisfies the assignment.

Does every table need a note?

No. Add a note when the reader needs an explanation, qualification, abbreviation definition, or applicable source credit. Do not attach an empty note or invent methodological details to make the display look complete.

Do I need to repeat every entry in the paragraph?

No. Use the paragraph to identify the relevant comparison, pattern, or implication supported by the display. Repeating every cell gives the reader duplicate information instead of guidance.

In a results section, keep that explanation within the assignment’s reporting conventions. A display summary is not permission to add an unsupported causal interpretation.

Can I submit a screenshot of a table?

Prefer an editable table when you are presenting your own tabular content and the assignment allows it. It gives you direct control over headings, alignment, wrapping, and corrections.

If a screenshot reproduces someone else’s table, also check source credit and reuse terms. Readability, attribution, and permission remain separate questions.

Does this review cover the rest of my APA paper?

No. This guide focuses on existing tables and figures. For paper-level layout, use how to format an APA paper before submission rather than treating display formatting as a complete manuscript review.

Before You Submit

Return to the assignment and mark each applicable criterion as supported, unresolved, or requiring instructor clarification. Point to the evidence in the document: the title, heading, callout, note, source record, or placement instruction.

Check the exported file for readable labels, sensible page breaks, and notes that remain connected to their displays. Separately confirm that the content matches the original evidence and that any reused material has the required attribution and resolved reuse conditions.

A useful formatting review makes the evidence easier to read without changing what it says. If you need help correcting the presentation of existing displays, start an order with your draft, assignment instructions, original sources, and a clear description of the requested review. Confirm the service scope and your course’s assistance policy, and review every proposed change yourself before submission.