Everything you need to know about the APA Standards box
Visual tools such as figures and tables (popularly known as charts) are an ideal option when you have a lot of data to display that could be lost in letters. But like everything about the American Psychological Association (APA), using them entails following a set of specific rules and guidelines. So if you want to create a APA Standards box, continue reading.
What is an APA Standards chart used for?
Charts (or tables) are great tools when you want to report a lot of data efficiently. Thus, the reader will better understand the information. The tables are structured in an organized way, distributing the information in columns and rows so that whoever reads the document can process the information without problems.
Components of a table
Each APA Standards box must have the following components:
- Table number: It is the first thing that appears and is written in bold. They should be numbered in the order in which they are mentioned in the investigation.
- Qualification: The title is written in one line with double spacing and below the table number. It should be short and descriptive and in italics.
- Header: All tables include figure headings. The text is centered.
- Body: Refers to the rows and columns of the table. can go on single, double or 1.5 line spacing. The text is centered or aligned to the left, only if it is more readable that way.
- Note: Describes the contents of the table that are not understood with the title or data. If the table contains abbreviations, these can be specified in the notes, also the copyright, extra explanations, etc. They are only included if they are necessary.
APA format charts
The APA standards have very specific guidelines on how should the format be and the general guidelines of the tables:
- The table number is in bold and above it.
- They do not have vertical lines.
- Horizontal lines are used only where they are needed to make everything look clearer.
- The title should be short, in italics and below the table number.
- The text is clear and concise.
- Numbers must be formatted consistently.
- Relevant notes go below the table.
Inserting tables in Word
If you are writing your thesis, research paper or any document under the APA format and in Microsoft Word, these are the steps you must follow:
- Calculate the number of rows and columns you will need.
- and a INSERT, Choose TABLA If there are applications and web pages that are responsible for making the citations and references of each of the sources for us, it is not surprising that there are these "pages" that we only have to download and take care of "filling" with our information. INSERT TABLE. Write the number of rows and columns you want. Set cell size and alignment.
- Select the table and go to PROVISION. The size of the cells can be 0,8 1,2 from 1,6 centimeters tall.
- In lineup choose center alignment horizontally and vertically.
- Headers are written in the first rows of the table. They are centered, in uppercase and lowercase letters and in the singular, unless it is a group.
- The body of the table is organized information. The format must be aligned to the center.
- Let's start from the beginning. The first thing is that, according to APA standards, each document written under its regulations must contain a cover page. Nothing to go directly to the subject; Each essay, degree work, academic presentation and the like must contain a title page that identifies the work. numerical data they must have the same unit of measure and the same number of decimals in each data.
- If there is any field for which data is not available, it should be left blank. You can use a hyphen in the cells and a general note to explain it.
About the notes
There are three types of notes: general, specific and probability. They should only be used when the content of the table requires explanation: abbreviations, copyright, etc.
- General notes: They give information about the table as a whole: applications of abbreviations, symbols, etc.. Abbreviations are explained only if they are not standard.
- Specific Notes: They explain, certify or give information about an individual data, column or row. Superscripts are used with lowercase letters and are written from left to right and from top to bottom.
- Probability Notes: They give important specific data and are marked with a superscript asterisk (*).
What do I do if my board is too wide or too long?
If the table you designed turns out too long and spans more than one page, you need to repeat headers on subsequent pages to display data on more sheets. In this way, the reader does not get lost in the midst of so much informative data.
In case the table is very wide and does not fit on a single sheet, use the landscape orientation, but only on the page that contains the table. It doesn't matter if the header moves.
And where are the tables located?
You have two options: embed them in the text or place each table on a page after the list of bibliographical references.
If you go for the first option, place the table right after mentioning it for the first time.
If the table takes up an entire page, place it at the top or bottom of the page, not in the center.
How to cite tables in the text
To talk about a table, do it using its number. In that case, it would be “Table (number)”. You should never refer to a table by talking about its position in the text (“the figure below”, for example), or your page number (“the table on page 25”).
In case you have taken information from third parties to create your table (or part of it), you must cite your sources using the usual citation format: author-date.
You can do it in two ways:
- Including citations in parentheses within the table next to the information taken.
- Cite the source in the Note of the table.
About the APA
The American Psychological Association is an organization that considered it necessary to standardize the format in which research articles, theses, dissertations, etc., are presented. Although it is not the only institution that has done it, it is probably the most famous and the one that gives researchers the most headaches, because it pays attention to every detail.
There are seven different editions of its standards (popularly known as APA Standards), adjusting and being permissive in some aspects to improve the readability and analysis of the information.