APA-STYLE TABLES in MICROSOFT WORD 2007/2010

Transcription

1 Twin Cities Writing Center APA-STYLE TABLES in MICROSOFT WORD 2007/2010 Before inserting a table into your paper, make sure a table is an appropriate way to communicate your information. Read about the use of tables (and figures) on pp of the APA manual. See also Sections 5.07 and 5.08 on p. 128, and section 5.10 and 5.11 on p APA tables follow a simple but strict formatting guide. Doctoral students must follow the APA guide carefully. Questions about whether to include a table or when it is possible to depart from APA style should be addressed to your advisor. (APA does allow some single-spacing and sans serif type in tables and figures [see 229]). The directions provided here are mainly those for using the word processor (MS Word 2007) for accomplishing APA formatting. For more answers to word processing questions, use the help icon on the upper right hand of the editing screen; otherwise consult Chapter 5 of the APA manual. INSERT A TABLE 1. From the Insert tab, click on Table. 2. Drag to select as many rows and columns as you want. 3. Release mouse and the table appears on your editing screen. There is another way to insert a table (Draw Table), but the Insert Table command will be used for now. The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 1 of 9

2 SELECT TABLE 1. Hover the mouse over top left corner of table until selection icon appears. 2. Click on selection icon to select table. Table will appear highlighted. 3. Perform desired table function from menu. TABLE COMMANDS The commands needed to manage your table are available from Word's main ribbon bar. Table Tools Tabs When your select your table (see previous page) or when you click your mouse anywhere inside the table, the Table Tools appear near the right end of the main ribbon bar (see illustration above). Table Tools offers two tabs: the Design tab and the Layout tab. The purpose of the Design tab is to create tables and draw lines. The purpose of the Layout tab is to modify the existing table: and to add or merge rows, columns and cells. Even if the table is not selected, you can use the shortcut icon on the Home tab (follow dotted line in illustration above) to access some of the commands. The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 2 of 9

3 REMOVE BORDERS In table terminology, the word border refers to any line. APA-syle tables have no outside borders, except for top and bottom, and only a few internal borders and those are horizontal (spanners and heads) to designate headings and sections. Vertical borders do not exist in APA tables. See pp of the APA manual for "table basics." Masters-level students and undergraduates don't have to follow the heads and spanners too closely, but doctoral students should. However, all vertical borders, and unnecessary horizontal borders, should be avoided by all students. To turn off all borders, find the Borders menu either on the Home tab on the Design tab (under Tables Tools). Remember that the table has to be selected before you can perform any function on it. Of course, as soon as you select No Border, the table disappears from view! It is still there; you just can't see it because you turned off the borders to comply with APA style. In order to see what you are working with, you must turn on the grid lines. VIEW GRIDLINES Select the table again by clicking on the selection icon. (Yes, you can see the selection icon if you move your mouse into the general area.) Go back to Borders menu on the Design tab (just as you did to turn off borders). Move a little further down the menu to find View Gridlines. As soon as you turn on View Gridlines, you will be able to see the cells in your table as shown below even though these cells will not be visible when you print (or preview) the table. Use the directional arrow keys or the mouse point-and-click to move around within the table, or use the Tab key to move from one cell to the next cell when typing text. Table With Gridlines The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 3 of 9

4 ADD AND DELETE ROWS AND COLUMNS As you begin to place text in your table cells, you may need to add rows, columns, or cells. (Cells automatically expand to accommodate text. Use the Tab key to move forward from one cell to the next.) We will add two rows onto the table below. Task Start Date End Date Select project team March 12 March 15 Distribute survey March 20 March 21 Analyze feedback April 12 April 16 Add rows here 1. Place the cursor on the cell that is your reference point. 2. From the Layout tab, click Insert Below (or wherever you want the insertion to occur). 3. Repeat as many times as necessary The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 4 of 9

5 ADD BORDERS AS NEEDED As you begin to type text into the cells of your table, you will see where you want to place horizontal borders. (Remember that in table terminology, the word border refers to any line, whether within the table or on the edge of the table.) APA tables contain no vertical borders. Task Start Date End Date Select project team March 12 March 15 Distribute survey March 20 March 21 Analyze feedback April 12 April 16 Hire coordinators April 16 April 20 Train coordinators April 25 April 27 Begin employee training May 1 May 15 Re-evaluate employee performance June 15 June16 1. Select your table or click inside it. 2. Click the Design tab on the Table Tools section of the ribbon bar. 3. Click the Draw Table icon on the right. 4. With the Draw Table icon highlighted, your cursor turns into a little "pen." When you touch a gridline with the pen, a solid line appears: 5. When you have drawn all the borders you want, click the Draw Table icon again to turn it off. Tip: If you make a mistake drawing a line, press the Undo button, not the Eraser icon. The eraser icon causes cells to merge. The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 5 of 9

6 When you are ready, go to Print Preview (Office button>print>print Preview) to see what your table looks like so far. It should look something like this: ADJUST COLUMN WIDTH It looks as though the column widths need to be adjusted because the last task on the table has been forced onto two lines due to the narrowness of the column. The easiest way to adjust column width is to drag and drop the column walls where you want them. If you hover the mouse over the wall of a column, your cursor turns into a click-and-drag icon like the one in the red box at right. You can then click the icon and drag it to the left or right, thus widening or narrowing the column wall. Starting with the right wall of the first column, drag the column wall to the right until all the text in that column fits onto a single line. Next, adjust the other two columns to your preference by dragging their walls. Your table should now look like this: The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 6 of 9

7 ALIGN TABLE TEXT You may have noticed that the column headings in the table are centered, but the rest of the column text is not. That's because the heading text was center aligned purposely when the table was created. You can center your headings too. 1. Highlight all three column headings. 2. On the Layout tab of Table Tools, click the center text icon. Your headings are now centered, but your date columns still don't look quite right. Any columns that contain numbers (especially decimals and money amounts) should be aligned to the right. 1. Highlight the text in the 2 nd and 3 rd columns (but not the headings!) by dragging across and down. 2. On the Layout tab of Table Tools, click the click the center right icon. View your table in Print Preview to see if it looks like the one below. The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 7 of 9

8 MOVE A TABLE 1. Hover the mouse over top left corner of table until the selection icon appears. 2. Click the selection icon, drag, and drop the table into the preferred location. DELETE A TABLE Tables cannot be deleted with either the Delete key or the Backspace key. To delete a table, 1. Click anywhere on the table (or on the selection icon). 2. Click the Layout tab. 3. Click the arrow under the Delete icon. 4. Select Table from the pop-down menu. LABEL A TABLE With your table finished, all you have to do is add APA-style labels and learn to write callouts. For directions and examples, see the APA manual, pp , and Introduction to the APA, p. 30. Of course, before you insert a table at all, be sure to read the guidelines about appropriate use. Tables are numbered in the order in which they appear in the text, and they are numbered separately from any figures you might include in the text. Although the demonstration tables on these pages are single-spaced to save paper, APA should be double-spaced unless double-spacing causes difficultly with clarity. Follow APA guidelines regarding departures from standard spacing and font size. Place your table as closely as possible to the point in the text at which you refer to its contents. Before presenting the table, include a "callout" to direct readers' attention to it. A callout can be as simple as "See Table 3." If a table must break across a page, repeat the table headings on the second page. Repeating the table headings merely requires selecting "Repeat Header Rows" on the Table Tools Layout tab. Keep tables tables clean and simple. Cluttered tables defeat their purpose. The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 8 of 9

9 It is now time to create another practice table and experiment with the options of Design tab and Layout tab. For the present, ignore functions such as shading that are not supported by APA. To determine the function of each icon, hover the mouse over the icon until an identification tab appears. Remember that you cannot see the Table Tools unless you have highlighted or clicked inside a table. Table Tools Design Tab Use the Help button to search for answers to table questions. Table Tools Layout Tab The Writing Center, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs Page 9 of 9