Formatting Tables and Figures in APA Style

By the Mastermind PhD team · Last updated: 3 November 2026 · Editorial policy

Why do examiners comment on a table before they read the numbers in it? Because a badly formatted table signals that the rest of the chapter may be careless too. APA tables and figures follow one shared structure in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual (2020): a bold number, an italic title, the body or image, and notes. This guide covers each part, borders and spacing, notes, placement in a thesis, the Word steps that keep your lists accurate, and the mistakes that examiners notice first.

This article is part of our guide How to Write a Master’s Thesis by the Mastermind PhD team and relates to our Thesis & Research Formatting service. Sources last checked: November 2026.

What are the five parts of APA tables and figures?

Number tables and figures separately and in the order they are first mentioned: Table 1, Table 2 and Figure 1, Figure 2. Many universities ask for chapter-based numbers in a thesis (Table 4.2 for the second table in Chapter 4); follow your handbook if it does.

How should an APA table look?

APA tables use minimal lines. The rules for borders and layout:

• Use horizontal rules only: one above the column headings, one below them, and one at the bottom of the table. Add a rule within the table only to separate a spanner heading from the column headings beneath it.
• Do not use vertical lines, and do not shade cells.
• Center column headings; align text left and numbers on the decimal point where possible.
• Use the same number of decimals within a column, usually two, and omit the leading zero only for values that cannot exceed 1, such as p and correlation coefficients.
• Give the table enough space to read; if it is very wide, use landscape orientation for that page.

A table should be understandable without the surrounding text. Define abbreviations in a note, and do not repeat in the text every value the table shows: point the reader to the pattern instead.

📱 Get your formatting checked before submission — Send your faculty’s style guide with the file; we apply it to the front matter, tables, margins and references.

What goes into table notes?

APA tables and figures may carry three kinds of notes, always in this order:

1. General note, starting with Note. in italics, followed by explanations that apply to the whole table: abbreviations, units and the source if the table is reproduced or adapted, with a copyright attribution where required.
2. Specific note, attached to a particular column, row or cell with a superscript lowercase letter (a, b, c).
3. Probability note, explaining asterisks, for example * p < .05. ** p < .01. APA prefers exact p values in the table where possible.

Notes are double-spaced in a student paper and placed directly below the table or figure.

How should an APA figure look?

Figures follow the same number, title and note structure as other APA tables and figures, with a few additional rules:

• Make the image clear: high resolution, legible labels and enough contrast if printed in grayscale.
• Use a sans serif font such as Arial or Calibri within the image, generally between 8 and 14 points.
• Label both axes of a graph with the variable name and unit, and start the y-axis at zero for bar charts unless there is a clear reason not to.
• Place the legend inside the figure, not in a separate caption below it.
• Avoid three-dimensional effects, decorative backgrounds and unnecessary color.

If you copy or adapt a figure from a published source, add a copyright note (“From…” or “Adapted from…”) and check whether you need permission; for a thesis that will be deposited in an open repository, permission matters.

Where do APA tables and figures go in a thesis?

In a manuscript submitted to a journal, APA allows tables and figures either embedded after their first mention or on separate pages after the reference list. In a thesis, they are almost always embedded in the chapter, close to the paragraph that first mentions them, and listed in a List of Tables and a List of Figures after the table of contents. Large supporting tables, such as full item statistics or long output, belong in an appendix with their own labels (Table A1, Figure B1).

Every one of your APA tables and figures must be cited in the text by number: “As Table 3 shows…” or “(see Figure 2)”. Avoid “the table below”, because pagination may move it.

How do you create APA tables and figures in Word?

Word’s caption tool keeps numbers and lists consistent:

1. Select the table, then go to References > Insert Caption. Choose the label “Table”, position “Above selected item”, and add chapter numbering through Numbering if your university requires it.
2. After the number, press Shift+Enter so the title starts on a new line in the same caption paragraph. Make the number bold and the title italic, and set the caption style to your body font without Word’s default blue color.
3. Repeat with the label “Figure” for figures, also placed above the image as APA 7 requires.
4. Build the lists with References > Insert Table of Figures, choosing “Table” or “Figure” as the caption label. Update them with right-click, then Update Field, after any change.
5. Refer to tables and figures in the text with References > Cross-reference, so that numbers in sentences update when you insert a new table.

For tables, apply Word’s plain table grid, remove all borders, then add only the three horizontal rules. Save it as a table style so every table in the thesis looks the same.

What does a correctly formatted table look like?

Here is a simplified example of an APA descriptive statistics table. The number “Table 2” sits above it in bold and the italic title reads Means, Standard Deviations and Correlations Among Study Variables (N = 240).

Note. Scales range from 1 to 5. ** p < .01.

In a Word thesis this table would carry only the three horizontal rules described above; the web display here adds its own grid.

What mistakes do examiners spot most often?

The most common problems with APA tables and figures are easy to prevent:

• Caption placed below a table or figure (APA 7 puts both above).
• Title in bold rather than italic, or in sentence case rather than title case.
• Vertical lines and full grids copied from SPSS or Excel output.
• Inconsistent decimals within a column, or p = .000 instead of p < .001.
• Figures pasted as low-resolution screenshots.
• A table that is never mentioned in the text, or one mentioned by page rather than by number.
• Lists of tables and figures that were never updated after late edits.

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Frequently asked questions

Does the caption go above or below an APA figure?

Above. In APA 7th edition, the figure number and title go above the image, just as for tables. Only the note goes below.

Can I paste SPSS output tables directly into my thesis?

Not as they are. SPSS output contains extra rows, grids and decimals that do not meet APA style. Rebuild the table in Word with the values you need, or adjust the SPSS table looks and then clean it.

Should tables be double-spaced?

The number, title and notes are double-spaced. The table body can be single-spaced, 1.5-spaced or double-spaced, whichever makes it easiest to read.

Do APA tables and figures need a reference?

Only if they are reproduced or adapted from another source. Then add a copyright note below them and include the source in your reference list.

How do I number tables in appendices?

Use the appendix letter: Table A1, Table A2 in Appendix A, and Figure B1 in Appendix B. If there is only one appendix, Table A1 is still standard.

Sources

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
• American Psychological Association. Tables and figures. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/tables-figures
• American Psychological Association. (2024). APA Style numbers and statistics guide. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/numbers-statistics-guide.pdf
• Nicol, A. A. M., & Pexman, P. M. (2010). Presenting Your Findings: A Practical Guide for Creating Tables (6th ed.). American Psychological Association.
• Microsoft Support. Add, format, or delete captions in Word. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-format-or-delete-captions-in-word-82fa82a4-f0f3-438f-a422-34bb5cef9c81 (accessed November 2026)
• Microsoft Support. Insert a table of figures. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-a-table-of-figures-c5ea59c5-487c-4fb2-bd48-e34dd57f0ec1 (accessed November 2026)

Sources last checked: November 2026. This article is general educational guidance and does not replace your university regulations or your supervisor’s instructions. How we prepare our content.