Quick Tips for Graduate School: How to Create an APA-Style Table

Formatting your APA-style paper can be frustrating. Here are some quick instructions for how to set up a table in APA-format.

1. Put your table number in bold font. This should be the only bold font in your table.
2. Put your table title in italic font. Use title case. This means that you capitalize most words in the title. Conjunctions, short prepositions, and articles with fewer than four letters are not capitalized. This APA Style Blog post has more detail on title case.
3. Include a heading for each column.
4. APA tables usually do not have any vertical borderlines. Include horizontal borderlines at the top and bottom of the table, and under the column headings. Sometimes you may want to include other horizontal borderlines for clarity. This APA Style Blog post has more detail on table setup and links to examples of many different kinds of tables.
5. The video above shows how to remove and add borderlines in MS Word.

Remember: Tables are for the reader. Your first consideration should be making them as clear and easy-to-understand as possible.