The best way to prepare a table in a manuscript is using the Microsoft Word Table function. Tables will not be accepted as an image file.
Place each table in your manuscript Full-text file directly after the paragraph in which it is first cited. If a table presents results but is first mentioned in the Methods section, do not move the table. Instead, remove the in-text mention in the Methods, leave an explanation for the authors, and retain the table in the Results section.
Do not submit tables in a separate file(s). Only upload tables as separate files if they are intended to be an appendix.
Each table should have borders with normal style without any colored row or column.
The style of a table should be simple. Each cell must contain only one paragraph or one line.
Do not use the Space or Enter keys to align content across the table or to create a new line, indent, or justify the content.
For ease of reading and formatting reasons, large tables covering several pages should, if possible, be divided into 2 or more smaller tables.
Table Components
Values for sample sizes and percents should be presented in the same column as "No. (%)".
The unit of measurement is usually presented in the column heading; however, if the unit differs for each row, the unit of measurement can be presented in the left-most column of the row. Units of measurement are separated from the column description or row heading with a comma.
Category headings must be in marked in bold (eg, race, age groups, and gender).
Table Footnotes
The footnotes should appear in alphabetical order from left to right, top to bottom within the table.
All footnote symbols within a table are superscripted letters (a-z). The use of *, **, *** footnotes to mark significance levels (eg, P < .05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001) is discouraged. Authors are asked to provide exact P values instead. While we prefer the exact P values, there are exceptions to this general rule:
In tables of systematic reviews, which tend to be busy and where the original P values can't be found in the original publications
When odds ratios instead of P values are presented
If for any reason authors are unable to provide the exact P values
Footnotes are placed in a list directly after the table. All footnotes presented in this list require a corresponding letter within the table.
How to draw a standard table:
A sample of the table:
Header 1
Header 2
Header 3
Header 4
First Column 1
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
First Column 2
Cell 4
Cell 5
Cell 6
First Column 3
Cell 7
Cell 8
Cell 9
The text direction of the table should be Left-to-Right as the whole manuscript (Red Arrow).
Align text should be on the left also (Green Arrow).
If you have already drawn your table, you should apply the above steps in addition to changing table properties, as shown in the figure below.