In APA style, figures are all kinds of visual displays except tables. They traditionally include charts, line and bar graphs, maps, drawings, plots, infographics, photographs, and other illustrations (“Figure setup,” 2019). The basic components of an APA-style figure are its number, title, image, legend, and note (“Figure setup,” 2019). In general, the purpose of figures and tables is to present sufficient information in an understandable way. Regardless of the fact that figures do not exist without the text, readers should clearly understand them even without reading the text. In APA-style works, figures are traditionally created with the help of word-processing programs’ built-in graphics features (Excel or Microsoft Word) or dedicated programs (Inkscape or Photoshop). Both for figures and tables, there are two basic options for their placement – they may be mentioned and subsequently embedded in the text or placed after references on a separate page.
The creation and placement of tables in APA-style papers have rules similar to figures. In general, they are used when large amounts of data are presented in the text making it difficult to understand – thus, a few numbers do not require tabular form. As previously mentioned, tables should be understandable without reading the whole. All tables are identified by numbers and have titles that reflect their content. Tables may be placed inside the text or after the reference list.
In the case of research dedicated to the evaluation of the STEADI algorithm’s implementation for the prevention of falls among senior patients, tables may be used to present the study’s results in a clear and comprehensive format. The table will include various age categories and the number of falls before and after the implementation of the algorithm to trace the difference. Thus, the table may be the following:
Table 1. Comparison of the numbers of falls before and after the implementation of the STEADI algorithm for different age categories
Reference
Figure setup. (2019).