Tables
The instructions provided here pertain to tables included in the main article. The more closely your tables adhere to these specifications at submission, the fewer times you will need to revise your manuscript to meet the requirements. Your accepted manuscript will therefore be more likely to publish faster and more accurately.
Supporting Information is auxiliary to the main content of the article. Supporting Information tables have fewer requirements than tables included in the main article. For full instructions, please follow the Supporting Information guidelines.
Formatting Rules and Constraints
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Tables must be editable, cell-based objects.
We cannot typeset tables that are graphic objects. Use the table tool in your text editing software to create tables. If necessary, create tables in Excel and insert them into the manuscript. Do not insert text boxes or graphics within your tables. - Text alignment.
Justification of the text within cells is honored at typesetting. If you have a preference, indicate alignment of content within cells by using your text editor’s alignment features (for example, centered or left justified).
- Merged cells.
You can use merging to indicate cells that span multiple columns and rows. If you have a preference, indicate alignment of content within cells by using your text editor’s alignment features.
- Multi-section tables.
Tables with multiple sections must have a consistent number of columns throughout all sub-sections. If necessary, you may divide and re-number the sections as separate tables. Do not insert tables within tables or cells within cells. - Text color and formatting.
Text color is limited to black. Bolded, italicized, underlined, superscript, subscript, and strikethrough text is OK. Meaning can also be expressed with symbols that are explained in the footnotes. - Text Font.
Use a standard font size and any standard font, except for Symbol font. - Cell shading.
Background color can be applied to cells to convey meaningful information. Read the instructions for applying cell shading. - Size.
Tables do not have strict width and height requirements. Do not split your table or otherwise try to make the table appear within the manuscript margins if it does not fit on one page. In Word, tables that run off of the manuscript page can be seen using Draft View. In the PDF version of the published article, very wide tables may be printed sideways, and long tables may span more than one page.
If the table has a very complex structure or contains graphics, the safest solution is to make it into a figure. Export the table as a TIFF, and cite and re-label it as a figure. Read the figure guidelines.
Lists within cells
Hard and soft returns within cells are restricted; however, content can be placed on multiple rows within a cell by using your text editor’s automated list options.
- Unordered lists: use the standard bullet point.
- Ordered lists: use a standard ordered list option.
Correct arrangement of content within cells Content is organized in separate cells or uses the automated list function within a cell. |
Incorrect arrangement of content within cells Do not use returns, spaces, or tabs to separate data within a cell. |
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Cell shading
Color can only be applied to the cell background.
- You may use any shading color, but keep legibility in mind. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) advise a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 between the text and the background color. PLOS requires the text color to be black.
- Lighter shades are recommended in order to clearly contrast against the black text.
- If using more than one shading color, avoid combinations that could make color differentiation difficult for people with colorblindness.
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Footnotes referencing background color should describe it using words, not images or colored text.
Example: “Comparisons involving any renin-angiotensin receptor blocker are shaded orange.”
Heavy bottom gridlines
You can apply a heavy gridline to the bottom of individual cells or to entire rows. The line will appear 3 times heavier than a normal gridline.
To apply a heavy bottom gridline, use the Borders and Shading options in your text editor to apply a line weight of 3 pt (point) to the appropriate bottom border.
Note: It is OK if the surrounding normal-weight gridlines appear as dotted lines once this action is performed (as in the example below). The normal-weight gridlines will still be applied to those cells during typesetting.
How to Submit
Please refer to our downloadable sample manuscript (PDF) to ensure that your table captions, citations, and organization in the manuscript meet our formatting requirements.
Correctly formatted table
Adapted from: Kim MH, Lee S, Koo JS, Jung KH, Park IH, et al. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene copy number gain in inflammatory breast cancer (IBC): prevalence, clinicopathologic features and prognostic implication. PLoS ONE. 2015. 10(3): e0120320. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120320
Contact
If you have questions about how to format and submit your tables, please contact one_production@plos.org.