Jpsp Tables Figures

---
name: jpsp-tables-figures
description: Use when building tables and figures for a Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP) manuscript in APA 7th edition style — embedded in the text, self-contained, and covering a multi-study package including the internal meta-analysis forest plot. Guides exhibit design; it does not generate data.
---

# Tables & Figures — APA 7th (jpsp-tables-figures)

JPSP exhibits do heavy lifting because the paper spans **many studies**: readers navigate the package
through your tables and figures. JPSP asks authors to **embed tables and figures in the manuscript
text**, and information in tables **does not count toward the word limit** — so well-built exhibits
both communicate and free up words for the (capped) introduction and discussion.

## When to trigger

- Building or revising tables and figures
- Summarizing results across multiple studies
- Producing the internal meta-analysis forest plot
- Formatting exhibits to the APA Publication Manual (7th edition)

## What strong JPSP exhibits do

1. **Self-contained.** Each table/figure is readable without the text: full title, variable
   definitions, N, units, error bars defined, and notes explaining abbreviations and significance.
2. **Carry the multi-study story.** A **cross-study summary table** (effect sizes + CIs per study)
   and a **forest plot** for the internal meta-analysis let reviewers see convergence at a glance.
3. **Show effects, not just stars.** Plot estimates with **confidence intervals**; for repeated
   measures use within-subject CIs; show distributions (e.g., raincloud) where they matter.
4. **APA 7th formatting.** APA table structure (no vertical rules), figure captions and notes, proper
   statistical notation; SEM path diagrams labeled with standardized coefficients where used.
5. **Embedded, not appended.** Place each exhibit near its first mention in the text per JPSP rule;
   keep supplemental-only exhibits in the online supplement with a table of contents.
6. **Accessible.** Colorblind-safe palettes; legible in grayscale; vector output for print.

## Exhibit checklist

- [ ] Every exhibit self-contained (title, N, units, error bars, notes)
- [ ] Cross-study summary table of effect sizes + CIs
- [ ] Forest plot for the internal meta-analysis
- [ ] Effect sizes with uncertainty shown, not stars alone
- [ ] APA 7th table/figure formatting and notation
- [ ] Tables/figures embedded in text; supplements have a table of contents
- [ ] Colorblind-safe and grayscale-legible

## Anti-patterns

- A separate, near-identical table per study with no integrative summary
- Stars-only tables; error bars whose meaning (SE vs CI vs SD) is undefined
- Figures unreadable in grayscale or to colorblind readers
- Exhibits dumped at the end instead of embedded near first mention
- Tables that duplicate the text instead of compressing it

## Output format

```
【Per-study exhibits】list (design-appropriate)
【Cross-study summary】effect-size table present? [Y/N]
【Meta-analysis figure】forest plot present? [Y/N]
【APA 7th formatting】tables/figures + notation compliant? [Y/N]
【Embedded + accessible】in-text + colorblind/grayscale-safe? [Y/N]
【Next】jpsp-writing-style
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — papaja/apaTables, ggplot2, metafor forest plots, SEM path diagrams
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — embedded-exhibits rule and word-count treatment