Skills Data Science JCR Manuscript Tables and Figures Guide

JCR Manuscript Tables and Figures Guide

v20260724
jcr-tables-figures
A comprehensive guide for researchers preparing exhibits for high-impact journals like JCR. It details best practices for summarizing multi-study experimental packages, presenting complex statistical results (mediation, moderation, simple slopes), and developing conceptual figures while adhering to strict house style (Chicago Manual of Style) and page limits. Focuses on maximizing data clarity and earning space through effective visualization.
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Overview

Tables & Figures (jcr-tables-figures)

When to trigger

  • Exhibits are cluttered, inconsistent, or not self-explanatory
  • You need a clear way to summarize a multi-study experimental package
  • An interaction or mediation result needs a readable plot
  • You are deciding what stays in the manuscript vs. the web appendix

Remember the JCR page-counting convention

JCR caps the manuscript at 60 double-spaced pages, and crucially tables and figures are embedded and count toward that cap (the cap covers title, abstract, main text with tables/figures embedded, appendices, and references). So exhibits are not "free" the way they are at venues that exclude them — design them to earn their space. Move overflow stimuli, full instruments, additional study tables, and supplementary plots to the web appendix (max 40 MB), which is distinct from a manuscript appendix and does not count toward the cap.

Exhibits for the experimental package

  • Study-summary table: one row per study with design, manipulation, key DV, N, and the result — lets reviewers see the convergent multi-study logic at a glance.
  • Means/cells: report condition means with SDs and Ns; show the predicted pattern clearly.
  • Mediation: present indirect effects with bootstrap confidence intervals; a path diagram with coefficients aids comprehension.
  • Moderation: plot simple slopes; for continuous moderators show the spotlight/floodlight result (Johnson-Neyman region) rather than a bar chart of a median split.
  • Process figure: a clean conceptual/process model (IV → mediator → DV, with moderators) orients the interdisciplinary reader.

Exhibits for interpretive / CCT work

  • Data-structure or thematic display: show the path from raw data (quotations/observations) to second-order constructs and the conceptual framework.
  • Representative evidence table: illustrative quotations mapped to constructs, supporting the audit trail.
  • Keep displays interpretive and legible to readers who do not work in CCT.

House style and consistency

  • Follow the JCR style guide; for anything it does not cover, JCR defaults to the Chicago Manual of Style (including title capitalization). Configure exhibit titles and notes accordingly.
  • Each exhibit must be self-contained: title, units, N, significance notation, and a note defining abbreviations.
  • Keep construct names, hypothesis labels, and study numbers identical between text and exhibits.
  • Anonymize exhibits for double-anonymized review (no author-identifying file names, site names, or institution tells).

Execution bridge (StatsPAI / Stata MCP)

Generate exhibits from the fitted result, not by retyping numbers (the usual source of body-vs-appendix drift). Full map: execution-with-mcp. JCR is predominantly lab experiments; randomization-based inference and the many-outcome family-wise correction (romano_wolf) are the decisive tools.

  • Tables: etable (multi-model columns) or did_summary_to_latex straight from the result_id.
  • Figures: plot_from_result / enhanced_event_study_plot / event_study_table — axis units and the SE/clustering note baked in.
  • Every note names the estimator + clustering and states the effect size in interpretable units.

See a full fitted-result → exhibit chain in the JF execution walkthrough.

Checklist

  • Each exhibit is self-explanatory (title, N, units, notes)
  • Multi-study package summarized in one table
  • Mediation shown with bootstrap CIs; moderation via simple slopes / spotlight
  • A clean process/conceptual figure is included (experiments)
  • CCT: data-structure / representative-evidence displays included
  • Chicago-style titles/notes; labels consistent with the text
  • Exhibits earn their space under the 60-page embedded cap; overflow in the web appendix
  • Exhibits anonymized for masked review

Anti-patterns

  • Median-split bar charts standing in for a spotlight analysis.
  • Tables that repeat the text instead of compressing it.
  • Exhibits that silently break anonymization (site/institution names).
  • Padding the manuscript with figures that should live in the web appendix.
  • Inconsistent labels between text, tables, and figures.

Output format

【Study-summary table】drafted? rows = studies
【Mediation/Moderation exhibits】bootstrap CI / simple slopes / spotlight: yes/no
【Process or CCT framework figure】included?
【Page-budget】embedded exhibits justified; overflow → web appendix
【House style】Chicago titles/notes; labels consistent; anonymized
【Next step】jcr-writing-style
Info
Category Data Science
Name jcr-tables-figures
Version v20260724
Size 5.14KB
Updated At 2026-07-28
Language