cps-tables-figures

Tables & Figures (cps-tables-figures)

CPS exhibits must carry the comparative argument on their own. A reviewer should grasp the cross-case or over-time story from the figure and its caption without hunting through the text. Because references, tables, and figures do not count toward the CPS word limit, exhibits are where you spend space — but only if each one earns its place.

When to trigger

• Building or revising the main-text tables and figures
• A reviewer found exhibits unreadable, over-stuffed, or not self-contained
• Deciding which exhibits belong in the paper vs. the supplementary/online appendix
• Preparing figures for SAGE production (color, resolution, grayscale legibility)

Exhibit priorities (in order)

1. One main figure that is the finding. For most CPS papers this is a coefficient/forest plot, an event-study plot around a reform, an RD plot, or a marginal-effects/predicted-probability plot — not a wall of regression coefficients.
2. A clean main results table with the headline specification and the key robustness columns only; push the full grid to the appendix.
3. A comparative descriptive exhibit showing the cross-case or over-time variation the design exploits (so the reader sees the leverage).
4. A balance / first-stage / pre-trends exhibit appropriate to the design.

Make every exhibit self-contained

• Title + caption state what is shown, the unit, the sample, and the comparison — readable alone.
• Notes give: estimator, fixed effects, clustering level, N (units and observations), and what the error bars are (CI level). For comparative panels, state the countries and the period.
• Units and scales labelled in substantive terms (percentage points, predicted probability), not raw coefficients a reader must decode.
• Effect sizes visible. Show magnitudes and uncertainty, not just significance asterisks.

Comparative-specific exhibit craft

• When comparing countries/regions, order and group them so the pattern is visible (by region, regime type, or the key covariate) rather than alphabetically.
• Use small multiples to show the same relationship across cases rather than one overplotted panel.
• Maps only when geography is the point; otherwise a sorted dot plot communicates better.

SAGE production notes (verify current specs)

• Colorblind-safe palettes; figures must remain legible in grayscale for print.
• Vector output (PDF/EPS) where possible; supply high-resolution raster otherwise.
• Match exhibit numbering in the manuscript exactly to the deposited replication output.

Checklist

• One main figure conveys the finding without the text
• Every exhibit's notes give estimator, FE, clustering, N, and CI level
• Effect sizes and uncertainty are visible, not just stars
• Cross-case exhibits are ordered/grouped to reveal the comparative pattern
• Color choices survive grayscale; figures are vector or high-res
• Heavy tables moved to the appendix; each is referenced in the text
• Exhibit numbers match the replication output exactly

Anti-patterns

• A 40-coefficient table where one forest plot would carry the result
• Captions that require the text to interpret; missing N, clustering, or CI level
• Countries ordered alphabetically so the comparative pattern is invisible
• Significance-star tables with no effect magnitudes
• Figures that collapse to mush in grayscale; low-resolution raster images

Output format

【Main figure】what it shows + why it is the finding
【Main table】headline spec + which robustness columns; rest → appendix
【Comparative descriptive】the exhibit showing cross-case/over-time leverage
【Self-contained?】captions/notes give estimator, FE, clustering, N, CI [Y/N]
【Production】grayscale-safe + vector/high-res [Y/N]
【Next】cps-writing-style

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/code/ — table/figure generation scripts to adapt
• ../../resources/external_tools.md — coefplot / ggplot / marginaleffects and mapping packages