jf-tables-figures

Tables & Figures (jf-tables-figures)

When to trigger

• Tables/figures are drafted but notes, units, or formatting are inconsistent
• A reader cannot interpret an exhibit without hunting through the text
• You are aligning main-text exhibits with Internet Appendix exhibits

JF norm: self-contained, accessible exhibits

JF is general-interest and prizes accessibility. Each exhibit must be self-contained: a reader from another subfield should understand it from its caption and notes alone. Because the manuscript faces a 60-page limit (≥1.5 spacing, 12-pt font), keep only decisive exhibits in the body and send the rest to the Internet Appendix (bundled at the end of the same PDF, labeled IA.*, not counted against 60 pages; see jf-internet-appendix).

Exhibit standards

• Numbering: JF uses Roman numerals for tables (Table I, II, …) and Arabic for figures (Figure 1, 2, …); the Internet Appendix mirrors this as IA.I, IA.1. Keep the schemes consistent.
• Notes state the inference: sample, period, units, and the standard-error/clustering convention belong in every table note.
• Economic units: report magnitudes in interpretable units (bps, % of market cap, Sharpe gain), consistent with JF's general-interest voice.
• No orphan exhibits: every table/figure (body or IA) is referenced from the text.

Checklist

• Each exhibit interpretable from caption + notes alone
• Table notes state sample, period, units, and SE/clustering
• Magnitudes in economic units, not just stars/t-stats
• JF numbering scheme (Table I…, Figure 1…) and matching IA.* in the appendix
• Only decisive exhibits in the body; rest in the Internet Appendix
• Body stays within 60 pages

What a JF exhibit must carry (calibration anchors)

JF exhibits answer to a general-interest reader, so the table itself, not the surrounding prose, must deliver the economics. Useful calibration anchors for the flagship, hedged where conventions vary by subfield:

Exhibit element	JF expectation (illustrative anchor)
Body exhibit count	Typically a lean set of decisive tables/figures; the exhaustive grid lives in the Internet Appendix
Magnitude column	A column or note giving the effect in bps, % of market cap, or Sharpe gain — not stars alone
Inference convention	Every table note names the SE estimator and clustering dimension(s)
Numbering	Roman tables (I, II, …), Arabic figures (1, 2, …), IA mirrors as IA.*
Self-containment	Caption + notes let an out-of-subfield AFA reader interpret the exhibit

Exact body-exhibit counts are not a fixed rule; confirm against the journal's current author guidelines and recent issues, but the cultural signal at JF is "few, decisive, self-explaining in the body; everything else online."

Worked vignette — formatting a momentum horse-race table

Illustrative numbers. A corporate-finance reader picks up a Table II reporting a long-short anomaly. The raw spread is 0.62% per month. The amateur version prints only coefficients and three stars. The JF-grade version, by contrast:

• Labels the row in economic units — "long–short return, % per month" — and adds a note: "55 bps after Fama–French five-factor + momentum adjustment (illustrative), annualized Sharpe gain ≈ 0.4."
• States inference in the note: "Newey–West (12 lags) t-statistics in parentheses; sample 1972–2023 (illustrative); NYSE breakpoints, value-weighted."
• Sends the equal-weighted, alternative-breakpoint, and decile-by-decile versions to the Internet Appendix as IA.II, IA.III, cited from the text.

The reader now understands the magnitude, the inference, and where to find more — without leaving the page. That self-containment is the JF house standard.

Referee-pushback patterns and the JF-specific fix

Pushback on an exhibit	JF-specific fix
"I can't tell what 0.62 means economically"	Add a magnitude note (bps/month, Sharpe gain, % market cap)
"Which standard errors are these?"	Name the estimator and clustering in every table note
"Table III and IA.3 use different definitions"	Reconcile; keep one variable definition across body and IA
"The body has fifteen tables"	Move all but the decisive ones to the Internet Appendix

Anti-patterns

• A table whose meaning is unclear without three paragraphs of text
• Significance stars with no economic magnitude
• Missing SE/clustering convention in the note
• Body crowded with exhibits that belong in the Internet Appendix, breaching the 60-page limit
• Inconsistent numbering between body and appendix
• A figure with no axis units or a caption that assumes subfield-specific notation

Output format

【All exhibits self-contained?】yes / no
【Notes state SE/clustering + units?】yes / no
【Magnitudes in economic units?】yes / no
【JF numbering consistent (Table I.. / IA.*)?】yes / no
【Decisive-only in body, ≤60 pp?】yes / no
【Next step】jf-writing-style