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Abstract：
Tables and charts have long been seen as effective ways to convey data. Much attention has been focused on improving charts, following ideas of human perception and brain function. Tables can also be viewed as two-dimensional representations of data; yet, it is only fairly recently that we have begun to apply principles of design that aid the communication of information between the author and reader. In this study, we collated guidelines for the design of data and statistical tables. These guidelines fall under three principles: aiding comparisons, reducing visual clutter, and increasing readability. We surveyed tables published in recent issues of 43 journals in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology for their adherence to these three principles, as well as author guidelines on journal publisher websites. We found that most of the over 1000 tables we sampled had no heavy grid lines and little visual clutter. They were also easy to read, with clear headers and horizontal orientation. However, most tables did not aid the vertical comparison of numeric data. We suggest that authors could improve their tables by the right-flush alignment of numeric columns typeset with a tabular font, clearly identify statistical significance, and use clear titles and captions. Journal publishers could easily implement these formatting guidelines when typesetting manuscripts.
摘要：
长期以来，表格和图表一直被视为传递数据的有效方法。很多注意力都集中在改进图表上，遵循人类感知和大脑功能的想法。表也可以被视为数据的二维表示；然而，直到最近，我们才开始应用有助于作者和读者之间信息交流的设计原则。在这项研究中,我们整理了数据和统计表设计指南。这些指导方针属于三个原则：帮助比较，减少视觉混乱，增加可读性。我们调查了最近发表在生态学和进化生物学领域的43种期刊上的表格，以及期刊出版商网站上的作者指南。我们发现，我们采样的1000多个表格中的大多数都没有沉重的网格线和很少的视觉混乱。它们也很容易阅读，具有清晰的标题和水平方向。然而,大多数表没有帮助数字数据的纵向比较。我们建议作者可以通过用表格字体排版的数字列的右对齐来改进他们的表格，清楚地识别统计意义，并使用清晰的标题和标题。期刊出版商在排版手稿时可以轻松实施这些格式指南。
