amj-tables-figures

Tables & Figures (amj-tables-figures)

When to trigger

• Result tables are cluttered, hard to read, or not self-explanatory
• The correlation/descriptives table is missing reliabilities or has inconsistent decimals
• Interaction effects are reported only in text, not plotted
• The theoretical model has no figure, or the figure does not match the hypotheses
• Tables/figures are off AOM house style (verify the current AMJ Style Guide for Authors)

The exhibits an AMJ paper expects

1. Means, SDs, and correlations table — typically Table 1; reliabilities on the diagonal in parentheses; note significance.
2. Main results table(s) — regression/SEM/HLM, organized by nested models (controls → main effects → interactions), with standardized or unstandardized coefficients consistently labeled.
3. Theoretical model figure — boxes and arrows mapping one-to-one to the hypotheses (H1, H2, …).
4. Interaction/simple-slopes plots — one figure per significant interaction, with high/low moderator lines and axis labels in construct terms.
5. Mediation/path figure where SEM is used — coefficients on paths, fit indices noted.

House-style discipline (verify against the current AOM Style Guide)

• Self-contained: a reader should understand each table/figure from its title and notes alone.
• Title above the table; comprehensive note below defines abbreviations, N, SE type, and significance markers.
• Significance: use consistent markers (e.g., † p<.10, * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001) and define them in the note; state whether tests are one- or two-tailed.
• Standard errors / CIs: report SEs (or CIs) in parentheses; be consistent across tables.
• Decimals: consistent precision (commonly two decimals); align on the decimal point.
• Nested models: report model fit / ΔR² / Δ-2LL across steps so the incremental contribution of interactions is visible.
• Exhibits do not count toward the page limit. AOM's 40-page main-body maximum excludes tables and figures (it includes text, references, and appendices), so move dense supporting material into well-built exhibits rather than crowding the prose — but keep each exhibit genuinely necessary, not padding.
• Confirm current limits on number/format of exhibits and figure resolution against the AMJ Style Guide for Authors and the ScholarOne portal.

Figures

• Theoretical-model figure: clean boxes/arrows; label each path with its hypothesis number; no decorative clutter.
• Interaction plots: plot predicted values of the DV across the predictor at ±1 SD of the moderator; label lines; keep the y-axis in the DV's metric.
• Use grayscale-safe designs; ensure figures are legible in print and meet the resolution the portal requires.

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. AMJ is empirical management — panel, multilevel, DiD, IV, and field/lab experiments; the chain below serves that lane, while grounded-theory / qualitative work uses its own standards.

• 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

• Table 1 = means, SDs, correlations, with reliabilities on the diagonal
• Result tables use nested models with ΔR²/fit reported across steps
• SEs/CIs in parentheses; consistent decimals and alignment
• Significance markers defined in notes; one-/two-tailed stated
• Every significant interaction has a simple-slopes plot
• Theoretical-model figure maps one-to-one to the hypotheses
• Each exhibit is self-contained (title + complete note)
• Exhibit count/format checked against the AMJ Style Guide (tables/figures are excluded from the 40-page limit)

Anti-patterns

• Wall-of-numbers tables with no nested structure and no fit statistics.
• Undefined abbreviations or missing N/SE-type in notes.
• Interactions reported in text only — reviewers expect a plot.
• Model figure that contradicts the hypotheses (extra/missing arrows).
• Inconsistent decimals/significance markers across tables.
• Color-only figures that are unreadable in grayscale or below required resolution.

Output format

【Table 1】means/SD/correlations + reliabilities on diagonal? yes/no
【Result tables】nested models + ΔR²/fit reported? yes/no
【Interaction plots】one per significant interaction? yes/no
【Model figure】matches hypotheses one-to-one? yes/no
【Self-contained】all titles/notes complete? yes/no
【House-style check】markers/SE/decimals/resolution vs. AOM guide: pass/fix
【Next step】amj-writing-style