Adding footnotes to a table
It’s advisable to keep entries concise in tables, especially row header text; otherwise, the table is more complicated to read. For example, long headers could make it harder for our eyes to follow a row with short entries but wide spaces. One approach to adding necessary details while keeping the table short and crisp is using footnotes.
Rather than placing the notes at the foot of the page, adding them directly at the foot of the table is a good idea. We also call them table notes. These are some reasons for and benefits of this approach:
- Tables are usually self-contained objects for reference.
- While commonly footnotes are written at the bottom of the page to retain the text flow, it’s enough to move a table note below the table so as not to disturb the table content. There’s no need to push notes further down to the bottom of the page.
- Tables can be repositioned to achieve better page breaks; in such cases, their...
