| name | smj-tables-figures |
| description | Use when building or cleaning up the tables and figures of a Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) manuscript. Makes exhibits self-contained and persuasive; it does not run the analysis or write prose. |
Tables & Figures (smj-tables-figures)
When to trigger
- You have many tables and are unsure which earn their place in the main text
- Tables are not self-contained (a reader cannot read them without the prose)
- You report coefficients but have no figure showing the effect or mechanism
- Descriptive statistics, correlations, and regressions are disorganized or inconsistent
Standard SMJ exhibit set
A typical empirical SMJ paper carries a compact, predictable set of exhibits:
- Descriptive statistics + correlation matrix (one table). Flag high correlations and multicollinearity concerns here.
- Main results table. Hierarchical/nested models: controls-only column, then add focal X, then moderators/mechanism. Each column builds.
- Identification / endogeneity table. First stage + IV, DID estimates, matching balance, or selection model — the evidence that defeats the threat.
- Robustness table(s). Alternative DVs, samples, estimators.
- Figure(s): marginal-effects / interaction plot, event-study plot for DID, or a mechanism/path diagram.
Move secondary tables to an online appendix/supplement rather than crowding the main text. SMJ guides authors toward a tight page budget — full articles around 40 pages (including tables, figures, and references) and short research articles around 20 pages (verify the current limit) — so exhibits compete for space: keep the main paper lean and use APA-style table formatting with clear notes.
Table craft
- Self-contained: title states what the table shows; notes define every variable, the estimator, the sample, the unit, what stars mean, and what is in parentheses (SE vs. t). A reader should not need the prose.
- Report standard errors (in parentheses) and state the clustering level in the note; do not report bare stars.
- Interaction interpretation: never interpret an interaction from the coefficient alone — accompany it with a marginal-effects plot or computed effects at meaningful values of the moderator.
- Consistency: identical variable names, decimal places, and ordering across tables. Sample N should reconcile across tables (explain any drop).
- Three-line / clean style: no vertical rules, minimal horizontal rules; align decimals.
Figure craft
- A marginal-effects plot communicates a moderation hypothesis far better than a triple-interaction coefficient.
- For DID, an event-study figure (pre-trends flat, effect emerging post-treatment) is often the single most persuasive exhibit.
- A mechanism/path figure can summarize the theorized model; keep it conceptual, not decorative.
- Greyscale-legible (SMJ is widely printed/read in B&W); label axes and units; no chartjunk.
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. SMJ is strategy — firm-level panels where strategic choices are endogenous; foreground IV / DiD identification and the endogeneity-of-strategy objection.
- 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
Anti-patterns
- A table that cannot be read without the surrounding text
- Reporting only significance stars with no standard errors or clustering note
- Interpreting an interaction term's sign without a marginal-effects plot
- Eight near-identical robustness tables in the main text
- Inconsistent N or variable naming across tables
- A color-only figure that becomes unreadable in print
- DID with no event-study/pre-trends figure
Output format
【Main-text exhibits】[descriptives, main results, identification, robustness, figure(s)]
【Self-contained?】yes / fix: [...]
【SE + clustering noted】yes / fix
【Interaction visualized】yes / needs marginal-effects plot
【Event-study figure (if DID)】present / missing
【Appendix moves】[tables relocated]
【Within page budget (~40 / ~20)】yes / trim
【Next step】smj-writing-style
Templates & resources
