Tables & Figures — Five-Exhibit Budget (aeri-tables-figures)
When to trigger
- The draft has more than five figures-plus-tables
- An exhibit spills past one page, or carries significance asterisks/boldface
- Each exhibit costs 200 words of your text budget and you must choose
- The central result is buried in a dense multi-panel table
The AER: Insights exhibit constraints (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)
- Maximum five exhibits (figures or tables combined). Manuscripts over the limit are returned unreviewed.
- Each exhibit is limited to one page.
- Each exhibit subtracts 200 words from the main-text allowance (7,000 with zero exhibits → 6,000 with five). So every exhibit must out-earn 200 words of prose.
- AEA house style: report standard errors / confidence sets; no asterisks or boldface to denote significance (an AEA-wide convention). Notes state the estimator, sample, clustering, and units.
Budgeting the five slots
Choose the exhibit set that, together, tells the single-insight story. A common allocation for an empirical short paper:
| Slot |
Typical content |
| 1 |
The headline result — the one figure or table a reader remembers (event-study, RD plot, treatment-effect estimate) |
| 2 |
The central identification diagnostic (pre-trend leads, density, first-stage, balance) |
| 3 |
A mechanism or key heterogeneity exhibit, if it is part of the single insight |
| 4–5 |
Held in reserve — a robustness summary or a descriptive table only if load-bearing |
If two exhibits can merge into one well-designed multi-panel page, merge them and reclaim a slot (and 200 words). Everything else goes to the Supplemental Appendix.
Design rules
- The headline exhibit must be self-reading — a reader who sees only it should grasp the insight.
- Figures over tables where a figure communicates the magnitude faster (AER: Insights papers lean visual).
- One page each, legible at print size; no microscopic multi-panel grids spilling over.
- Notes carry the inference since there are no asterisks: report point estimates with SEs / 95% confidence sets in the cell or note.
- Units and signs explicit; the magnitude, not just the sign, is the point.
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.
- Tables:
etable (multi-model columns) or did_summary_to_latex straight from the
result_id — one variable definition, one set of numbers, body and appendix in sync.
- 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 (from the result's diagnostics) and
states the magnitude in interpretable units.
See a full fitted-result → exhibit chain in the JF execution walkthrough.
Checklist
Anti-patterns
- A sixth exhibit (auto-return) or an exhibit that runs to two pages
- Significance asterisks or boldface for significance
- A dense table where a single figure would land the magnitude
- Spending an exhibit slot (and 200 words) on a descriptive table that prose covers
- A headline exhibit that needs the text to be intelligible
Output format
【Exhibit count】__ / 5 (each ≤1 page?)
【Word reconciliation】7000 − 200×__ = __ words available; draft = __ words
【Exhibit 1 (headline)】<self-reading result>
【Exhibit 2 (identification)】<diagnostic>
【Exhibits 3–5】<mechanism / robustness / descriptive — only if load-bearing>
【No-asterisk check】SEs / CIs in notes? [Y/N]
【To the appendix】<exhibits demoted>
【Next step】aeri-writing-style
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → AER-Insights-Skills/skills/aeri-tables-figures/SKILL.md
1---2name: aeri-tables-figures3description: Use when building or trimming the exhibits of an American Economic Review: Insights (AER: Insights) short-format manuscript to the hard five-exhibit budget, one page each, no significance asterisks. Designs the minimum exhibit set; it does not run the analysis behind them.4---567# Tables & Figures — Five-Exhibit Budget (aeri-tables-figures)89## When to trigger1011- The draft has more than five figures-plus-tables12- An exhibit spills past one page, or carries significance asterisks/boldface13- Each exhibit costs 200 words of your text budget and you must choose14- The central result is buried in a dense multi-panel table1516## The AER: Insights exhibit constraints (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)1718- **Maximum five exhibits** (figures or tables combined). Manuscripts over the limit are **returned unreviewed**.19- **Each exhibit is limited to one page.**20- **Each exhibit subtracts 200 words** from the main-text allowance (7,000 with zero exhibits → 6,000 with five). So every exhibit must out-earn 200 words of prose.21- **AEA house style:** report standard errors / confidence sets; **no asterisks or boldface to denote significance** (an AEA-wide convention). Notes state the estimator, sample, clustering, and units.2223## Budgeting the five slots2425Choose the exhibit set that, together, tells the single-insight story. A common allocation for an empirical short paper:2627| Slot | Typical content |28|------|-----------------|29| 1 | The **headline result** — the one figure or table a reader remembers (event-study, RD plot, treatment-effect estimate) |30| 2 | The **central identification diagnostic** (pre-trend leads, density, first-stage, balance) |31| 3 | A **mechanism or key heterogeneity** exhibit, if it is part of the single insight |32| 4–5 | Held in reserve — a robustness summary or a descriptive table only if load-bearing |3334If two exhibits can merge into one well-designed multi-panel page, merge them and reclaim a slot (and 200 words). Everything else goes to the Supplemental Appendix.3536## Design rules3738- **The headline exhibit must be self-reading** — a reader who sees only it should grasp the insight.39- **Figures over tables** where a figure communicates the magnitude faster (AER: Insights papers lean visual).40- **One page each, legible at print size**; no microscopic multi-panel grids spilling over.41- **Notes carry the inference** since there are no asterisks: report point estimates with SEs / 95% confidence sets in the cell or note.42- **Units and signs explicit**; the magnitude, not just the sign, is the point.4344## Execution bridge (StatsPAI / Stata MCP)4546Generate exhibits from the fitted result, not by retyping numbers (the usual source of47body-vs-appendix drift). Full map: [`execution-with-mcp`](../../../shared-resources/empirical-methods/execution-with-mcp.md).4849- **Tables:** `etable` (multi-model columns) or `did_summary_to_latex` straight from the50 `result_id` — one variable definition, one set of numbers, body and appendix in sync.51- **Figures:** `plot_from_result` / `enhanced_event_study_plot` / `event_study_table` —52 axis units and the SE/clustering note baked in.53- **Every note** names the estimator + clustering (from the result's diagnostics) and54 states the magnitude in interpretable units.5556See a full fitted-result → exhibit chain in the [JF execution walkthrough](../../../Journal-of-Finance-Skills/resources/worked-examples/02-execution-walkthrough.md).57## Checklist5859- [ ] **≤5 exhibits total**; each **≤1 page**60- [ ] Word budget reconciled: 7,000 − 200×(#exhibits) ≥ main-text length61- [ ] Exhibit 1 is the **self-reading headline**; exhibit 2 the identification diagnostic62- [ ] **No significance asterisks/boldface**; SEs / confidence sets shown63- [ ] Notes state estimator, sample, clustering, units64- [ ] Non-essential exhibits moved to the Supplemental Appendix65- [ ] Mergeable exhibits combined to reclaim a slot where sensible6667## Anti-patterns6869- A sixth exhibit (auto-return) or an exhibit that runs to two pages70- Significance asterisks or boldface for significance71- A dense table where a single figure would land the magnitude72- Spending an exhibit slot (and 200 words) on a descriptive table that prose covers73- A headline exhibit that needs the text to be intelligible7475## Output format7677```78【Exhibit count】__ / 5 (each ≤1 page?)79【Word reconciliation】7000 − 200×__ = __ words available; draft = __ words80【Exhibit 1 (headline)】<self-reading result>81【Exhibit 2 (identification)】<diagnostic>82【Exhibits 3–5】<mechanism / robustness / descriptive — only if load-bearing>83【No-asterisk check】SEs / CIs in notes? [Y/N]84【To the appendix】<exhibits demoted>85【Next step】aeri-writing-style86```8788---8990**Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `AER-Insights-Skills/skills/aeri-tables-figures/SKILL.md`
brycewang-stanford