A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, 7th edition - Kate L. Turabian 2007

The body of a table
Tables and figures
Part III. Style 20 spelling

The body of a table consists of cells containing your data, which may be words, numbers, or both (see table 26.1).

If the data are numerical and all values in a column or in the entire table are in thousands or millions, omit the rightmost zeros and note the unit in an explanatory tag in the relevant column head (see 26.2.4), in the table title (26.2.2), or in a footnote (26.2.7). Indicate an empty cell with three spaced periods (ellipsis dots), centered as in table 26.3.

HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT. Align the data in each row with the stub entry for that row.

If the stub entry runs over onto two or more lines but the related data does not, align the row with the bottom line of the stub entry (see the row beginning “Church of the Holy Ghost” in table 26.1).

If both the stub entry and the data run over onto two or more lines, align the row with the top line of the stub entry (see the row beginning “Mt. Nebo Apostolic” in table 26.1).

If necessary, insert leaders (lines of periods, or dots) to lead the reader's eye from the stub to the data in the first column. (For an example of leaders in a similar context, see fig. A.5.)

VERTICAL ALIGNMENT. Align a column of numbers vertically on their real or implied decimal points by aligning on the rightmost numeral, so that readers can compare the values in the column. If all numerical values in a column have a zero before a decimal point, you may omit the zeros (see figure A.13).

Align dollar signs, percent signs, degrees, and so on. But if they occur in every cell in the column, delete them from the cells and give the unit as a tag in the column head (see 26.2.4, table 26.2, and figure A.13).

If the data consist of words, center each column under the column head. If any items have runovers, align each column flush left (see table 26.1).