How to prevent tables from jumping to the next section

floatstables

How do prevent tables from jumping to the next section? in this example, tables 2 and 3 should belong to section 1 but they jump to section 2 which is irrelevant to that section. Please note this is a two-column latex template and the tables are big, so they need to span both columns. Here is my code:

\documentclass[default,iicol]{sn-jnl}% Default with double column layout
\jyear{2021}%



%\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{array, makecell}
\usepackage{cuted}
\usepackage{stfloats} 
%\usepackage{dblfloatfix}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmax}{arg\,max}
\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{arg\,min}
%\usepackage{kantlipsum}


\begin{document}



\section{sec1}\label{sec1}
\lipsum[1-2]


%% TABLE 1
\begin{table*}[b]
\begin{center}
 \caption{TABLE 1}
\label{Tab1}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline 
name & job & title & age & address & status \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table*}

\lipsum[2-7]



%% TABLE 2
\begin{table*}[b]
\begin{center}
 \caption{TABLE 2}
\label{Tab2}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline 
name & job & title & age & address & status \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table*}


 %% TABLE 3
\begin{table*}[b]
\begin{center}
 \caption{TABLE 3}
\label{Tab3}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline 
name & job & title & age & address & status \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\ 
\hline 
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table*}

%-------------------------------------------------------------------------

\section{sec2}\label{sec2}

\lipsum[1-2]

    \end{document}

Best Answer

Tables in table* floats always appear on the top of the next page from where is inserted.
Why you use table* environment (which span over both columns), when your showed table can be nicely fit in one column?

\documentclass[default,iicol]{sn-jnl}% Default with double column layout

\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{array, makecell}
\usepackage{cuted}
\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmax}{arg\,max}
\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{arg\,min}

\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}


%% TABLE 8
\begin{table}
\centering
\caption{the jumping table}
\label{Jump}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Parameter & help & me & with & this & table \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\lipsum
\end{document}

Addendum (1): Apparently OP table is so big, that it need to span both columns,. In this case may be of help package stfloats which enable to put table at bottom or to top of the same page where it is inserted:

\documentclass[default,iicol]{sn-jnl}% Default with double column layout

\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{array, makecell}
\usepackage{stfloats}   % <-------
\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmax}{arg\,max}
\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{arg\,min}

\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-2]

%% TABLE 8
\begin{table*}[b]
\centering
\caption{the jumping table}
\label{Jump}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Parameter & help & me & with & this & table \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
$IMO$ & 1 \% & 2 \% & 3 \% & 4 \% & 5\% \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table*}
\lipsum[2-7]
\end{document}

**Addendum (2):

you should set table* positioning accordingly. In the case showed in the edited question, an MWE can be:

\documentclass[default,iicol]{sn-jnl}% Default with double column layout
\usepackage{makecell, tabularx}
\usepackage{stfloats}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\begin{document}
\section{sec1}\label{sec1}
\lipsum[1-2]

%% TABLE 1
\begin{table*}[b]   % <---
\centering
\caption{TABLE 1}
\label{Tab1}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
name & job & title & age & address & status \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table*}

\lipsum[2-7]

%% TABLE 2
\begin{table*}[t]
\centering
\caption{TABLE 2}
\label{Tab2}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
name & job & title & age & address & status \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table*}

%% TABLE 3
\begin{table*}[t]
\centering
\caption{TABLE 3}
\label{Tab3}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
name & job & title & age & address & status \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols & Ida Nichols \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table*}

\section{sec2}\label{sec2}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to put two tables in a table* element so that the tables appear side by side in a two column layout scientific paper

You should use the subfig package.

\begin{table*}
\subfloat[First caption]{\begin{tabular}{...}...\end{tabular}}
\subfloat[Second caption]{\begin{tabular}{...}...\end{tabular}}
\caption{Overall caption}
\end{table*}

This can be used in conjunction with the floatrow package. See the subfig documentation for an example that aligns captions using floatrow.

EDIT:
Your example has an extra \begin{table} that doesn't belong. It also has a blank line which causes TeX to start a new paragraph which is why one table appears on top of the other.

Here's a complete example where I've also cleaned up your tables following the guidelines given in the documentation to the booktabs package.

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{subfig}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\begin{document}
\begin{table*}
\subfloat[Before processing]{
\begin{tabular}{ccccc}
\toprule
Year & Month & Country & State & Impressions\\
\midrule
2007 & JAN & IN & TN & 3\\
2007 & JAN & IN & TN & 1\\
\bottomrule 
\end{tabular}
}%
\hfill
\subfloat[After processing]{
\begin{tabular}{ccccc}
\toprule 
Year & Month & Country & State & Impressions\\
\midrule 
2007 & JAN & IN & TN & 7\\
2007 & FEB & IN & KA & 13\\
\bottomrule 
\end{tabular}
}
\caption{overall}
\end{table*}
\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Table caption not appearing in PNAS document class

I just ran into the same issue. (It's really annoying when trying to produce print-quality preprint versions of the paper.) Poking around in pnastwo.cls, I found the following fix:

Find the first line in pnastwo.cls which says

\ifx\@captype\xtable

Change this to

\ifx\@captype\table

Alternatively, if you don't want to touch the class file, you can put the following into the preamble of your document:

% Fix wierd behavior which prevents table captions from appearing for
% tables in the body of the article
\makeatletter
\long\def\@makecaption#1#2{%
\ifx\@captype\table
\let\currtabcaption\relax
\gdef\currtabcaption{
\tabnumfont\relax #1. \tabtextfont\relax#2\par
\vskip\belowcaptionskip 
}
\else
 \vskip\abovecaptionskip
  \sbox\@tempboxa{\fignumfont#1.\figtextfont\hskip.5em\relax #2}%
  \ifdim \wd\@tempboxa >\hsize
\fignumfont\relax #1.\figtextfont\hskip.5em\relax#2\par
  \else
    \global \@minipagefalse
    \hb@xt@\hsize{\hfil\box\@tempboxa\hfil}%
  \fi
\fi
}
\makeatother

One additional comment: once this bug is fixed, you'll almost certainly run into another issue which you'd want fixed if you use the PNAS two-column class to produce production-quality output: Unless you define floats with the h "here" placement, it loses the labels, so all cross-referencing of figures and tables breaks. Here is the fix, for direct pasting into the document preamble. You can also patch up the macro \DonormalEndcol pnastwo.cls, it's the same mistake 6 times over...

% And another fix.  PNAS class loses the label of floats unless they       
% were defined with the [h] option (so not really floats at all).  It      
% all comes down to wrong scope in the following routine which pushes      
% out the floats onto the page.  This is the fixed version:        
\makeatletter                                  
\def\DonormalEndcol{%                              
%% top float ==>                               
\ifx\toporbotfloat\xtopfloat%                          
%% figure ==>                                  
  \ifcaptypefig%                               
  \expandafter\gdef\csname topfloat\the\figandtabnumber\endcsname{%    
  \vbox{\vskip\PushOneColTopFig%                       
  \unvbox\csname figandtabbox\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
  \vskip\abovefigcaptionskip%                          
  \csname caption\the\loopnum\endcsname%                   
  \csname letteredcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
  \csname continuedcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%              
  \csname letteredcontcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname            
  \ifredefining%                               
  \csname label\the\loopnum\endcsname%                     
  \expandafter\gdef\csname topfloat\the\loopnum\endcsname{}\fi}%       
  \vskip\intextfloatskip%%                         
  \vskip-4pt %% probably an artifact of topskip??              
}%                                     
\else%                                     
%% plate ==>                                   
  \ifcaptypeplate%                             
  \expandafter\gdef\csname topfloat\the\figandtabnumber\endcsname{%    
  \vbox{\vskip\PushOneColTopFig%                       
  \unvbox\csname figandtabbox\the\loopnum\endcsname            
  \vskip\abovefigcaptionskip                           
  \csname caption\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
  \csname letteredcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname                
  \csname continuedcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname               
  \csname letteredcontcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname            
  \ifredefining                                
  \csname label\the\loopnum\endcsname                      
  \expandafter\gdef\csname topfloat\the\loopnum\endcsname{}\fi}        
  \vskip\intextfloatskip %%                            
  \vskip-4pt %% probably an artifact of topskip??              
}%                                     
\else% table ==>                               
 \expandafter\gdef\csname topfloat\the\figandtabnumber\endcsname{%     
 \vbox{\vskip\PushOneColTopTab %%                      
 \csname caption\the\loopnum\endcsname                     
  \csname letteredcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname                
  \csname continuedcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname               
  \csname letteredcontcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname            
  \vskip\captionskip                               
  \unvbox\csname figandtabbox\the\loopnum\endcsname            
\ifredefining                                  
\csname label\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
\expandafter\gdef\csname topfloat\the\loopnum\endcsname{}\fi           
}\vskip\intextfloatskip %% why don't we need this?             
\vskip-10pt}                                   
\fi\fi%                                    
%                                      
\else% bottom float                            
%                                      
\ifcaptypefig                                  
\expandafter\gdef\csname botfloat\the\figandtabnumber\endcsname{%      
\vskip\intextfloatskip                             
\vbox{\unvbox\csname figandtabbox\the\loopnum\endcsname            
\vskip\abovefigcaptionskip                         
  \csname caption\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
  \csname letteredcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
  \csname continuedcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%              
  \csname letteredcontcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
\vskip\PushOneColBotFig%%                          
\ifredefining%                                 
\csname label\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
\expandafter\gdef\csname botfloat\the\loopnum\endcsname{}\fi}}%        
\else                                      
\ifcaptypeplate                                
\expandafter\gdef\csname botfloat\the\figandtabnumber\endcsname{%      
\vskip\intextfloatskip                             
\vbox{\unvbox\csname figandtabbox\the\loopnum\endcsname            
\vskip\abovefigcaptionskip                         
  \csname caption\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
  \csname letteredcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
  \csname continuedcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%              
  \csname letteredcontcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
\vskip\PushOneColBotFig%%                          
\ifredefining%                                 
\csname label\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
\expandafter\gdef\csname botfloat\the\loopnum\endcsname{}\fi}}%        
  \else% TABLE                                 
\expandafter\gdef\csname botfloat\the\figandtabnumber\endcsname{%      
  \vskip\intextfloatskip                           
\vbox{\csname caption\the\loopnum\endcsname                
  \csname letteredcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname                
  \csname continuedcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname               
  \csname letteredcontcaption\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
  \vskip.5\intextfloatskip                         
  \unvbox\csname figandtabbox\the\loopnum\endcsname%               
\vskip\PushOneColBotTab                            
\ifredefining%                                 
\csname label\the\loopnum\endcsname                    
\expandafter\gdef\csname botfloat\the\loopnum\endcsname{}\fi}}%        
\fi\fi\fi}                                 
\makeatother

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to put two tables in a table* element so that the tables appear side by side in a two column layout scientific paper

[Tex/LaTex] Table caption not appearing in PNAS document class

Related Question