Preparing Figures

Figure Preparation checklist

1. Determine what point you wish to convey with your figure and the most effective way of conveying that point

2. Remove any extraneous or distracting data that distracts from the main message of your figure

3. Determine how large the figure needs to be: how much space will it take up on a page?

4. Will it be easy for your reader to see key details if the figure is this size?

5. Check that the figure is clear and not pixellated: will your reader be able to see all the important details? Is the resolution good enough?

6. Check that the colour scheme you have chosen is colour-blind friendly and not visually jarring

7. Check that any fonts used are legible at the size printed

8. Figure titles should give a concise “take-home message” conveying the result(s) shown in the figure

9. Figure legends should give enough detail about the experiment for the reader to understand what was done (the figure should be able to stand on its own)

Tip

When you have prepared your figure, go back through this checklist and ask yourself if you have addressed every point here. You may find it helpful to ask a friend or colleague to look at your figure and give you feedback: does it make sense to them? is anything missing, or could the figure be improved in some way?

Guidance on writing good figure titles and legends (with examples)

Recommended Reading on Figure Preparation

• You will very likely find it helpful to read through the workshop materials used in BM432 on Data presentation and figure preparation.

• Making model figures (slides for discussing the use of model figures)

• Beyond Bar and Line Graphs: Time for a New Data Presentation Paradigm

• Read Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures

• Digital Images Are Data: And Should Be Treated as Such

• Ten common statistical mistakes to watch out for when writing or reviewing a manuscript

• Fundamentals of graphic design—essential tools for effective visual science communication

• 11 Graphic Design Tips to Create Images Like a Pro

Other Useful Resources

• Biorender [widely used for making figures; though there has been some controversy over copyright of the produced figures]

• ImageJ Basics [FIJI or ImageJ are widely used platforms for image analysis; open source and there are many helpful tutorials available online]

• Coblis — Color Blindness Simulator

• Data visualization with ggplot2 :: Cheat Sheet

A few points about specific figure types (a.k.a. some of Morgan’s pet peeves)

• Why You Must Plot Your Growth Data On Semi-log Graph Paper

• Make sure you include a scale on any images that need them (e.g., micrographs, phylogenetic trees)

• By convention, figure titles and legends are presented below the corresponding figure, while table titles are presented above the corresponding table (and tables do not normally need legends).

• Make sure your text is formatted correctly within your figure (e.g., species names should be italicized, gene and protein names should be formatted correctly)