A few more tips on graphs - How to prepare effective graphs - Preparing the tables and figures

How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

A few more tips on graphs
How to prepare effective graphs
Preparing the tables and figures

Design graphs, like tables, to be understandable without the text. For example, use meaningful designations (not just numbers) to identify groups. And refer to each graph as soon as readers are likely to want to see it. Do not leave readers trying to visualize your findings by sketching them on a napkin—only to find that a graph is displaying them three pages later.

Use graphs that depict your findings fairly and accurately. For example, do not adapt the scales on the axes to make your findings seem more striking than they are. With rare exceptions, avoid beginning a scale at anything other than zero. And if you interrupt a scale line to condense a graph, make the interruption obvious. Also, if the standard deviation is the appropriate way to show the variability in your data, do not substitute the standard error of the mean, which might make the data seem more consistent than they are. In general, avoid using pie charts, which can be confusing and are not considered very suitable for scientific papers. Also, unless you are presenting three-dimensional data, do not use three-dimensional graphs.

Note that some journals (mainly the larger and wealthier ones) redraw graphs and some other types of figures to suit their own format. Whether or not a journal will do so, prepare your graphs well. Doing so will help make your findings and their value clear and show the care with which you do your work.