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Best Graphical Abstract Examples with Free Templates

Creating engaging graphical abstracts can improve scientific publication rates and allows you to easily share your research in presentations and social media..

Graphical abstracts are becoming increasingly essential science communication tools for presentations and publications. Many academic journals now require scientists to submit graphical abstracts and the rise of social media has made summary images a standard expectation for communicating complex information. This article shows well-designed graphical abstract examples and also provides links to free templates.

What is a Graphical Abstract?

A graphical abstract is a visual representation of a research project. The goal of the abstract is to create a clear story of your scientific method and results that is quickly understood by your audience. The best graphical abstracts use a combination of data, illustrations, and formatting to make it easy to follow the main points of the research. Below is an example of a well-designed graphical abstract that uses left-to-right formatting to show the gathering initial data from TBI patients, treating patients with two treatment paths, and patient outcomes.

Learn how to design good graphical abstracts using PowerPoint and Adobe Illustrator

Graphical Abstract Examples

One great way to start brainstorming for your own graphical abstract is to look at examples to see which ideas and formats might best fit your own research story. Below is a review of the best graphical abstract examples, as well as links to download these free templates for your own designs.

Left-to-Right Designs

My top recommended graphical abstract design uses bold title text with left-to-right formatting for the details below it. This format is easy for people to understand and can be used to compare methods to results, describe a sequence of events, or show a series of scientific conclusions. Below are examples of my recommended left-to-right designs with 1-4 columns.

Click here to download these free graphical abstract templates for Adobe Illustrator and PowerPoint

Top-to-Bottom Designs

Another good option is to use a top-to-bottom formatting. This is an especially good design idea if your data output goes from a large quantity to a small quantity or if the research results naturally go from top to bottom, such as north to south on a map or from the atmosphere to the Earth. Below are examples of top-to-bottom graphical abstract designs with 1-4 rows.

Circular and Unique Graphical Abstracts

The final recommended formats are circular and unique formats such as timelines and Venn diagrams. These are less commonly used and should only be selected if the summary of your research is easier to understand using one of these designs than the left-to-right formatting.

Design Tools to Customize Graphical Abstracts

Knowing how to use design tools to create custom graphical abstracts has become an increasingly essential skill for researchers. Below is an example of a graphical abstract design that was customized using biological diagram templates and a list of the top design tools that scientists use to create graphical abstracts and scientific illustrations.

Adobe Illustrator

• Top recommended software for advanced scientific and graphic design. This is the digital design tool used by most professional scientific illustrators.
• This tool allows for full customization of graphical abstracts by creating high resolution vector designs where every pixel can be adjusted to make the perfect final design.
• Learn more about how to get Adobe Illustrator as a student or scientist .
• Costs: $240-252 for annual subscription

Affinity Designer

• Design software that is similar to Adobe Illustrator but with slightly fewer design features. This is a good affordable alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
• This tool allows for customization of graphical abstracts by creating high resolution vector designs where every pixel can be adjusted to make the perfect final design.
• Visit here to purchase the software: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/designer/
• Cost: $70 one time payment

• PowerPoint is a commonly used software for scientists and has become increasingly good at allowing researchers to make custom designs using their shapes, lines and arrow features.
• This tool has limited design features, but these are not always needed if you know how to use PowerPoint well.
• Visit this page to learn more about purchase options.
• Cost: Free versions and $70-160 for full software

• Google Slides and Google Drawing are comparable tools to Microsoft PowerPoint. Scientists do not use these as often as PowerPoint, but it is still a good software to use if you are more familiar with Google products. 
• The design features are limited compared to Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer, but you can still use this software to create high quality graphical abstracts.
• Cost: Free with Google account

There are also tools such as BioRender that allow you to create graphical abstracts with images that you can copy/paste into designs. However, this tool has limited customization options and is very expensive if you want to download your work as high resolution images that are used for publications and presentations. Read this article to learn more about the costs, pros, and cons of popular scientific design tools . 

Use Graphical Abstracts to Promote Research

There are many different options to share your research with the public and your peers. Having a well-designed graphical abstract makes it easy to format the designs to share via presentations, scientific websites, and social media. This is a great way to increase interest in and awareness of scientific research.

In order to share your graphical abstract via social media, you may need to adjust your designs so that the image can be best formatted for different platforms. Each social media platform has their own preferred dimensions for the images you share. For example, if you want to share your graphical abstract on both Instagram and LinkedIn, you will want to adjust one version to fit a square image for Instagram and you probably won't need many adjustments to share a landscape image on LinkedIn. Below are examples of graphical abstract image formatting for social media posts on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Graphical Abstract Design Summary

All of the examples and tools described in this article can help you design impressive graphical abstracts and share them with a wider audience. Use the simple process below to start your own design.

• Step 1. Choose a design plan that looks good to you, best represents your data, and matches your intended scientific journal's formatting requirements. 
• Step 2. Create a draft of your design by drawing on paper or use digital design tools such as Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, or PowerPoint to arrange your illustrations, text, and graphs. Learn more about graphical abstract design options by clicking on the resources below:
• Download free graphical abstract templates and view other science images  
• Sign up for free courses on graphical abstract and scientific illustration
• Step 3. Adjust the design formatting and colors until the main story of your research is clear.
• Read articles to learn more about data visualization design best practices and data storytelling
• Step 4. Share with scientists and the public via presentations, scientific websites, and social media. 

Create professional science figures with illustration services or use the online courses and templates to quickly learn how to make your own designs.

Interested in free design templates and training.

Explore scientific illustration templates and courses by creating a Simplified Science Publishing Log In. Whether you are new to data visualization design or have some experience, these resources will improve your ability to use both basic and advanced design tools.

Interested in reading more articles on scientific design? Learn more below:

Scientific Presentation Guide: How to Create an Engaging Research Talk

Data Storytelling Techniques: How to Tell a Great Data Story in 4 Steps

Best Science PowerPoint Templates and Slide Design Examples

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• Sep 28, 2021

Best examples of graphical abstracts

New research papers are being published every single day.

In fact, 2.6 million papers are published every year. But let's face it; nobody has the time to read abstract after abstract to dig out what you need from all the papers out there.

So how can we digest a large amount of information in a shorter span of time?

Here's where “ graphical abstracts ” come in to make every researcher’s life easier.

Wait, what the heck is that?

In a nutshell, a graphical abstract is a visual summary of a written abstract. It’s a rundown of a full story within 65-80 words (ideally) that gives you a good idea of the research gap, questions, findings and conclusions, complete with pictures! It comes to show that pictures speak a thousand words faster than any written summary!

You can also think of them as a kind of movie poster , as a visual preview of what you’re about to watch. Hang them up in the hallway if you really wanted to! It’s a promotional tool! And just like a movie poster, if you’re enticed by the #aesthetic of the graphical abstract then you’re more likely to want to read the whole paper!

Even science itself backs this up.

On top of that, in the modern era of publishing, graphical abstracts are becoming more and more commonplace. Some journals even require them to publish at all. But because of this, so many researchers are tempted to recycle one of their figures as the graphical abstract. Should you do this? NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Some journals may even recommend that you submit a video abstract - now you’ve got a whole movie trailer . But that’s a whole other world , and today GA’s take the spotlight.

So what makes a graphical abstract stand out ? What design elements make them so effective? What about them entices you to read the whole paper ?

In this blog, Juan Miguel Balbin, Science Communicator at Animate Your Science and PhD Candidate at the University of Adelaide, showcases real-world examples of effective graphical abstracts to inspire you to design your very own!

Graphical abstract appraisal

We feel that most people still don’t know what a graphical abstract should look like and a collection of great looking ones is definitely missing. To fix that, we’ve compiled and reverse-engineered five examples of well-designed graphical abstracts and discuss them one-by-one based on:

layout and design elements ( the “skeleton”, like in posters! )

colour scheme

what could be improved?

Let’s step into the gallery!

The humble North American porcupine

Produced by: Fuse Consulting

Layout and design

This landscape graphical abstract is split up into boxes for each category of information - so your eyes can easily process information from left to right. The research gap and question ( in large font! ) is the first thing you read, followed by quantitative data represented by icons , and a neat summary of the findings. Put together, it’s a full story between the humble North American porcupine Erethizon dorsatum and its opposing predator, the fisher Pekania pennanti!

Having them placed on opposite ends makes it almost feel like two oppositions in boxing ring!

Colour scheme

True to nature, there’s a lot of natural brown and olive colours from the main illustrations and provides a single light shade of green to highlight the primary data. Many of these colours were likely collected from the illustrations of the animals using the Eyedropper tool !

What could be improved?

Large paragraphs can be little difficult to digest. It would be absolutely perfect if the conclusion could be shortened into dot points or a single unifying sentence .

The link between good aesthetic and ocean health

Produced by: PeerJ journal

Four different evenly-spaced panels provide a balanced layout that uses lots of negative space (we LOVE negative space), a substantial amount of descriptive text to get the main messages. The minimalist aesthetic is a good aesthetic!

The three key messages are written in larger fonts, while supplementary information is presented in smaller fonts. This ensures the reader can easily follow the story from start to finish without being distracted by the little details!

Combining illustrations with photos can often result in a jarring and inconsistent feel, but this graphical abstract manages to seamlessly use both to great effect by being consistent with colouring and scale.

True to the theme, coral pinks and ocean blues are the mainstay hues.

A large title, possibly worded as a question , would help readers to sooner understand the main objective of the study. There’s many ways to make a title exciting!

Legends tell of a giant salamander

Produced by: Lucy Poley ( @lucygempoley )

We preach that any infographic, whether it be a scientific poster or a graphical abstract, should have one large eye-catching image - and that’s exactly what the GIANT salamander does! It’s big, it’s imposing, it’s slimy, and it grabs the reader’s attention!

Using a playful font ( and an equally playful tone of voice in the text - this is how it should be!), the graphical abstract tells a full story from top to bottom, with neatly compartmentalised boxes for descriptive text.

The GA consistently uses shades of green which perfectly fit the swamp theme, and a hint of red, dark blue and dark browns work well for contrast.

A boundary or margin around the text boxes and graphics would help give this graphic some much-needed negative space to give your eyes some rest. Sometimes less is more! And on that note, there’s far too many words (we counted a whopping 195!) for a visual summary - halving this would be fantastic, or if you can, aim for a short and sweet 65-80.

Putting your best foot forward!

Produced by: Taylor and Francis Group

This cartoon abstract, as the Taylor and Francis Group calls it, is a fantastic example of a comic-style graphical abstract about world-class athletes. Each aspect of the study is contained in a separate comic panel with an accompanying illustration - from the premise, the problem, the solution, the methods all the way to their final conclusions and outcomes. To present the results, they’ve creatively chosen icons of three sections across the foot to show how their data was collected.

What’s especially neat is that they’ve used a thick empty margin to give the graphic some negative space. It’s an easy way to ensure even the busiest of graphics have somewhere your eyes can rest!

We’ve got a clear contrast between the rugged mountain terrain and the bright accent colours of the athlete uniform. Since there’s so many details, good contrast is important to ensure everything is clearly visible!

Understandably, scientists love to add every tiny detail about their study on the front page. But the job of a graphical abstract is just to give you a taste - a small but powerful impression, of what’s in the paper. So definitely a chop in word count is in order (it’s already >200 words as it is!). We suggest fewer text boxes be used, and that each description could be rewritten as a dot-point statement with just the key words you need!

The Female James Bond

Produced by: The AYS team together with Dr Katharina Richter ( @DrKatiRichter )

We used a comic style to personalise the research on the development of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria, and we used some classic scenes from popular James Bond films to create an engaging villain/hero narrative.

Everybody loves a good hero story!

Since the illustrations are so large, they can actually slot right into a conference poster , which is exactly what our client did! As a wonderful unintended consequence, she was stopped throughout the conference by people who recognised her as “the female James Bond” so it's a handy way to stand out from the crowd!

Shades of red become brighter as you go from left to right, matching the progression of the story from evil (bacteria) to good (scientist)! There’s definitely some mood building going on here!

Looking back, perhaps we could’ve illustrated each bacterium in the second panel with a different facial expression. After all, it’s the odd ones out that end up being resistant to antibiotics - just to drive that point straight home!

Take-home messages for your own GA

Have one, big, imposing, in-your-face, or thought-provoking image.

Everything’s in moderation - including the word count. Go for 65-80 words if you can!

Choose a layout that’s easy to follow the flow of information to convey your story.

We hope this post convinced you to create a graphical abstract for your next paper. If you are up for the challenge of designing your own, we’ve got more to say about the wonderful world of graphical abstracts ! It is packed with useful advice!

Strapped for time?

We completely get it, and that’s why we offer our professional design services to busy researchers like yourselves! Have a look at the graphical abstracts we’ve had the joy of designing for our clients and see if we have an aesthetic that works for you!

Though If you’d like some help or don’t have the time to get to the drawing board get in touch with us !

Dr Juan Miguel Balbin

Dr Tullio Rossi

#SciComm #GraphicalAbstract

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How to design an effective graphical abstract: the ultimate guide

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8 Ways to Make a Video Abstract - With Examples

English Editing Research Services

Creating Graphical Abstracts

A graphical abstract, or visual abstract, is a single pictorial summary of your manuscript’s main findings. The concept is quite new – Dr. Andrew Ibrahim, creative director of the journal Annals of Surgery , is credited with introducing it in 2016.

As journals are increasingly centered on online publications after so many decades of paper distribution, graphical abstracts are used increasingly often. Since 2016, more than 100 medical journals ( source ) alone now have introduced type of visual/graphical abstract, including the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine .

These images (sort of like infographics, sort of like comics) are not only a summary but also an advertisement for the article.

And unlike an abstract, there are fewer rules. This means that knowing the value of, and expectations on, your graphical abstract, will help you prepare it better.

What you’ll learn in this post

• What a graphical or visual abstract is.

• How adding a graphical abstract can help communicate your science to a wider audience.

• The elements of a successful graphical abstract.

• Examples of graphical abstracts for research papers and systematic reviews.

• How to make your own graphical abstract or use a specialized service to make a customized one for you.

The benefits of graphical abstracts

Graphical abstracts can give your manuscript added appeal and clarity. Even more than a concise abstract they can communicate your work rapidly. And together with a plain language summary , they’re a reader-friendly way to make your work understood.

Online publication allows manuscripts to be more visual and interactive, and editors use those features to help attract more readers. Also, a graphical abstract can be shared on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, as they can be easily attached to a post and show up in other users’ social feeds. This matters more and more, as publications increase along with the need for self-promotion to gain visibility.

A study on geriatrics research found that a Twitter tweet with a visual abstract received 6.8× more impressions/views, 4.8× more shares/retweets, and 2.8× more likes compared with the same article tweeted with no graphical abstract.

For you as an author, graphical abstracts may seem counterintuitive and insufficient. You’re used to explaining exactly what your manuscript is about in a concise summary, with each section of your study represented.

The idea behind a graphical abstract though, is to convey this same information in a single image, with limited text.

While quickly helping readers understand the findings of the paper and whether it’s relevant to them, graphical abstracts also remove make life easier for non-native English speakers having to write and read in English.

What you put in a graphical abstract

In this single image, you’ll typically have:

• The title of your graphical abstract
• A primary sections that covers the methods, results, and conclusions
• The authors’ names and any citations/references

Effective English Writing

Get insights from a real journal editor!

This quick handy PDF highlights what to do (and what NOT to do) when writing your research manuscript.

Our experts show you how to write effectively for better readability and faster publication!

Free PDF e-book

Tips for making a great visual abstract

If your target journa l requires you to submit a graphical abstract along with your manuscript, here are some tips to help you design one:

• Think about what your paper is describing: a mechanism, a theory, a structure, or a cause and effect. What kind of visual would best showcase this concept?
• Consider the essential elements involved in your study. Thinking about key words here can help you determine what to include to draw the interest of readers.
• Keep your abstract to a single image or split panels.
• Don’t simply re-use one of the figures from your manuscript. Consider the graphical abstract an additional image of its own that brings together the ideas shown within the manuscript.
• Avoid including too many details or distracting elements. Label any items clearly and show processes with arrows.
• Use only details from your own findings, not any referenced literature , unless absolutely necessary.
• While PowerPoint slides are the most common type of graphical abstract, you can use other software packages you use to make figures , and create something even more attractive.

Examples of graphical abstracts

Basic graphical abstract.

Here’s an example of a clean and accessible graphical abstract:

There’s nothing fancy here. It’s essentially a cartoon or infographic. What it does, in just a few words, is set out what they did, what happened, and what it means. Simple.

That one’s a bit more creative, and certainly not elaborate. Elsevier advocates a simple three-frame approach to visual abstracts, set much like a weekday newspaper cartoon:

• Panel 1: Give the context background
• Panel 2: Show the methodology or make a second point
• Panel 3: Give the outcome (or a third point)

A cartoon style visual representation is one common way. Another approach is a flow diagram that illustrates the process and affects (i.e., what happens, then what, and finally what) of our study.

And a third way is visual systems that, rather than focusing on the experiments you performed, plots out the big picture.

As far as software to create your graphical abstract, see our article on software for scientific figures . This is a thorough list, and most of the same packages will apply.

Graphical abstracts for systematic reviews

A systematic review is at the top of the evidence pyramid , as it is essentially critical research compiling other research. We focus on systematic reviews a great deal, such as in using the P.I.E.C.E.S. method to assemble them and in assessing their internal and external validity.

Like other research, systematic reviews can expand their appeal with a clean informative visual abstract. Here are two examples.

“This is a very effective visual abstract. The key messages are apparent immediately, including the risk as well as benefit. The design is simple and attractive, making it easy to comprehend the study,” says Dr. Daniel McGowan, Edanz Science Director. ​

Here’s another.

“Overall this is another good example of a visual abstract with effective use of color. I like it, but do you think perhaps even more of the information could have been presented visually?” Dr. McGowan comments.

Indeed it is somewhat compact for such a sweeping topic. An edit may also help with textual consistency. The color scheme is effective though, and the reader can quickly grasp what’s going on in this paper.

Where to find more graphical abstracts and how to make yours

For examples of good graphical abstracts, Elsevier has several good examples for different types of manuscripts , while Cell (PDF link) shows how initial abstract submissions were improved for better visual impact.

But what if you’re not an artist? Or just want to focus on words and science?

We’ve got a solution.

You can hire Edanz to work with you to create a graphical abstract for your manuscript. Simply get in touch with our Publication Support team or have a look at our research services . We’ll assign a pro artist to get your findings across visually. The more ways you can communicate your valuable research the better!

Top 4 tips for designing a graphical abstract

Start making professional scientific figures today!

A well-designed graphical abstract should give your audience an immediate understanding of your article's main message. Our expert science design team has put together a list of top tips that will help you create a clear and compelling graphical abstract.

Why are graphical abstracts important?

Graphical abstracts are a powerful tool that you can use to visually summarize and communicate your research. It is often the first thing a reader looks at in a journal article but knowing how to design a clear and compelling visual can be challenging. In this guide, you'll learn actionable tips for designing an effective graphical abstract to inform and impress your readers.

Plan ahead!

There's nothing worse than finishing your figure only to realize it doesn't fit the guidelines. Before getting started with your graphical abstract, make sure to check the journal guidelines and specs, specifically: font, dimensions and colors. This simple step only takes a few minutes but can save you a lot of time in the long run.

Starting your graphical abstract

Creating a figure from scratch can be daunting. To help you kick-start your figure-making, start by focusing on these three areas:

The main message of your study. Use 1-2 sentences to summarize your research paper. This is the foundation of your graphical abstract.

Your layout. Gather examples of other graphical abstracts to determine which layout will work best for yours. Pro tip: browse the BioRender template gallery for inspiration.

Your story flow. Sketch your ideas on paper. Get your thoughts down and create a rough draft.

Once you have the content of your graphical abstract planned out, you'll need to create a clear, effective design. Here are four simple design tips to help guide you:

• Layout - Use a layout that effortlessly guides the reader through your figure. Bonus tip: Try unidirectional flows for step-wise information and cyclical flows for processes.
• Color and contrast - Pick the main color for your figure and an accent color to highlight key elements. Bonus tip: Check that the colors you pick have good contrast in grayscale so the reader can differentiate all elements in your figure easily.
• Arrows and labels - Place just enough arrows and labels so that the information is easy to grasp for the reader. Bonus tip: Define a hierarchy of your arrow flows. Think of them like a main highway with multiple side roads.
• Alignment - Keep similar elements aligned throughout the figure. This helps with comparing and contrasting. Bonus tip: Use guidelines (vertically and horizontally) for facilitated alignment and padding.

Check out our Designing graphical abstract webinar to see these tips in action! [Here are some useful timestamps so you can quickly jump to the sections you're interested in: layout and story flow (9:19), color (16:16), arrows and text (27:47), alignment and spacing(29:44).]

What are common graphical abstract design mistakes?

When it comes to designing any type of science figure, it's important to focus on clarity. The following are a few of the most common design mistakes that can make your figure appear crowded, confusing, and/or difficult to read:

1) Low contrast or patterned backgrounds.

2) Overlapping elements, especially arrows.

3) Using too many colors (try limiting to 2-3).

4) Drop shadows and word art.

5) Unnecessary elements. Minimalism is better than crowdedness.

Can BioRender help you create a graphical abstract?

Absolutely! You can design beautiful graphical abstracts in minutes with our library of over 10,000 scientifically-accurate icons and powerful design tools! Plus, in BioRender you'll find hundreds of pre-made, fully-editable templates so you can find inspiration and create your graphical abstracts even faster!

Full downloadable infographic (square)

Click here to open a fully editable and downloadable version of this infographic in BioRender.

Click here to open a fully-editable version of this template in BioRender

Full downloadable infographic (long, mobile-friendly)

The visuals used in this article were created fully in BioRender and are available as editable templates.

References:

• BioRender Learning Hub | Designing graphical abstracts. (2021). BioRender. https://learn.biorender.com/tutorial/designing-graphical-abstracts
• BioRender Learning Hub | Anatomy of a Figure: From BioRender Templates to Graphical Abstracts. (2021). Biorender. https://learn.biorender.com/tutorial/anatomy-of-a-figure-from-biorender-templates-to-graphical-abstracts

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What is a Graphical Abstract and Why Do I Need One for My Paper?

May 26, 2023

According to the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (2018), over 3 million scholarly papers are published each year, and that number is rapidly increasing. Researchers must comb through a growing body of scientific work to stay up to date on current research or when performing a literature review.

Text abstracts go a long way toward providing a study summary for this purpose, but they can still require a researcher to take in a large amount of technical information when assessing the relevance of multiple papers at once. Plus, word limits mean abstracts are inevitably condensed and may require highly field-specific terminology, making it difficult to understand the most important aspects of a paper.

This is where graphical abstracts (also sometimes called visual abstracts ) come in!

What is a graphical abstract?

A graphical abstract is kind of like a movie poster that gives away the plot. It should draw prospective readers in with attractive graphics. A graphical abstract should be designed in such a way that someone skimming through papers or scrolling through a website or social media feed can understand the basics of what you did and what you found at a glance. 

While there’s no standard format for graphical abstracts, the most effective ones often present a clear and concise statement of the main study conclusion—somewhat similar to a short title appearing near the top of the graphic—followed by illustrative representations of the 1-3 most important results and short descriptive phrases where helpful. The content can be organized into different panels and/or connected with arrows as in a flow diagram.

The benefits of graphical abstracts

Humans are visual by nature. We can process the information presented in an image with astonishing speed (Potter et al. 2013)—much quicker than we can process text (Dunn 2022)—and graphics grab our attention. 

In the world of social media, posts containing images can boost viewer engagement by over 200% (Li and Xie 2020). The scientific world is no different. Effective graphics can promote interest in research—not only among colleagues within our field but also among nonscientists who may be interested in our work. 

In fact, a recent study showed that the use of  graphical abstracts  in Twitter posts promoting new articles increased paper views by almost 3 times and overall social media engagement by ~8 times (Ibrahim et al. 2017)! With numbers like this, it's easy to see why an increasing number of journals require the submission of a graphical abstract alongside a paper to attract and connect with more readers.

Creating your graphical abstract 

Know your audience.

Creating a graphical abstract begins with careful consideration of your target audience and what aspects of your paper you want to emphasize given that audience. 

For example, your focus may be on other researchers who are likely to read a particular journal and could be interested in reading your paper more in depth. The goal is to provide a compelling graphic highlighting the main findings of the study in the context of an existing gap in knowledge. You want to entice other researchers to read more, cite your work, and maybe even reach out for collaboration. 

The use of field-specific terminology, concepts, and imagery along with a focus on the specific findings of your study can work well in this case. On the other hand, if you are instead hoping to reach people who don’t necessarily specialize in your field, you may choose to use more widely recognized terms and imagery and to emphasize the real-world applications of your research over specific results.

Where will a visual abstract be posted?

Another important consideration is where the graphical abstract will be used. 

If you are submitting to a journal that requires a graphical abstract upon submission, the publisher is most likely planning to display the graphical abstract alongside the article itself on the journal’s website. Or they could use it to promote the paper on social media. 

The journal may list some specific guidelines for the graphical abstract on its website; these are often found in the author instructions for manuscript preparation. Graphical abstract guidelines commonly pertain to aspects such as:

• Font size and style
• Color space to ensure a consistent look of the graphical abstracts across all papers published by the journal and permit successful typesetting

Because the target audience is likely to consist of other researchers in your field, they will often be familiar with field-specific terminology and concepts. But simplification might be worthwhile if you’d like to use your graphical abstract for other purposes with other types of audiences.

Then again, your target journal may not require a graphical abstract at all. In this case, providing a graphical abstract may be optional, or you may want to consider creating one to promote your research on your lab website, on social media, or in presentations at conferences. 

While this use offers somewhat more freedom in terms of format, it’s beneficial to consider where you ultimately want to post your graphical abstract. For example, while different social media platforms vary in their recommended aspect ratio for graphics, a 16:9 or 9:16 aspect ratio is often ideal. The jpeg file type is almost universally accepted .  

Available applications to create your visual abstract

A wide variety of programs are available to help you create an attractive graphical abstract. Below is a list of commonly used applications and some benefits and drawbacks to each.

Benefit : Easy to use and can create designs for free.

Drawback : Somewhat limited functionality

Microsoft PowerPoint

Benefit : Almost universally accessible, especially if artwork is downloaded as a pdf file.

Drawback : End result may not look professional, and there can be some incompatibility issues with the software used by journals

Adobe Illustrator

Benefit : Most functionality of all other options, files usually compatible with journal publisher software.

Drawback : Subscription can be costly

Alternatively, if you would like to hand off the design work to professional scientific illustrators, we would be happy to design a graphical abstract  for you.

Tips for making a graphical abstract

When creating your graphical abstract, keep in mind that it could be someone’s first impression of your work. Professional presentation is key.  You want it to stand out. 

Below we list some tips that can help optimize your impact:

1. Consider using icons with a limited color palette and relatively simple illustrations or images. 

This will keep clutter at a minimum. Simplicity of design will enhance the clarity of your message and help ensure excess complexity doesn’t cause prospective readers to keep scrolling. 

2. Think carefully about the layout.

Aim for an overall balanced look with roughly similar amounts of text and imagery across the design. The content should flow logically from one idea to the next—typically from top to bottom or left to right, although a circular layout might work well if the study has a cyclical element. 

Be sure not to use too much or too little white space. The strategic use of white space can improve clarity by providing a visual “break”, but adding too much could result in the ineffective use of space or make the design appear unbalanced. 

3. Check the resolution. 

Images with low resolution that are highly pixelated will not reproduce well. To avoid  this, you can create the illustrations yourself by drawing them in a program such as Adobe Illustrator or taking photos with a digital camera. If these options are not available, however, there are many image sources on the internet. 

But be careful! If you are not the original creator of a graphic, it is important to ensure you have copyright permission to use it in your design. Most images on the internet are not free to use, although some free-to-use sites such as Wikimedia Commons and subscription-based repositories such as Shutterstock and Getty Images are available. 

It’s always important to double check the licensing (and resolution!) of any image you download from the internet.

4. Optimize your design’s accessibility. 

Some ways to optimize accessibility include:

• Ensuring suitable contrast exists between text and its background
• Using appropriately sized sans-serif font
• Verifying that the palette is color blind safe

For example, people with red-green color blindness have difficulty distinguishing the colors red and green. Using these two colors to compare different groups is discouraged. Many tools that help evaluate accessibility are available, including the Proof Setup functions in Adobe products They help you visualize your design under certain types of color blindness.

5. Keep text to a minimum and opt for graphics in its place wherever possible. 

The goal is to grab someone’s attention so they want to read more; it’s not necessary to mention every detail in the graphical abstract—that’s what the paper is for!  

Final thoughts

An increasing number of journals are requiring graphical abstracts to accompany papers submitted for publication, and you can also use them to your professional advantage. By creating a professional-looking and eye-catching graphical abstract, you can increase your study’s impact by drawing the attention of prospective readers and collaborators and people who might not have otherwise known about your work.

About the author

Kerry Stricker, Ph.D.

Kerry is a Scientific Illustrator and Animator passionate about helping researchers communicate their work visually through graphics and video. Before joining the Research Square Company team in 2016, she received her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of South Florida and worked as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida studying the ecological consequences of plant invasions.

Dunn M (2022). Research: Is A Picture Worth 1,000 Words or 60,000 Words in Marketing? https://www.emailaudience.com/research-picture-worth-1000-words-marketing/ (accessed March 15, 2023)

Ibrahim AM, Lillemoe KD, Klingensmith ME, Dimick JB (2017). Visual Abstracts to Disseminate Research on Social Media: A Prospective, Case-control Crossover Study. Annals of Surgery 266(6): e46-e48. DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002277

International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (2018). STM Report. Prins Willem Alexanderhof 5, The Hague, 2595BE, The Netherlands. 

Li Y and Xie Y (2020). Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? An Empirical Study of Image Content and Social Media Engagement. Journal of Marketing Research 57(1): 1-19.

Potter MC, Wyble B, Hagmann CE, and McCourt ES (2014). Detecting meaning in RSVP at 13 ms per picture. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 76: 270-279.

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Open Access

Perspective

Ten simple rules for designing graphical abstracts

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected] (HKJ); Martin.bornhä[email protected] (MB)

Current address: Centre for Data Analysis, Visualisation and Simulation, University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons, Chur, Switzerland

Affiliation National Center for Tumor Diseases—University Cancer Center (NCT-UCC), Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus an der Technischen Universität Dresden, Germany

Roles Funding acquisition, Visualization, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations National Center for Tumor Diseases—University Cancer Center (NCT-UCC), Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus an der Technischen Universität Dresden, Germany, Medical Clinic 1, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus an der Technischen Universität Dresden, Germany

• Helena Klara Jambor, 
• Martin Bornhäuser

Published: February 1, 2024

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789
• Reader Comments

Citation: Jambor HK, Bornhäuser M (2024) Ten simple rules for designing graphical abstracts. PLoS Comput Biol 20(2): e1011789. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789

Editor: Scott Markel, Dassault Systemes BIOVIA, UNITED STATES

Copyright: © 2024 Jambor, Bornhäuser. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: HKJ received a salary from an habilitation award of the Medical Faculty of the Technische Universität Dresden. HKJ and MB received project funding from the Hochschulstiftung Medizin Dresden. MB received funding from the MSNZ program of the Deutsche Krebshilfe. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Explanatory graphics that summarize knowledge are common in science communication. These graphics integrate new insights with the existing body of knowledge in a particular field of research. Explanatory graphics have been widely used in chemistry for many years to depict structures [ 1 ], and they have now gained popularity across various scientific disciplines as graphical abstracts [ 2 ]. Scientific journals are increasingly asking authors to provide graphical abstracts along with a paper to attract audiences online and on social media. These graphical abstracts are prominently displayed on the journals websites, embellishing the table of contents, and serving as a visual pendant to the written abstract. Due to this usage, graphical abstracts are also referred to as “TOC” image or “thumbnail views.”

Graphical abstracts are not intended to provide a complete understanding of a research article, even though they are often presented online with just the title of the work. A study confirmed graphical abstracts by themselves are insufficient to comprehend the key message of a paper [ 3 ]. Instead these visuals serve to attract attention and are meant to be read in conjunction with the written abstract. According to Cell press guidelines, graphical abstracts should inspire audiences to browse, stimulate their interdisciplinary curiosity, and allow them to rapidly screen for papers in journals [ 4 ]. As graphical abstracts are a relatively recent addition to the publishing landscape, quantitative data on their usage and usefulness are still limited. However, early analyses indicate that while graphical abstracts do not necessarily increase full-text reads or citations, they do enhance the abstract views [ 5 ] and boost altimetric attention scores of articles [ 6 ].

Like other explanatory visualizations, graphical abstracts have common features such as a central visual element, often icons, diagrams or photos, explanatory text, and use clear layout and color schemes to increase readability. These elements are often structured using arrows and lines and enhanced with color. The design elements of graphical abstracts were recently quantified in a research study that classified graphical abstracts based on their overall organization [ 2 ]. In their work, Hullman and Bach revealed the diversity of graphical abstracts in the current literature, and in particular, the many possibilities to use layout for readability. They also pinpointed common problems associated with graphical abstracts, such as inconsistent visual styles, unclear relationships between pictures, and missing annotations. These challenges were also identified in a complementary qualitative study of graphical abstracts [ 7 ].

Training of scientists, especially early career researchers, in the art of crafting comprehensible and attractive graphical abstract has been somewhat lagging. A brief guide for graphical abstract design is available for medical writers [ 7 ] and for creating overview figures [ 8 ]. However, most scientist are not trained in data visualizations or visual communication [ 9 , 10 ], and even less so in creating explanatory visuals of their research. It’s important to note that visual design is a nontrivial endeavor. Publishing houses, journals, and major research institutes often employ visual teams to create attractive explanatory figures for scientific data.

Here, we present 10 simple rules for designing graphical abstracts. The 10 rules are informed by our experience teaching biologists, clinicians, students, and established scientists, and from jointly preparing graphical abstracts for publications and grants ( Fig 1 ). The article discusses all aspects of graphical abstract preparation, from foundational decisions about the message and the key visuals (1 to 3), to designing the layout (4 to 6), and complementing the design with text (7) and color (8). We also provide an overview of tools and software commonly used for making graphical abstracts (9) and highlight the benefit of feedback in the process (10). The order of the 10 rules reflects our “design pipeline” from starting with a draft to implementing the draft electronically; however, as with all creative processes, you are encouraged to adapt the process to your own style.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

The evolution of a graphical abstract, from sketch (A) to a rapid Biorender draft (B) and final implementation in a graphical software program (C). All drawings by HKJ, licensed under CC0, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24486061.v1 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g001

Rule 1: Key message for audience

Before embarking on the design of a graphical abstract, it is essential to know your message. This tip is not specific to graphical abstracts, but also essential for producing an understandable and clear visualization. The process of defining a key message varies. Some start with doodling on a post-it, some with key visuals, and some by iteratively shortening the abstract to 1 or 2 punchy sentences. Ideally already at this stage co-authors are involved and provide feedback (see #10). Recent tools, such as chatGPT, may be helpful in facilitating a dynamic exchange and the concise distillation of the core message. Whichever route is yours, without a clear central message, it will be impossible to design a clear graphical abstract and reach the goal of visually summarizing your research paper.

Rule 2: Pictures and pictograms

The key components of every graphical abstract are the visual elements. Most often, graphical abstracts include pictograms or symbols and, less commonly, iconic microscope ( Fig 1 ) or photographic images, or data (see #5). Pictograms may also be hand-drawn, but mostly biologists use simple shapes, circles, ellipses, and rectangles, when creating pictograms from scratch. In recent years, numerous icon collections have become available, many of which are free to re-use and do not always need attribution. In most icon repositories pictograms can be downloaded as PNG (Portable Network Graphic), a raster-graphics format for lossless data compression. PNGs are ready to use in graphic software but not adaptable. Alternatively, icons are provided as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), an image format that can also be used interactively on the web and is fully adaptable in appearance with graphic software.

For general icons, many repositories exist for simple icons:

• PowerPoint offers inbuild image and icon libraries and many pre-drawn shapes that are free to use.
• Fontawesome ( https://fontawesome.com ) is a Unicode-based icon library that can be installed locally as a font for graphic programs, downloaded as full icon library, or downloaded as individual SVG images.
• Nounproject ( https://thenounproject.com ) is a large repository sourcing icons from various designers. Hence, the available icons are vast, but also not matched in style. These icons can be used for free with attribution as SVG or PNG.
• SVGrepo ( https://www.svgrepo.com ) is the largest SVG icon library, which additionally provides search functions for icon style and appearances such as color, rounded or sharp icons.

Biology and Medicine require specific icons which are available in the following repositories:

• Phylopic ( https://www.phylopic.org/ ) offers shapes of numerous animals, plants, and further model organisms, e.g., for phylogenetic trees.
• The EBI ( https://www.ebi.ac.uk/style-lab/general/fonts/v1.3/ ) provides some general scientific icons.
• Reactome ( https://reactome.org/icon-lib ) provides scientific pictograms and chemical drawings for free re-use and encourages the upload of user-designed pictograms for sharing with the scientific community.
• Smart ( https://smart.servier.com/ ) is a free collection of medical drawings from Servier Medical Art and can be downloaded as a full slide-deck and used with attribution.
• Bioicons ( https://bioicons.com/ ) is an expanding set of biology and laboratory icons from Petri dishes to model organisms available under free licenses (CC0). Initially by Servier, the drawings are expanded with user provided samples.
• Health Icons ( https://healthicons.org/ ) is a global volunteer effort to create common icons for many specialized medical scenarios available under creative commons license (CC0).

In a graphical abstract, all icons should have a similar overall appearance, meaning the same line-width, color scheme, and level of detail. Icons from the same source and/or the same designer usually have such a similar look. Fig 2A and 2B shows 2 versions of a graphical abstract with a poor and improved icon combination. If icons from several sources are combined, you could match their style by adapting the SVG-pictograms in graphic software.

(A) All pictograms used have similar overall appearance (color, size, design, modified from [ 11 ]). (B) Poor combination of pictogram for the same workflow: pictograms have different overall appearance. Icons in A: Fontawesome, Fonticons, Inc. Icons in B: Microscope: Bioicons DBCLS https://togotv.dbcls.jp/en/pics.html is licensed under CC-BY 4.0; Laptop: Icon by Simon Dürr https://twitter.com/simonduerr is licensed under CC0 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ; Image/slider: see A; Colors and people: drawn by HKJ; Newspaper: https://www.svgrepo.com/svg/301104/newspaper-news , CC0.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g002

For inspiration, you may wish to explore one of the earliest icon libraries, the ISOTYPE. The ISOTYPE system was developed by Otto Neurath in the 1920ies in Vienna as a visual communication tool for low-literate populations. The designs are from Gerd Arntz and were later continued by Marie Neurath ( http://gerdarntz.org/isotype.html ).

Rule 3: Data and charts as key visual

At times pictograms cannot sufficiently represent a key message. You then may wish to include data or charts in your graphical abstracts. When your data are medical, microscopy, or photo images they may be self-explanatory in graphical abstracts. When you want to instead include data plots, you should aim for chart types that are understandable even in the short view time of graphical abstracts. Most of us are familiar with bar charts, which are the most common chart type in scientific publications [ 12 , 13 ], and with pie and line charts, plot types we usually learn in school ( Fig 3 ). These charts employ core principles of visual perception: in bar charts we almost intuitively compare lengths, in pie charts the slice areas, and in line charts we look for up- or downward trends [ 14 ].

Note that the core message (increases, is most, one third…) is communicated without axis details, labels, and legends.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g003

When it is necessary to signify the use of a specific method in graphical abstracts, sometimes method-specific charts are employed as visual placeholders. For example, t-SNE plots may represent single-cell data, red/green heatmaps can denote microarray data, and circoid plots are indicative of genomic approaches. However, it’s important to note that readers of your graphical abstract are unlikely to delve into the details in these advanced graphics. In such instances, a simple version of that charts should be used, featuring only a handful of data points or categories. Details like tick marks, axis label, and legends can be omitted. For a comprehensive understanding of different chart types and their appropriate use a valuable resources is the Data Visualization Catalogue ( https://datavizcatalogue.com/ ).

Rule 4: Layout: The dimensions

Layout describes the organization of visual elements on the page ( Fig 4 ). First, consider the space that you have available to fill. A graphical abstract for a journal website is typically shown as a square and rarely in rectangle format ( Fig 4A ). On many websites and applications, the graphical abstract has a final size not much larger than a postage stamp. When a graphical abstract is the first figure of an article, poster, or grant application, you may also opt for a landscape rectangle format. Whenever choosing a layout, you should consider how to fill the area best. In grant applications space is very limited, filling the entire width of a line may then be a best choice to not waste precious space ( Fig 4B ).

Different dimensions (A) and how they merge with text on a page (B).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g004

Rule 5: Layout: Reading direction

The layout should provide a clear entry point into your graphical abstract. Typically, we read from left to right, and top to bottom in either columns or rows. You should therefore arrange all elements of the graphical abstract along your chosen reading direction [ 15 ].

For depiction of linear processes that have a clear beginning and end, an organization from left to right is most suitable: time is usually shown as the independent variable on the x-axis in graphs. Linear processes are workflows, experimental pipelines, embryonic development, cellular differentiation, or disease progression. Alternatively, you can consider a circular layout for cyclic events such as daily or annual events, metabolic cycles, or processes like cell division. For static observations, e.g., contrasting 2 scenarios or providing 2 levels of details for 1 scenario, you could consider 2 parallel or nested organization [ 2 ]. Fig 5 summarizes the most common organizational layouts of graphical abstracts.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g005

Rule 6: Connecting the elements: Arrows and arrangement

Arrows are a key element for all explanatory graphs and visual abstracts. With arrows, we connect text, pictograms, images, and charts into a sequential narrative or “storyline” and consequently they are the most common graphical element in explanatory life science figures [ 16 ]. Arrows can reinforce your chosen reading direction but arrows can also signal any exception from this reading direction. A clear layout supported by arrows helps to quickly orient your audiences in a visualization.

In graphical abstracts, arrows have several distinct appearances and also distinct functions. Arrows also include arrowheads, lines with rounded tips or other end-marks ( Fig 6A ), and lines without any marks [ 17 ]. Remarkably, a single arrow type may convey distinct semantic meanings: an upward arrow may signify an upward movement, an increase, or a positive connotation, while a circular arrow can symbolize various temporal scales, from a day, to year, or an entire life cycle [ 17 ]. In many academic domains, arrows have also specialized applications, such as a corner/bent arrow that in molecular genetics illustrates transcription start sites [ 16 ]. Arrows can also depict various movements, representing phenomena like the passage of a molecule through a membrane, the migration of cells within a tissue, or the collective herd movement of animals. And finally, arrows and lines are also commonly used for labeling and directing attention to specific structures or regions of interest.

Common arrow types (A) and arrows in context (B).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g006

It is crucial that you clearly communicate the purpose of your arrows to your audience. When combining 2 different arrow types in a single graphical abstract, you should ensure they are visually distinct and explained. Moreover, the context in which an arrow is presented has substantial influence on how it’s perceived ( Fig 6B ).

Even with a clear layout and arrows, graphical abstracts can appear overwhelming. This feeling is rooted in the limitations of our visual system. Miller postulated the “Magical number 7,” suggesting that human sensory perception can effectively process only about 7 elements (plus or minus 2) at a time [ 18 ]. Of course, graphical abstracts typically comprise more than 7 elements. To address this challenge, design principles, often referred to as “Gestalt principles,” come into play, aiding in the organization of elements into interconnected units, or “chunks,” which enhances the information conveyed and reduces cognitive load [ 19 ].

Some of the design principles are especially helpful for graphical abstract design. “Proximity” suggests that elements can be grouped by minimizing their physical distance on the page. “Similarity” describes that elements form groups when they share common visual attributes. Such visual attributes, e.g., a shared color, pattern, or shape [ 20 ], may even lead to grouping when elements are not in close physical proximity. Grouping by similar appearance is helpful, e.g., in scatterplots, but can cause confusion if applied erroneously to non-grouped elements (see #8). “Closure” stipulates that elements within the same boundary are grouped, which explains the frequent use of boxes in design templates. However, it’s worth noting that boxes can often be replaced with white space to achieve a similar effect. The principle of “continuity” asserts that elements arranged along an invisible axis visually form a group, an idea that inspired Tufte to experiment with omitting x-axes in bar plots altogether [ 21 ]. And last, “similarity” suggests that elements arranged symmetrically appear grouped. These design principles are helpful for graphical abstracts but also valuable for improving your further designs such as scientific figures, as exemplified by Bang Wong [ 22 , 23 ].

Rule 7: Text

The most effective way to ensure audiences comprehend complex insights with graphical abstracts is by seamlessly integrating text and visuals [ 24 , 25 ]. To captivate your audience, consider incorporating well-known keywords and phrases [ 7 ]. Text can also serve as a substitution when suitable images or pictograms are unavailable, particularly for specialized names or terminology, e.g., “acetylcholine.” Text is also important for labeling ambiguous or unusual visuals, icons, or arrows. For example, a circle you use could represent a molecule, an area, or a cell. While text offers additional clarifications, be sure to keep your titles and annotations concise, devoid of jargon, and limited to common abbreviations, all of which in general enhance readability and citations of scientific articles in general [ 26 ]. Lastly, text can play a dual role as a legend when the annotation mirrors the encoding style of associated visual elements. You may color a key word in the title in the same hue as the associated data in the abstract (see Fig 3 ).

Rule 8: Colors

A key function of appealing colors in graphical abstracts is to engage your audience. Beyond that colors have further roles, color highlights, contrasts, encodes quantities, or represents the natural appearance of the depicted objects ( Fig 7A–7C ). When colors encode quantitative information, sequential or continuous data should be encoded with varying saturations of a single color, diverging data with e.g., two-color scheme, and for qualitative data you may vary the hue [ 27 , 28 ].

Color can highlight (A), encode numbers (B), or show natural appearance (C) in graphical abstracts. Be careful with your color choice when using a colored background. Image: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons ( https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_-_Hare,_1502_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011789.g007

Several tools are available that may be helpful when selecting your color schemes. Colorbrewer by Cynthia Brewer ( https://colorbrewer2.org/ ) is useful for choosing colors to encode numerical data, while Paletton ( https://paletton.com/ ) enables the selection of attractive color combinations using a color wheel. These tools can assist in achieving harmonious appearances through adjacent colors or creating striking contrasts by employing complementary colors.

Consistency in color usage is important (see #6, principle of similarity). It is vital that you maintain the same color code and scheme within the abstract, and between the abstract and the main manuscript. A change in color is not merely a shift in aesthetics, it signifies a change in meaning. Colors, being instantly perceptible, should be used sparingly to prevent overwhelming the audiences and diverting their attention from the primary message. Hence, make your color choices with utmost care.

When selecting colors, you should ensure that they are accessible to your color blind audiences [ 29 ]. But more generally, you should consider possible limitations to visually impaired audiences. A comprehensive study provides an overview of accessibility in visualizations for different target groups (i.e., color-blind, visually impaired, and blind individuals) and various visual tasks [ 30 ]. A few steps help to improve accessibility: all figures, including graphical abstracts, must always be described with accompanying text. You may also be able to provide Alt-text descriptions for screen reader software. Additionally, also visually able audiences differ in their perception of color and contrast and therefore color should be avoided as the sole channel for key information (see also #7, labeling visuals). Beyond avoiding certain color combinations, like red-green for individuals with Deuteranopia, also low-contrast color combinations and many background colors may reduce visibility and thus accessibility. You can use numerous web-based tools (e.g., https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/ ) or render your monitor display settings to assess legibility. WebAIM suggests a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1 for foreground and background colors and provides a tool for assessing color combinations ( https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/ ). Finally, maintaining a sufficiently high resolution is vital for ensuring accessibility, allowing your audiences to print or zoom in to your visualizations as needed.

Rule 9: Tools for graphical abstracts

Graphical abstracts are typically prepared with the same software as posters and figures. Suitable are commercial (e.g., Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, Affinity Designer) or open-source (e.g., Inkscape) vector-design software. Vector-based graphics programs are particularly useful as they allow for zooming in and out of visualizations without quality loss. For most graphical abstracts PowerPoint will also produce sufficient results, especially when the canvas size is adjusted and slides are exported as vector graphics such as PDF. When saving your graphical abstract make sure that your images are not compressed to prevent pixelation artifacts.

A comprehensive article reviews many common software used for illustrations as well as their advantages, disadvantages and pricing is available [ 31 ]. If you wish to use the free vector graphic software Inkscape, you may consult a practical guide for biologists [ 32 ]. Inkscape is rapidly developing and now allows direct import of icons from icon libraries, as well as processing of images and data with scripts inside the software. The proprietary alternative to Inkscape is Adobe Illustrator, which is widely adopted by scientists and for which tutorials are available [ 33 ]. Another commercial software is CorelDraw which can, like Inkscape, incorporate icons from many web-based icon libraries.

In recent years, several web-based drawing softwares have become available, such as Canva or Figma. BioRender is a proprietary web-based software powered by a large biomedical icon library, which is an attractive feature to its users; however, their appearance, shape, color, and detail cannot be changed. A drawback to many labs is also BioRender’s continuous adaptation of licenses, while an advantage is its interface with public databases, such as the Protein Data Bank. Another web-based tool is Mindthegraph, which also offers in addition design consulting. A summary of tools is available [ 7 ].

Pictograms and icons can be imported in all programs, including the web-based tools, as SVG or PNG (see #2) and Inkscape even allows the direct, web-based import from icon libraries such as Bioicons or Reactome.

Rule 10: Before, during, after: Feedback

Visual design is a dynamic and iterative process. Consequently, graphical abstracts should undergo several rounds of assessment and adjustment to avoid common pitfalls such as unclear reading directions [ 2 ] and inconsistencies in elements and style within the visualization.

Feedback can be actively sought and integrated at various stages: during the formulating of your key message, the drafting of your prototype, or the final polishing phase. As a best practice, the book Storytelling With Data in fact recommends allocating dedicated time for discussing the visualizations in every meeting [ 34 ]. As in every design of a human–computer interaction, also for graphical abstracts you may seek expert feedback, e.g., from a scientists or designers that regularly prepare graphical abstracts, as well as user feedback, e.g., from scientists or students who may read your paper.

General feedback principles [ 35 ] also apply to visual work. This means that feedback should be specific, tangible, and task-oriented and those seeking feedback should be clear in their request. In graphical abstracts, the audience must decode the visual representations. You can get feedback by observing how an expert or user is interacting with your graphical abstract, or by asking for their opinions. Ask what they see at first glance to see if the visual weight aligns with the key message. Ask about clarity of the layout and reading direction, including the meaning of arrows, and the comprehensibility of visual elements and colors. Alli Torban from Tableau, a visual design company, imparts additional guidance on the intricacies of soliciting and receiving feedback for visual designs [ 36 ].

When designing graphical abstracts in a team, we usually exchange rapid drafts or sketches of the graphical abstract several times before a solid idea emerges ( Fig 1 ) and is then prepared for publication [ 37 ]. In our experience, the process of preparing a graphical abstract also serves as a valuable exercise to assess whether our key message is succinct. It also aids writing teams and grant writers in aligning toward a shared vision or objective. The graphical abstract thus serves as a valuable tool for bridging communication or knowledge gaps in transdisciplinary teams such as consortia of clinicians, engineers, and biologists.

While initially graphical abstracts may seem like extra work for little reward, we hope that our 10 rules encourage you to start creating understandable and gorgeous graphical abstracts. A useful resource for educators wishing to teach graphical abstract preparation in a classroom setting is available from Agrawal and Ulrich, who provide templates for exercises and downloadable sample materials [ 9 ]. A quick guide, along with a PowerPoint template, is also available from Elsevier [ 38 ]. And for inspiration the British Medical Journal hosts a collection of infographics ( https://www.bmj.com/infographics ). Once you become familiar with the format of graphical abstracts, you may also wish to experiment with styles and forms. Usually, journals do not limit their authors: we have seen artistic, comic-style [ 39 ], and even hand-drawn (Fabio di Belvis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378517319307975?via%3Dihub ) graphical abstracts.

Acknowledgments

HKJ would like to acknowledge James P. Saenz for feedback on the draft version.

• 1. Lane S, Karatsolis A, Bui L. Graphical abstracts: a taxonomy and critique of an emerging genre. In: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual International Conference on the Design of Communication [Internet]. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery; 2015 [cited 2023 Jun 4]. p. 1–9. (SIGDOC ‘15). https://doi.org/10.1145/2775441.2775465
• 2. Hullman J, Bach B. Picturing Science: Design Patterns in Graphical Abstracts. In: Chapman P, Stapleton G, Moktefi A, Perez-Kriz S, Bellucci F, editors. Diagrammatic Representation and Inference. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2018. p. 183–200. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).
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Graphical Abstracts - Examples

Xrp1 governs the stress response program to spliceosome dysfunction

DNA fragility at topologically associated domain boundaries is promoted by alternative DNA secondary structure and topoisomerase II activity

Catalytic residues of microRNA Argonautes play a modest role in microRNA star strand destabilization in  C. elegans

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Graphical Abstract in Scientific Research

Affiliations.

• 1 Orthopedics, ACS Medical College and Hospital, Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, IND.
• 2 Orthopedics, Rathimed Speciality Hospital, Chennai, IND.
• 3 Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Baronissi, ITA.
• 4 Orthopadic, Trauma, and Reconstructive Surgery, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) University Medical Centre, Aachen, DEU.
• 5 School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Keele University Faculty of Medicine, Stoke-on-Trent, GBR.
• 6 Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Mile End Hospital, Queen Mary University of London, London, GBR.
• 7 Medicine, Shri Madan Lal Khurana Chest Clinic, New Delhi, IND.
• PMID: 37872939
• PMCID: PMC10590498
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.45762

A graphical abstract (GA) summarizes the key and important findings of an article graphically, potentially stimulating researchers to view the published manuscript. A GA should enhance dissemination, augment engagement, and impact clinical practice. Infographics play a key role in a quicker understanding of the significant findings of a manuscript. Few level 1 studies reported that GAs enhanced the engagement of readers on social media when compared to plain text abstracts. With the evolution of Industry 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0, GA plays a major role in understanding the technical aspects of various technologies. This article outlines tips to prepare an effective GA and reports the impact of GAs on research and clinical translation.

Keywords: graphical abstract; graphics; research; social media; visual abstract.

Copyright © 2023, Jeyaraman et al.

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