graphical abstract for research paper

Get in touch

555-555-5555

[email protected]

Limited time offer: 20% off all templates ➞

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

Content is protected by Copyright license. Website visitors are welcome to share images and articles, however they must include the Simplified Science Publishing URL source link when shared. Thank you!

Online Courses

Stay up-to-date for new simplified science courses, subscribe to our newsletter.

Thank you for signing up!

You have been added to the emailing list and will only recieve updates when there are new courses or templates added to the website.

We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience and we do not sell data. By using this website, you are giving your consent for us to set cookies: View Privacy Policy

Simplified Science Publishing, LLC

• Oct 27, 2021
• 13 min read

How to design an effective graphical abstract: the ultimate guide

All researchers know this story by now.

We spend months writing and revising our manuscript to absolute perfection. We feel pretty proud of our work, and we’re certain our target journal is going to roll out the red carpet and embrace it with open arms.

Alas, something unexpected happens…

We hit a massive roadblock at the tail-end of the manuscript submission process, simply because we don’t have a “graphical abstract.”

“A graphical what?!” we exclaim, throwing our arms in the air.

“What on earth IS this thing preventing us from submitting our amazing manuscript? This is going to be a massive waste of time!”

So, what’s the point you say?

You’re about to learn exactly how important graphical abstracts are, AND how to nail them right the first time!

Let’s talk about the purpose of graphical abstracts, what they should look like, and how you can easily create one to stay competitive with your research.

What on earth is a graphical abstract?

Let’s start by clarifying what a graphical abstract (GA) is NOT.

But first imagine this. . . it’s late at night.

After several hours of reformatting your paper to the guidelines, you finally hit that SUBMIT button, go to bed, and pray that your manuscript is accepted.

Then at the last minute, something really (really!) frustrating happens. Your target journal requires a “graphical abstract” to be submitted along with your paper, and you can’t move forward without one!

So, what do you do?

You have three choices:

1) Scream and damn the day you decided to become an academic (oh the memories…)

2) Design a graphical abstract from scratch (remember, it’s half-past midnight already).

3) Grab the prettiest figure from your paper and pretend it’s a graphical abstract (you know, the statistically significant graph from Figure 3.1A!)

Look, chances are you’re not a graphic designer, and creating a masterpiece with PowerPoint is out of the question. So I’m certain you’d choose Option 1 or Option 3. . . and then pay a VERY steep price for it. If your journal allows it, there may be an Option 4 for submitting a video abstract . We can compare and contrast the options later. Today we’re talking specifically about graphical abstracts.

And on that note, let’s get one thing straight: a graphical abstract should not be a copy of the best figure in your paper. N E V E R.

So if it’s now 3 am and you’re tempted to do that, go to bed! Or, keep reading.

What’s the purpose of a Graphical Abstract?

Now that we’ve clarified what a GA should not be, let’s nail down its purpose.

A graphical abstract is used to visually and concisely summarise your manuscript and its main message. It tells a clear and concise story , and how it works in your favour depends on who is reading.

If your peers are reading: A GA becomes a promotional tool that positions your paper to stand out in places like social media . As the name suggests, a GA has the same purpose as a traditional abstract. But with 7,000+ peer-reviewed articles being published daily, nobody has the time to read a 250-word abstract. GAs work like movie posters: to grab attention and drive traffic to your paper (the equivalent of the movie). What’s more, they even have the power to double the number of times your article is read . Incredible!

If a non-academic is reading: They don’t speak the scientific jargon, and the blocks of text and the boring black-and-white figures just don’t do it for them (can you blame them?). Instead with a well-designed GA, these people can finally become acquainted with, understand and appreciate, your research. A GA extends the reach of your research beyond your peers. A GA is clear and to the point, just like if you were to explain your scientific profession at a dinner party . The lay person appreciates short and sweet explanations, not a full lecture!

Do they really work?

Graphical abstracts have been shown to improve the reach of new scientific publications.

One study used Twitter to quantify the effect of including a graphical abstract in the promotion of new publications. The researchers compared Twitter posts with and without GAs over one year, using each post as its own control. They found that the reach of posts with GAs were dramatically greater than those without.

Tweets with GAs received a 7.7-fold increase in Twitter impressions , a 8.4-fold increase in retweets , and a 2.7-fold increase in article visits . We’ve even compiled this same study into a GA below, check it out!

Who will read them?

The first question you should ask yourself is, who do I want to reach with this GA? Am I just interested in reaching my small community of peers interested in my obscure science or am I interested in going beyond?

Expert audiences

There is a lot of research out there that is hyper-technical and interests only a limited number of experts. If that’s your case, great! You know who you are talking to: the big cheeses of the field.

If you feel that this is your case, I have a surprise for you. You have total freedom in the style of graphical abstract you can use. Because your audience has an expert level of understanding of the subject, you have the freedom to go technical or not. You can decide to show them complex diagrams and p -values or hook them in with a funny comic with a highly nerdy joke that maybe 8 people in the world will understand.

It is up to you.

Non-expert audiences

But what if you wanted to share your work with your next door neighbour, or your grandma?

(… assuming neither of them are scientists in your field…)

Science has traditionally been for (guess what) scientists. That’s why Open Access publishing is a super trendy topic. The idea of removing paywalls is great… for scientists. However, is this really enough to make science truly “open”? The paywall is one barrier, but what are the others? And how can a GA help?

Comprehension is the greatest barrier of all. And it’s the barrier that the general public or layman audience can’t break on their own.

Let’s help them out by using these tips on your GA.

Context: you need to provide some context because otherwise a non-expert won’t be able to appreciate the relevance of your research.

No jargon: Some people call it Jargon Monoxide because it asphyxiates audiences. It is true, not being able to understand a few words will cause the reader to switch off and think that this is just not for them.

The “so what?” factor. The reason why your research is relevant might be obvious to your peers, but it is definitely not obvious to Joe and Jane next door. Tell them in plain English why this matters to their lives.

Styles of graphical abstracts

Let’s now talk about the fun stuff! Style!

When it comes to GA’s, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter template. Scientists and artists from around the world have explored a variety of approaches and styles .

So while there are no concrete rules about what a GA should look like, we’re familiar with a number of popular styles and how each one fits a certain audience.

Let’s have a look at a few examples of some different styles and where they sit in the Experts-Public spectrum .

Style 1: The classic diagram

This is a more traditional style of GA that’s been around for a while. Using GAs like this wasn’t uncommon in the chemistry field a few decades ago, given that chemistry is such a visual topic.

You’d notice that there is no background context and it’s full of technical jargon. If the target audience is other experts then great, they’ll get it. But this is not suitable for any other kind of audience.

Style 2: The p-value aficionado

This is called a ‘Visual Abstract’. It’s very popular in the medical field, and usually consists of vertical or horizontal panels. It’s a little more accessible than the previous style, with some easily recognisable icons and some text to guide the reader. But, it’s still geared towards other scientists. ​

Style 3: The infographic​

In the infographic style, there’s less emphasis on data and more emphasis on the main scientific message and the “so what” factor.

As the most versatile style, it provides a good middle ground on the accessibility spectrum. It starts with a sentence that provides some background context, and the images are clear and interesting. What’s important is the use of a large eye-catching graphic that draws people’s attention.

Style 4: The comic strip​

Here we can play with our knowledge of pop culture, humour and artistic freedom.

A comic-style is perfect for telling your scientific story in a fun, whimsical way which can include metaphors or real-world references. This is by far the most accessible way for the public to understand the intentions behind the science, without going into the nitty-gritty detail.

The last style is a comic style and is clearly aimed at the general public. It’s visually appealing with some custom graphics, and it uses humour to convey the key scientific message: opening up the target audience to engage with everyone.

How can I design one?

Before we dive in, let’s establish one unbreakable rule.

Your GA will be CLEAR and CONCISE . Got it? Good.

What’s that? You’ve got an awesome multi-dimensional plot with 8 colours? Great!

Keep it in the paper, that’s where it belongs.

Got a beautiful table with 20 rows of significant p-values? Amazing!

Let’s keep this rule in mind as we work through the following steps.

Step 1: Planning the content

Once you’ve identified your target audience, let’s decide on the content, starting with the text.

While you do need some text to provide context and to guide the reader through the graphics, you’ll need to keep it as short as possible: definitely less than 80 words.

What to write

We’re huge advocates of the And - But - Therefore format of storytelling invented by Dr Randy Olson in his book “Connection” which one of our favourite science communication books of all time!

The ‘And’ is the context (background), the ‘But’ is the hook that holds the reader’s attention (knowledge gap), and the ‘Therefore’ is what you found (results and conclusions). You can read more about this format of storytelling here . We can leave out the methods (unless you’re writing a methods paper!). If your reader is interested, they can find them in all their nitty-gritty glory in the full paper.

Now that you have your target audience in mind, let’s decide on the content, starting with the text.

You do need some text to provide context and to guide the reader through the graphics, but keep it as short as possible. And anyway, the clearer your graphics are, the fewer words you’ll need!

How to write it

If you’re talking to experts, you might have some technical words, but if you’re engaging with the public you’ll need to stay away from all jargon. Remember that jargon monoxide is lethal!

Step 2: Concept

Crack your knuckles because now we’re getting to work on how your GA will look. On paper, or in your design software, make the first draft.

If you’re particularly arty, roughly draw the key graphics that you’ll polish up later. If not, don’t worry, just keep in mind where you want to put in the graphics, and afterwards, we’ll track down the best the internet has to offer.

Ask yourself where your GA is going to be distributed most, because this will determine its size. If you’re submitting it to a journal, you’ll need to follow their instructions. Or maybe you just want to make a splash on social media. Twitter, Instagram etc. each have their own preferred sizes, and this determines whether or not your GA will be cropped when viewed on mobile devices etc. Decide which platform will give your GA the best chance of being seen, and size it accordingly.

Most things are either read left to right, or top to bottom. The easiest way to lay things out neatly are by arranging text and figures in panels, which could be connected by an arrow or numbering system. We’ve covered this in detail for scientific posters , and luckily the same principles apply.

Negative space

No, this isn’t astronaut terminology. Negative space just means space on your GA that’s not filled with stuff. It's a resting spot for the eyes.

Step 3: Designing

This is the most important part. This is what first grabs the reader’s attention when they start scrolling through Twitter, still half-asleep, while they eat breakfast. It should be big, bold, and capable of landing a solid impression. One glance should give your topic away. So, naturally, this isn’t the place to put Figure 3.1A of your manuscript!

The reason we’re choosing your image first is because, unless you’re making your own from scratch, the image will determine which colours you can use for the rest of the GA. We’ll go into more detail in the next section.

You can outsource modifiable images legally through The Creative Commons Search Engine , and there are sites dedicated to this, including PixaBay and PNG Tree . For photos, check out Unsplash . Some sites may ask for accreditation, so make sure to follow individual guidelines.

Or maybe you’re keen on drawing everything from scratch? We’ve got handy tips for that too .

So now, what software will you use to produce your GA? We’ve previously covered our personal recommendations for free and paid illustration software , so check out what suits your skill level and/or budget!

If you’re using an image you found on the web, then this step is easy. You’re going to sample the colours from that image using the Eyedropper Tool . It exists in every design software (even Microsoft PowerPoint!). Doing this will keep a consistent palette of colours throughout your GA.

Choosing colours from scratch? It is great fun to go freestyle, but there are literally an infinite number of colours out there, so how do we choose the 3 to 5 that we need?

Simple. Search “infographic colour palette” in Google Images and find one that you like and that is appropriate to your theme.

Marine biology? Well then, you can’t go wrong with some shades of blue.

Plant ecologist? How about a couple of greens and a nice brown?

Once you’ve found a colour combination that you like, use the Eyedropper tool to sample them, and hey presto, you’ve got your palette.

Pro tip 1: You can even install an eyedropper tool on your web browser. ColorZilla is a good one for Google Chrome.

Pro tip 2: Adobe Colour Wheel is a nice way of getting complementary colours based on colour theory - don’t worry, it’s easy to use.

OK, background, we want something eye-catching, so that means a photo, right? Nope! A texture? Double nope. Anything too busy will make your text and graphics hard to read.

A solid colour is perfect . We can be a bit more adventurous than white, but let’s not get carried away: save the hot pink for your underwear drawer.

Have you ever stared at a blank Microsoft Word page for over an hour, just because you were busy choosing a font?

Good. Because font choice is incredibly important!

We’ve covered fonts in detail before , but in a nutshell, this is what you’ll need to consider:

You’ll need a font without serif, that is sans serif.

Not only does sans serif sound cool (hey, look at you speaking French), these fonts are easier to read and appear more modern. So it’s goodbye Mr. Times New Roman , hello Mrs. Arial .

Wait. Comic Sans is sans serif , does that mean you can use it? N O P E. Just don’t! Every time a scientist uses Comic Sans a graphic designer dies

What about font size? Well, it depends on how large you make your GA in your software. Here’s a guide. Make your GA full-screen on your computer monitor. Can you read the text from a metre or two back? If so, then your text is probably big enough.

Do you need a title? Not necessarily. You might not have enough space. But, if you think it’ll help your GA to be CLEAR and CONCISE, go for it. You have my blessing.

Key information

If your GA is shared and used by other people, then you want your audience to be able to find your work. Include the title of your paper, the names of the authors, the year of publication, the journal, the DOI, and maybe even a QR code !

If you are a Microsoft aficionado, you can use PowerPoint to make your GA - just be aware that it has its limits. If you fancy your design skills and have time to invest in the steep learning curve, use Affinity Designer, Adobe Illustrator or Indesign. But if you want something more user-friendly (and free!) then check out Canva .

Step 4: Getting ready to release your GA into the wild

Congratulations on putting together your masterpiece. This is new territory, so you should be proud. But what’s next?

Take a break and come back to your GA with fresh eyes. Note what your eyes are drawn to first. Is this the first thing you want your audience to see? If so, then you’ve planned your GA well.

Do the elements of your GA align well? Good alignment will give your GA a professional look, and it’ll keep my Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder under control too, so thanks.

Get some feedback

Different people interpret images, symbols and icons differently. So something you think is obvious might not be to others. Remember the first part of our unbreakable rule? ‘CLEAR’.

Get feedback from people within your target audience. Your friends, if you’re targeting the public, and your colleagues if you’re targeting other academics. Even if this is the case, your friends are a good tool here too. If they can understand it, then you’ve done your job well.

Colour profile

If you designed your poster with professional software, you’ll have the ability to control the colour profile. Nothing complicated, there are two options: RGB and CMYK. The first one is for digital use, and the second one is for printing — pick the first one. That’s all you need to know.

Saving the file

Always keep your source file, in case you need to edit it later. But save your output as a .PNG (this is best for screens). If this isn’t available a .JPEG is good too.

Posting to social media

When posting on social media don’t forget to include the URL link pointing to the article’s page. This will not only help drive traffic to your paper but will also make your social media post visible by the Altmetric algorithm. If you don’t know what Altmetric is…let us fill you in, check out our awesome infographic.

Include any relevant hashtags in your post, and tag your co-authors. You should mention the journal, your institute and funding bodies too. This is not only good practice but could lead to a powerful re-tweet by an account with a large following. Garnish your post with some emojis and serve.

And that's the whole recipe!

Main take-aways

A graphical abstract is a visual summary of your work. Not a recycled Figure 3.1A!

Plan your design around your desired target audience.

Less is more! Recite after me. Your GA will be CLEAR and CONCISE.

Haven’t got the time to make one yourself?

No worries, we’re here to help!

At Animate Your Science we help researchers from all around the world stand out and have an impact. And an eye-catching, show-stopping graphical abstract is exactly what you’ll need to get started!

Our team of science communicators and designers can turn your research into an infographic or animation that will turn heads. Check out our gallery to find a style that suits you!

Explore how we can help you to unleash your impact by contacting us today !

Dr Juan Miguel Balbin

Dr Tullio Rossi

#graphicalabstract #Twitter #infographic

Related Posts

Tell Them a Story: How to Avoid the Standard Boring Presentation

Best examples of graphical abstracts

What’s better: graphical abstracts or video abstracts?

Commentaires

212-460-1500

[email protected]

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.

• Research Promotion /
• Visual Abstracts

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

Use this popup to embed a mailing list sign up form. Alternatively use it as a simple call to action with a link to a product or a page.

Age verification

By clicking enter you are verifying that you are old enough to consume alcohol.

Search solutions

Your cart is currently empty..

Loading metrics

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).
• View Article
• PubMed/NCBI
• Google Scholar
• 4. Cell Press Graphical Abstract Guidelines. Cell Press [Internet]. Available from: https://www.cell.com/pb/assets/raw/shared/figureguidelines/GA_guide-1537202744020.pdf .
• 21. Tufte ER. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information [Internet]. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press; 2011 [cited 2023 Oct 23]. Available from: https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi?msclkid=d049a142816d107459dec4741f4dfaa5 .
• 34. Nussbaumer Knaflic C. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals. Wiley; 2015.
• 38. Graphical Abstract Template [Internet]. Available from: https://www.elsevier.com/journals/cellular-and-molecular-gastroenterology-and-hepatology/2352-345x/graphical-abstracts .

Top 10 Tips for Designing Graphical Abstracts

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

Now that we have discussed reasons to include science figures in your research paper , let us look at what to keep in mind while designing them. 

Here are our top 10 tips for designing graphical abstracts.

1. Define the Type of Graphical Abstract

A graphical abstract can be designed in many ways. Based on your approach, your final graphical abstract will embody the style and aesthetic that you define for it.

When you start designing your abstract, define the type at the very beginning. This will help you come up with an authentic design that will work best for your purpose. 

What are the different types of graphical abstract, you ask? We have a handy list to answer that very question:

Diagram: This type of abstract comprises diagrams and technical language and is often used in journals dedicated to chemistry. 

Visual Abstract: This type of abstract comprises a title, some visuals, key data, and a visual icon. 

Infographic: This type of abstract highlights visuals and tends to use less text. 

Comic: This type of abstract mixes attractive visuals with humor and supporting text to convey key ideas. 

When choosing the best type of graphical abstract for your paper, keep your audience in mind. Are they experts? Laypeople? Somewhere in between? Knowing your audience can help you choose the best type of graphical abstract design to clearly and concisely convey information. 

2. Use the Right Tools to Create Your Graphical Abstract

Once you have chosen a type of graphical abstract, the next step is to find the right tool to design it. You will need a tool that allows you to intuitively seek shapes and graphics that are appropriate to your subject matter. Since it is not possible for every researcher or student to access professional software such as CorelDraw and Photoshop, finding a worthy alternative is imperative.

Mind the Graph offers a user-friendly graphical abstract maker that can help you create aesthetically pleasing and scientifically accurate graphical abstracts in just a few clicks. This online tool's interface combines the prowess of professional graphic design software with the ease of use to give students and researchers creative freedom.

NOTE: All graphical abstracts in this article were created using Mind The Graph .

3. Focus on the Objective of Your Graphical Abstract

While a graphical abstract is an element that you add to your completed research paper, it is not separate from it. When you are designing your graphical abstract, remember to highlight the objectives that you set out to achieve in your paper.

The objectives of your paper should be the driving force behind your graphical abstract. Focusing on your paper's objectives will help to ensure that your graphical abstract works and aligns with the content of your research paper. That means ensuring that the core message, important points, and results are present and easily visible in your graphical abstract. 

4. Highlight the Core Message of Your Graphical Abstract

The primary purpose of a graphical abstract is to effectively communicate the core message and primary points of a research paper to its viewers. Every research paper sets out with a predefined purpose and a core message to communicate.

When you are creating your graphical abstract, highlighting the core message through graphical elements is important. Graphical elements can include colorful shapes, illustrations, arrows, banners, clip art, and artistic graphic text. You can highlight the core message by tweaking the size, style, colors, and spacing of the elements in your graphical abstract.

5. Show the Results of Your Research

During the process of creating your research paper, your instructor or thesis advisor probably emphasized the importance of using the right methodology and highlighted that strong research is key. However, when it comes to graphical abstracts, the results take the cake.

Remember how crucial highlighting important points is to creating an effective graphical abstract? Well, the results of your research constitute one of the most important points. Results should always be included in a graphical abstract. 

Since the results section of your paper discusses the key findings, it is likely to encourage people to read the rest of your paper. The same principle applies to your graphical abstract. 

6. Implement Text Wisely in Your Graphical Abstract

Contrary to popular belief, having a lot to say about a topic does not necessarily make you look wise and intelligent. In fact, the most knowledgeable people often use words quite sparingly—in both written and oral communication. 

When creating a graphical abstract, you will want to put your best foot forward and you may (understandably!) get carried away and become too wordy . To be more effective, take proactive steps to avoid this.

Use only words that you think would add value to your abstract. Lower text density can make your graphical abstract more easily readable, which can translate into higher engagement. Also, be sure to follow the rules for effective academic writing .

7. Use Simple Labels in Your Graphical Abstract

Always remember the famous K-I-S-S (Keep it Simple, Silly) principle that is followed just as often in academic writing as in copywriting. The labels on your graphical abstract should be able to communicate an idea even to readers with no additional context.

Here is an example of a published graphical abstract that highlights important information using labels.

8. Declutter Your Graphical Abstract

No one likes clutter, especially not in an infographic or image that is supposed to educate them. It slows down the reader's processing speed and breaks the flow of the graphical abstract.

This is why having a clear, decluttered design is critical. It is natural to feel that many of the points in the paper that you put together with so much perseverance should be included in the graphical abstract. However, the real skill is knowing that some points are more important and that others, unfortunately, will not make the cut.

Here is an example of a graphical abstract that highlights the core findings to sum up the message of a research paper.

9. Make Your Graphical Abstract Minimalistic

Creating a unique and attractive design along with the textual elements is crucial, and it is definitely easy to go overboard with visual elements. The smart way to go about designing a graphical abstract is to achieve a balance between the information and the visual elements.

Minimalism is often described as "vanilla," but the reality is that minimalism has a lot to do with maintaining the most essential elements and letting go of the rest. This philosophy can work wonders for your design and ensure that your graphic abstract is uncluttered, simple, and easy to understand. 

Here is a great example that demonstrates minimalism.

Use simple elements and space them adequately while minimizing any extra text or descriptions to achieve minimalism in your graphical abstract.

10. Make the Right Color Choices for Your Graphical Abstract

When you are designing your graphical abstract, you will want to maximize its impact. One proven way to do this is by using the right colors.

Bright, bold colors are always a great choice for highlighting important elements and data in graphical abstracts. You can even use gradients to add extra detailing to the data that you want your reader to specifically engage with.

If you use dull colors or ones that merge into the background, there is a high chance that those specific parts or elements will either be overlooked or skimmed.

One final element that is important to remember when choosing colors for your graphical abstract is that some viewers may be colorblind. Consider researching colorblind-friendly palettes and incorporating them into your design. That way, a wider audience will be able to fully appreciate your hard work and impactful research. 

Designing the graphical abstract for your research paper can become an arduous task, especially when you want it to stand out. After all, isn't that what a great graphical abstract should do?

To help it stand out, adding a professional touch to your graphical abstract is always a great idea to explore. Consider having your graphical abstract proofread to ensure no remaining errors get in the way of your message.

The final part of our graphical abstract series outlines the best software for creating graphical abstracts : Mind the Graph.

Let’s Prepare Your Figures for Journal Submission

Try our academic proofreading service , or get a free sample, about the author.

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing transformed into a great one. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

21 Legit Research Databases for Free Journal Articles in 2024

Five Habits to Avoid in Your Academic Writing

Publish or Perish: How to Survive in Academia

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

✨ Enrol by 15 May to get access to our Jumpstart Your Summer Writing events at no additional cost! 💰 ✨

How to Make a Graphical Abstract for Your Scientific Paper

More and more journals are requiring a graphical abstract when you are submitting your scientific paper. But what is a graphical abstract and how to make a graphical abstract for your scientific paper? In this blog post, multimedia science communicator Dr Gaius Augustus shows you three graphical abstract examples with different graphical abstract designs and answers the most common questions researchers have about graphical abstracts.

Your experiments are finished, your figures created, you’ve even written up a nice manuscript to submit to your target journal. You take a moment to pull up the formatting guidelines from the journal website. Everything seems to be in place – except for that one nagging requirement: a graphical abstract. Let me show you how you can get the most out of your graphical abstract!

WHAT IS A GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT?

A graphical abstract or graphical summary in its pure form is a visual representation of the abstract of a scientific paper. I typically see graphical abstracts in two places: social media and journal websites. While journals usually have some guidelines on the length and format of abstracts, there are often no strict guidelines for graphical abstracts.

There are several schools of thought on what information one should put in a graphical abstract. Some suggest including everything that is part of the written abstract , such as background information, the problem the study is solving, as well as the results, conclusions and implications of the study, and perhaps even the methods that were used. However, graphical abstracts don’t come up in search engines for the scientific literature, such as PubMed or Google Scholar. So, one cannot expect them to take the place of a written abstract. Instead, I tend to think of a graphical abstract as a visualisation that gets across the main idea of your paper.

Instead of including information about experiments you performed or results you obtained, I believe your graphical summary should complement your written abstract. It should give readers a quick overview of how the results fit together into a conceptual or empirical framework, and how that framework impacts your scientific field. Ideally, a graphical abstract provides some background on the research question and gaps in the literature. I recommend you to only mention the methodology if it’s crucial to understand the results. It is best to choose one main graphic that is either the most compelling piece of data or a model that integrates the data into one figure.

HOW TO MAKE A GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT?

There are graphical abstract designs that are most effective for communicating research:

• Flow diagrams
• Visual systems models
• Visual representations of the proposed model (such as a cartoon)

Let’s take this abstract as an example:

Luke Skywalker, a young orphan living with his uncle on Tatooine, is recruited into the Resistance by Obi Wan Kenobi, the last living Jedi master who has been in hiding from the evil Empire on the remote planet. Luke is informed that his father was a powerful Jedi and is given his father’s lightsaber. It is unknown whether Luke is a Jedi too and whether he can harness the power of the Force. Here, we show that Luke Skywalker is a Jedi who can harness the power of the Force. Through providing training by Obi Wan and challenging Luke through simulated and real battle experiences, we found that in the absence of visual senses, Luke was able to predict the path of incoming lasers and to accurately target a missile. Our findings support a model that exposure and motivation can activate the latent Jedi in the presence of training and challenges but can be hampered by temptation and anger. Overall, this study provides a theoretical framework for the development and activation of a latent Jedi, potentially impacting the ability of the Resistance to challenge the Empire.

How does this translate into the different graphical abstract designs? Let’s consider the first of our graphical abstract examples, a flow diagram of the above abstract:

It uses simple shapes such as squares, arrows, and crosses to describe the process. This graphical abstract is rather text-heavy, but the flow diagram gives a decent indication of the methods used, their results, and the impact of the experimental variable.

Want the process of writing a scientific paper feel more streamlined (beyond the graphical abstract)? Ready to feel more confident in your writing skills so you can share your work with a broader scientific audience?

You are in the right place. Join me in this free 1-hour long training session and have me walk you through my step-by-step paper writing system. Click the orange button to watch now or register to watch later.

The next one of our graphical abstract examples is a visual systems model . It is based on the idea of “what makes a Jedi” and divides it into the factors that activate (green, arrows) or inhibit (red, “T’s”) becoming a Jedi. Notice how this graphical abstract doesn’t include the exact experiments performed and instead focuses on the big picture:

On to the last one of our graphical abstract examples, the visual representation. A cartoon model can bring your particular study into the context of the full model:

Here we see visual representations of the specific experiments and variables of our study while using the language of a more general model. This graphical abstract design also allows you to add personality to your graphical summary.

So, now you got three graphical abstract examples: the flow diagram, the visual system model and the visual representation. But these are not the only graphical abstract designs! Your perfect graphical abstract will be dictated by both your field and your imagination. I want to encourage you to think outside of the box. Find ways to visualise your research topic in your graphical summary that are clear and concise, and support the written abstract.

HOW TO MAKE A GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT – COMMON MISTAKES

Before you now get started on your graphical abstract, I want to warn you about the five most common mistakes I see around:

• Being too vague. This applies to all parts of your graphical summary, e.g. what you did, how your results fit into the model, and why your study is impactful
• Using images flippantly. Every graphic should have a purpose, and a reader should get a general idea of what your scientific article is about from looking at the graphical abstract
• Using too much or not enough colour. Colour is important as a way of highlighting concepts and flow. It’s useful for organisation as well. But don’t overdo it. Make sure you are using colour with intention in your graphical abstract.
• Too much text. If your graphical abstract has as much text as your written abstract, it’s probably overcrowded.
• Not enough white space. White space is the “breathing room” around any piece of text or image, and it’s incredibly important in order for readers to grasp the content of your graphical abstract quickly. Give every element in your graphical summary space and ignore that itch to fill every pixel with something useful.

COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT DESIGNS

We now tackled the questions “What is a graphical abstract?”, “How to make a graphical abstract?” and I showed you three graphical abstract examples. But you may have some more questions about making a good graphical abstract design. Here are the answers to questions about graphical abstracts I get all the time:

WHAT PROGRAM SHOULD I USE TO MAKE MY GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT?

You can use any program you want to make your graphical abstract. You can draw with ink/marker and take a picture with your phone. You can use a drawing program such as Adobe Photoshop, Canva or the free and open-source tool Krita. You can also use a vector drawing program like Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, or Affinity Designer. The images for this post were made using Google’s drawing tools inside Google Docs. Just remember: Getting a fancy program is not going to make your graphical abstract look better, especially if you haven’t given yourself enough time to gain some skill at it.

WHAT IMAGE SIZE AND FORMAT SHOULD I USE FOR MY GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT?

This should be defined by your journal. If they give you too much freedom, ensure that whatever size you choose has a sufficient resolution at print quality (minimum of 300dpi). Make sure the text is legible without having to zoom in extensively. When in thumbnail view, your graphical abstract shouldn’t look too busy. If the journal doesn’t specify, export the image as a TIF or PNG.

SHOULD I HIRE AN ARTIST TO CREATE MY GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT DESIGN?

If you’re unsure where to start with your graphical summary, you should definitely consider hiring someone to help. There are various artists who can translate your research into a graphical abstract. Just a little tip: Working with someone who has a scientific background may make the process less burdensome.

I hope you got a lot out of these tips! Graphical abstracts are a terrific new frontier that I hope will encourage scientists to think of better ways to visually communicate their research. Good luck!

Quick question. Do your writing and publishing goals sound anything like this:

• Make writing more efficient,
• Make your papers easier to read,
• Reduce the time you edit your students’ work?

If you nodded at least once, then this 60-minute class is for you! You can get access immediately or save your seat to watch it later. Just click the button.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gaius J. Augustus is a multimedia communicator. Trained in fine arts and video production, Gaius switched career tracks to pursue a PhD in science. He now works to communicate science to the world with beautiful infographics, illustrations, and animations. Along the way, he shares what he has learned in hopes that he can improve the public opinion of science by making science more visual and engaging. To get in touch, check out his website or reach out via email: [email protected].

Share article

© Copyright 2018-2024 by Anna Clemens. All Rights Reserved. 

Photography by Alice Dix

• Ask a Librarian

Getting Your Paper Noticed

• Choosing A Title

Graphical Abstracts

• Search Engine Optimization
• Networking for Researchers
• Sharing Your Paper
• Works Cited

Visual or graphical abstracts are an accompanying feature of a research article that promotes and highlights a study.  It is typically a single, concise, pictorial, and visual summary of the main findings of the article. It enhances the regular text abstract and encourages others to read the paper. A graphical abstract does not replace the traditional text abstract. Though this guide provides some general guidelines for creating visual abstracts, many publishers have specific requirements for including graphical abstracts. 

• Best Practices
• Video Tutorials

The basics of planning out your graphical abstract can be summarized in three steps. 

• What is your main idea?
• What is the most important thing people need to know?
• What information supports this idea?
• Why is it important?
• What other information do you need to include?
• You don't need to be an artist, just plot out where you think things should go in a logical manner. 
• Look at templates on the internet to get ideas. 
• Ask others to review your choices for readability and understanding. 
• Always check the publisher's website for requirements and/or recommendations
• Use one slide or large graphic to summarize your research
• Distill key findings or conclusions into as few words, numbers, and graphics as possible
• It should read from top to bottom or left to right if published in an English language journal
• Include a link to the paper, perhaps using the DOI
• Include "FirstAuthor et al." if not listing all authors and the journal and year of publication
• Include your institutional and/or publisher logo
• Make sure every image has a purpose
• Use color with intention, be mindful of accessibility 
• Use a minimum 531X1328 pixel size with at least 300 dpi
• Export as PNG, TIFF, JPG or PDF

Tip: Here is a great video tutorial on best practices for making infographics from the ERAU Daytona Beach Digital Studio. Many concepts are the same for graphical abstracts. 

• Canva Infographics, templates, and more.
• PowerPoint Microsoft office tool with slide animation options.
• Piktochart Free infographic maker and templates.
• Adobe Spark Templates and free libraries, premium content is behind a paywall.
• Pixabay Free stock images.

• << Previous: Choosing A Title
• Next: Search Engine Optimization >>
• Last Updated: Nov 17, 2023 8:46 AM
• URL: https://guides.erau.edu/noticed

Hunt Library

Mori Hosseini Student Union 1 Aerospace Boulevard Daytona Beach, FL 32114

Phone: 386-226-6595 Toll-Free: 800-678-9428

Maps and Parking

• Report a Problem
• Suggest a Purchase

Library Information

• Departments and Staff
• Library Collections
• Library Facilities
• Library Newsletter
• Hunt Library Employment

University Initiatives

• Scholarly Commons
• Data Commons
• University Archives
• Open and Affordable Textbooks

Top 4 tips for designing a graphical abstract

Start making professional scientific figures today!

Download the report.

Outlook.com | Office 365 | Google

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

Ready to get started?

Get updates on everything new at biorender delivered right to your inbox..

American Journal Experts (AJE) is the world’s leading provider of English editing, translation, formatting, and illustrations services that help researchers get published. Since 2004, we have worked with researchers and organizations to support more than 400,000 manuscripts, grants, posters, and abstracts in over 420 academic areas of study in 186 countries.

How to Make a Good Graphical Abstract

Content sponsored by American Journal Experts

Presenting science concisely poses many challenges: How do you say enough without saying too much? Are you capturing the main points? Does this research paper abstract attract the reader’s attention and make them want to read your paper? That last question is the most important and the most overlooked one. And to address it, many journals encourage or even require authors to submit a graphical abstract.

A graphical abstract is a single figure that is showcased alongside the traditional textual scientific abstract to more succinctly tell your story.

Benefits of a Graphical Abstract

There are many benefits to providing a visual representation of your work.

A Graphical Scientific Abstract Quickly Tells Your Story.

A graphical abstract delivers the primary point of the paper at the very beginning, which improves the reader’s interpretation of the paper. Scientific articles are often drowning in detail, all of which is necessary to truly understand and interpret the results, but the main points can get lost. A graphical abstract will point out the most important, citable findings in the paper, as a well-packaged take-home message.

A Graphical Abstract Publicizes Your Paper

A graphical abstract serves as a promo for the main event—your paper. Most readers skim through hundreds of text research paper abstracts, looking for the handful of papers relevant to their interests. They want to know what questions were asked in the paper and the results of those questions. Often readers rely on keywords and phrases to determine relevance. All of those relevant terms can be clearly illustrated with a good graphical abstract, where the data stands out rather than being hidden within the text. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a figure is faster and easier for the reader to understand, too.

A Graphical Scientific Abstract Is Recyclable

Once you’ve made a graphical abstract, you can use it in presentations, in blog posts, on Twitter, on Facebook, on conference posters, etc. The more you use it, the more identifiable your paper is among others.

Making an Effective Graphical Research Paper Abstract

Having decided to submit a graphical  scientific abstract, how do you go about making a good one?

Make sure that you know the main points . Write out the take-home message in as few words as you can, and then condense it some more. Further simplify the main points until you have only a sentence or two. This should be the inspiration behind the graphical scientific abstract.

Pay attention to what has worked for others. While you will want your graphical abstract to be original, looking at examples can help you to hone in on what to include and what to leave out. The Cell Press guidelines for submitting a graphical abstract include examples of different styles of graphical abstracts and how to improve on them. Don’t stop there: scour the journal you are submitting to for previously published graphical abstracts and you may pick up a few tips from the style, fonts and colors used .

Style your scientific abstract to match your results . The flow of the image depends of the kind of data you’re presenting. If your results are that A leads to B, then an arrow between two images can depict that clearly. If you’re trying to find the missing link between A and C, then a question mark or blank between two images would illustrate this. If the research uncovers a protein or DNA structure, then showcase a picture of that structure. Are you uncovering a mechanism? A flowchart could be a handy illustration. These are only a few examples of styles for a graphical abstract. There are many more out there!

Include only keywords . What are those specific phrases that the reader is looking for to determine what the paper is taking about? You may strategically place those in the image, but use them sparingly. It’s OK to leave out the minute details—the text scientific abstract and the paper will have those.

Most importantly: Make it self-explanatory . If the reader has to spend 20 minutes to decipher your busy graphical abstract, then that defeats the purpose and might even put the reader off your paper. Present a clear and direct picture that can be understood at a glance. Once you’ve formed your figure, ask a colleague to look at it and tell you what the take home message is. Note important points that they weren’t able to grasp, and details they picked up that don’t need to be emphasized and adjust the graphical abstract accordingly.

Graphical Abstract Formats

There are many options for formatting your graphical abstract. The publishing journal will usually have a set of guidelines. The most common format is a simple JPEG or TIFF image that occupies a single column.

However, online journals offer the freedom to be much more creative. Those journals might allow authors to submit GIFs and even 3D rotation diagrams for a more interactive experience. Some journals welcome audio and video scientific abstracts. An added perk to online, open-access journals is that images with color come at no extra charge to the authors.

On using color, you’ll want to stay away from a boring illustration that consists of shades of gray, but you also don’t want to use excessively bright colors that clash together. Additionally, color blind readers should be accommodated, so don’t use red and green for all your colors. This video provides helpful tips on choosing the right color scheme for your graphical abstract and figures in general.

Making a graphical abstract can seem like a daunting artistic endeavor to a scientist. It helps to remember that you already have all the data, and after writing, re-writing, reading and re-reading your paper, you already know what you want to say. Putting it into a succinct, attractive format is the icing on the cake. With these tips, you are on your way to developing a brilliant graphical abstract that will be a valuable addition to your work.

Quite interesting guidelines. I’ve seen other useful paper on the same topic that I would to recommend: https://www.ggaging.com/details/421/en-US/scientific-communication–the-art-of-preparing-and-presenting-scientific-results

Also, a platform to create graphical abstracts / scientific infographics called Mind the Graph (mindthegraph . com) , which is quite nice. Worth to check it out.

An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I do think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people do not talk about such topics. To the next!

Many thanks!!

Quite informative and helpful. Keep it up.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Forgot your password?

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.

Back to login

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience.

How to write a graphical abstract

Posted on August 6, 2019   by Laura Cox

There are many ways to summarise and present your research, and graphical abstracts are becoming increasingly popular with journals and scientists. Condensing an entire manuscript, or PhD thesis, into a single figure seems like an impossible task to many. Visually representing any biological process can feel overwhelming, especially in microbiology where the main research subject is so small, but you don’t have to be an artist to make a graphical abstract. Here, we provide some advice on how to produce a graphical abstract and some key things to think about.

To celebrate the Microbiology Society’s 75 th anniversary, ahead of our Annual Conference in 2020 , we will be hosting a special one-day event to celebrate the impact of microbiologists past, present and future. Attended by a number of world-leading scientists, including Sir Paul Nurse, this ‘Fleming Showcase’ will observe the legacy of past Fleming Prize winners and will examine some of the most exciting science from around the globe.

Final year PhD students, and those within a year of completion, have been invited to submit their research in the form of a graphical abstract along with three bullet points explaining their research. Students with the most outstanding research will be invited to present it during a five-minute thesis slot during the Showcase.

What is a graphical abstract?

A graphical abstract, or visual abstract, is a single image that encompasses the central message of a piece of research. It can be used as an interactive way to publicise your research, making it stand out from the crowd, and disseminate your work to a wider audience. You can include three to four sentences of text to explain the image, but the less text the better!

Producing a graphical abstract:

A great place to start is by looking at some of the posters you may have produced to present at scientific meetings or conferences. These are already condensed versions of your research and contain some of your key findings and processes. From here, identify your main message and condense the research down into four to five sentences.

Now, sketch out some drafts of what the abstract could look like. Depending on the information you need to convey, this could be done in a number of ways, such as a flow chart, a diagram of a process or a series of panels illustrating key aspects of the research.

Choose a colour palette and stick to it. Ideally choose one or two main colours and use shades of these colours across the image. This will make your abstract look professional and consistent. Make sure you use the same font throughout the abstract – use different sizes and styles ( bold , italic , light) to change it up and make the most important parts stand out.

Try not to make your graphical abstract too crowded; having some white space can make key elements stand out and prevent your message from getting lost. Think about every element on the page and consider its value to the piece. If it is providing essential information, keep it. If you think it is not adding anything to the story you are trying to tell, delete it or try something else.

Some things to think about:

Consider the figures already included in your research and see whether any of them could be adapted. Try not to be too specific, though. It is more about ‘telling the story’ of the research in a visual way.

Think about figures and other graphical abstracts you may have seen. Which have been good? Which have not been clear? Try to think about them critically and define what makes a figure clear and easy to understand, and how you can use this to improve your own work.

Think about your audience: What is their expertise? Be cautious using overly-technical language and make sure you define any abbreviations used. You can still use some words in the abstract, just make sure you use them wisely!

Software and tools:

There are many different types of software which can be used to produce a graphical abstract, some of which are easier to use than others. Even though Microsoft PowerPoint seems like a simple tool, you can use this programme to make professional-looking graphics. You can use one slide as the canvas for your graphical abstract.

Other software includes Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher, CorelDraw and InkScape. There are so many more out there, so have a browse around and find the one that works best for you.

You can download online images or use your own. If you have some photographs from your research, include them if it is relevant. If you are using images taken from online, or from a colleague, don’t forget to get permission from the owner and credit any images that you have used that are not your own.

Some more examples of graphical abstracts:

Categories:

Publishing and Journals

Share this page:

5 tips to create a graphical abstract for your paper

Related Articles Writing a scientific paper? Check our graphical abstract templates Kidneys: Everything to create your graphical abstract Tutorial: How to create a graphical abstract for Elsevier Subscribe to our newsletter Exclusive high quality content about effective visual communication in science. – Exclusive Guide – Design tips – Scientific news and trends – Tutorials and […]

Increasingly, journals are asking for a graphical abstract to submit a paper. But why is this becoming so important?

This happens, because graphical abstracts are a way of communicating with high understanding, accessibility and are remarkable for a research, being in addition to a summary, a way to remember that research itself. 

In other words, today, graphic abstracts are indispensable for scientists and their publications. And these graphics  can be done in a variety of ways. Here are some examples:

Here, on Mind the Graph, we have a lot of templates that you can use for your publication. But you can create your own graphical abstract in our platform. So, we have separated 5 tips to help you on this moment:

ORGANIZATION

Organize the information you want to include. It won’t fit all your research, remember it’s a summary! So put the essentials and the objectives of your research.

Find the way that makes the most sense for your search. When we talk about graphical abstract, we can work with graphics, illustrations, poster … Many ways, so it is important to find out what is the best form for your paper.

There is no point in wanting to put all the written research and not all the necessary images! Remember, organize the information and build your graphical abstract with spaces that facilitate reading.

Don’t mix it up! Make the colors according to your theme, but be careful not to get too strong or too mixed. This also hinders the understanding of the information.

YOUR RESEARCH

Without fears! The most important thing to remember when building your graphical abstract is that the research is yours! In other words, nobody knows more about it than you do!

With these tips, we know that you can achieve good results and increase the chances of acceptance in many journals!

And if you want help, you  can count on us!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Exclusive high quality content about effective visual communication in science.

Unlock Your Creativity

Create infographics, presentations and other scientifically-accurate designs without hassle — absolutely free for 7 days!

Content tags