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Figures: Data Graphs

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How to Write Better Medical Papers

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Abstract

Although figures are a crucial component of medical papers, most medical papers have rather low-quality graphs. They present substantially less information than they could. The information they do present is usually shown in a suboptimal or inappropriate form. And then visually the graphs are often cluttered with many other useless and distracting marks. Probably many researchers do not give much thought to the visual presentation of their data, since training in data visualization and graphic design is very rare in the medical scientific world. So this chapter starts by identifying some types of low-quality graphs that are often seen in medical papers and explains why and how to replace them. Next, this chapter will present some other types of higher quality graphs that could be used often but currently are rarely seen. Finally, this chapter discusses some graphic editing steps that can be used to improve any graph you make. By putting some thought and clarity into your graphs, you will greatly increase the interest and comprehension of journal editors, peer-reviewers, and readers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mercury Medical Research & Writing, New York, NY, USA

    Michael Hanna

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  1. Michael Hanna
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Hanna, M. (2019). Figures: Data Graphs. In: How to Write Better Medical Papers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02955-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02955-5_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02954-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02955-5

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