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

“Papers rarely included scatterplots, box plots, and histograms that allow readers to critically evaluate continuous data. Most papers presented continuous data in bar and line graphs. This is problematic, as many different data distributions can lead to the same bar or line graph. The full data may suggest different conclusions from the summary statistics. We recommend training investigators in data presentation, encouraging a more complete presentation of data, and changing journal editorial policies…

We created free Excel templates (S2 Text and S3 Text,https://www.ctspedia.org/do/view/CTSpedi​a/TemplateTesting) that will allow researchers to quickly make univariate scatterplots for independent data (with or without overlapping points) and nonindependent data.”

Hm, yes! I also really, really want a graphic design class that teaches how to make good figures. That has such a huge impact on how a paper falls together. There is nothing worse that a figures page that is busier and denser than the text. And there is so much variation in how figures are put together that can really contribute to how convincing something seems to be at a quick glance — or to conceal that some important control wasn’t done.