Ten guidelines for effective data visualization in scientific publications

Christa Kelleher, Thorsten Wagener

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

119 Scopus citations

Abstract

Our ability to visualize scientific data has evolved significantly over the last 40 years. However, this advancement does not necessarily alleviate many common pitfalls in visualization for scientific journals, which can inhibit the ability of readers to effectively understand the information presented. To address this issue within the context of visualizing environmental data, we list ten guidelines for effective data visualization in scientific publications. These guidelines support the primary objective of data visualization, i.e. to effectively convey information. We believe that this small set of guidelines based on a review of key visualization literature can help researchers improve the communication of their results using effective visualization. Enhancement of environmental data visualization will further improve research presentation and communication within and across disciplines.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)822-827
Number of pages6
JournalEnvironmental Modelling and Software
Volume26
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Data visualization
  • Scientific visualization
  • Visual analytics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Ecological Modeling

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