First of all, it speaks for itself.
In general, medical scientific research work is complicated. If the author draws the graphic abstract very cumbersome, he will definitely lose some readers' interest in reading. Therefore, it is suggested that the production of graphic summary should be clear and direct, and be as clear as possible. If readers can understand what is presented without thinking too much, and then read the paper further, then the production of graphic summary is successful.
Second, the content is streamlined.
Generally speaking, graphic abstract is the most important and basic part of research papers. The difference between graphic abstract and text abstract is that graphic abstract should only emphasize one aspect of the paper, instead of summarizing the whole research. For example, a written medical paper may have unique innovations and themes, or contain some valuable research results (data) and experimental methods. At this time, we only need to pay attention to one of them to conceive a graphic summary and ignore other secondary contents. Therefore, before making drawings, it is necessary to re-examine the contents of the paper and determine what is most worth showing to readers.
Third, determine the content and display mode of visual elements
To make a graphic summary, first determine the visual elements (such as cells, protein, chemical structure, animals, instrument consumables, experimental results, etc. ) and the text elements used to describe them. If a concept can be presented intuitively, it is obviously better than describing it in words. When sketching, you should consider the elements you need. Due to the limited space of the graphic abstract, we should use as little element information as possible to clearly express our intention, and then further compress and simplify the existing points until we can't delete them. At the same time, make sure they are arranged in sequence (from left to right or from top to bottom). In addition, in order to avoid too many scattered visual elements, you can add borders to some pictures or words and keep a proper distance from each other. However, try not to use too many different colors or too bright colors.
Fourth, display keywords.
As we all know, it is not appropriate to add more words to graphic abstracts, and readers will generally predict the contents and conclusions of the paper through some specific keywords and data. Therefore, it is suggested that these possible keywords can be strategically inserted into pictures to arouse readers' interest. And all the characters in the picture should be the same font, using common fonts.
Five, according to the requirements of the periodical drawing
Before moving the sketches drawn on paper to graphic design software, we should first understand the submission guidelines of the target journals and see what requirements the journals have for the font type and size, line width, color and picture size information of graphic abstracts. Different journals have different requirements for graphic abstracts, including the format of submitted documents, which should be understood in advance to avoid rework due to format problems. For example, is the picture required by the journal rectangular or square? This may affect the whole layout, so in graphic design software, you need to set the canvas size to the size required by the diary before drawing.
Sixth, learn excellent cases.
If you feel at a loss in the process of conception, you can learn from some successful cases, and you will naturally do it after reading too much. Although graphic abstracts must be original and unique, we should read more and learn from examples in other people's papers, especially some high-impact journal papers and targeted journals. This helps to understand how to arrange and select the content in the graphic summary. In addition, after the production is completed, evaluate the peers and record the information and details they got and missed, so as to make corresponding adjustments.