Fig 1.
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.
Fig 2.
(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.
Fig 3.
Common chart types with few data categories/points each that convey high level information.
Note that the core message (increases, is most, one third…) is communicated without axis details, labels, and legends.
Fig 4.
Different dimensions (A) and how they merge with text on a page (B).
Fig 5.
Different layouts for graphical abstracts with clear start and end.
Fig 6.
Common arrow types (A) and arrows in context (B).
Fig 7.
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).
