Stengel Dirk, Calori Georgio M, Giannoudis Peter V
Centre for Clinical Research, Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin, Warener Str. 7, 12683 Berlin, Germany.
Injury. 2008 Jun;39(6):659-65. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2008.01.050. Epub 2008 May 27.
Figures and charts are the most influential vehicles for distributing scientific information, for affecting decisions as to the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript, and for attracting the attention of the scientific community to study results. Graphical excellence is mainly defined, first, by the highest possible data density (that is, the amount of information provided per graph area); second, by a low ink-to-data ratio (the avoidance of unnecessary shading, three-dimensionality, gridlines and what is often called 'chartjunk'); and third, by clear and unequivocal labelling of axes. The researcher's essential graphical toolbox should contain histograms, bar charts (always with measures of error), box-and-whiskers plots, scatter plots and forest plots.
图表是传播科学信息、影响稿件录用与否的决策以及吸引科学界关注研究结果的最具影响力的工具。卓越的图表主要体现在：其一，尽可能高的数据密度（即每个图表区域所提供的信息量）；其二，低墨水与数据比（避免不必要的阴影、三维效果、网格线以及常被称为“图表垃圾”的元素）；其三，坐标轴标注清晰明确。研究人员必备的图表工具应包括直方图、条形图（始终带有误差度量）、箱线图、散点图和森林图。
