how to write a figure legend example dissertation

Use titles for both figures and graphs in oral presentation slides and posters. The debate over the best font for a graph legend in scientific papers has not come to an end. Here’s a few keys to get “the look.”. If both caption and legend are required, the caption usually appears beneath the figure while the legend is incorporated into the figure, often enclosed within a box for clarity. Let’s face it: People will skim through the body text of your paper/poster, and only look at the figures. If you are publishing with Science or Nature (congratulations! They look at the figures/tables and at the corresponding legends. If appropriate, the caption should contain the units of measurement representative of the data type, duration of the experiment, etc. The figure legend should be positioned within the borders of the figure. But on the other hand, you don’t have to rewrite the method section. The title should describe what the figure is about. Its purpose is to explain the figure clearly and thoroughly, providing readers with all the information necessary to understand the figure without returning to the main text of the lab report. Making your figure legends look good doesn’t just satisfy your inner artist. Data analysis made easy. Captions should be self-explaining and should provide sufficient information to the readers without referring to the related text in the manuscript. It is true that you should include lots of details, like assay name, antibodies used, cell type or animal model, treatments and controls, statistical tests, numbers of replicates, et cetera. It should include information on important aspects such as description (the type of experiment), method or technique used (sample size, type of animal model used, conditions examined, etc. Is Survivin (BIRC5) linked to tumor resistance at single-cell resolution? Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including: We hate spam too. Indeed, people often look at the graphical elements in an article before they decide whether to read the rest of the article. Where do legends appear in a manuscript or a technical report? Assuming that only figure legends are required, which is certainly the case for many lab reports, each legend should act as an explanatory summary of the figure. Making a poster for a conference tomorrow? Usually, figures and tables present complex data visually in the results section of the manuscript. Nature, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/nature15526, How to craft a figure legend for scientific papers, Proportional Venn diagram in 1 minute with BioVinci – BioTuring's Blog, How to draw a modified box plot - BioTuring's Blog, Immunoglobulin genes up-regulated in lung adenocarcinoma infiltrating T cells: A report from BioTuring lung cancer single cell database. Figure titles typically use Headline Style Capitalization, end with a period (. Don’t tell your readers to “See Methods” — most of them won’t look through the maze of text to search for the exact spot where you buried this piece of information. Getting Your Manuscript Edited by Professional Editors: Why is it Beneficial? If there is no instruction, use the same font as the body text, and run it one size smaller. Readers want to understand it without going back and forth between the figure and the text sections. Legends should be left justified. Revisiting AML single-cell datasets in BBrowser to learn how monocytic AML survives Venetoclax, BioTuring Big Data Portal: Exploring huge public single-cell data sets without limits. Limit what to include in the legend to the absolute minimum that is required to understand the figure. Tips on How To Write a Scientific Figure Legends for a Laboratory Report A figure legend is a chunk of text that accompanies each figure in a laboratory report. *Jerome Mertens, Qiu-Wen Wang, Yongsung Kim, Diana X. Yu, Son Pham, Bo Yang, Yi Zheng, Kenneth E. Diffenderfer, Jian Zhang, Sheila Soltani, Tameji Eames, Simon T. Schafer, Leah Boyer, Maria C. Marchetto, John I. Nurnberger, Joseph R. Calabrese, Ketil J. Ødegaard, Michael J. McCarthy, Peter P. Zandi, Martin Alba, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Shuangli Mi, Kristen J. Brennand, John R. Kelsoe, Fred H. Gage, Jun Yao. Have a clear understanding of the concept associated with the experiment. When possible, place all labels on the graphics. For instance, Table 1. And most importantly: make sure to follow the journal’s instructions. Captions require a figure/table number, title, and other explanatory information as appropriate. Figure 1. Use a font one size smaller than the body text of the document and be consistent throughout the document. Enago Academy also conducts workshops primarily for ESL authors, early-stage researchers, and graduate students. Read More, Copyright © 2020 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Contact Us, Practical Tips on Figure and Table Legends for Manuscripts, By clicking this checkbox you consent to receiving newsletters from Enago Academy. Preparing for publication? 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Make sure to consider the below points when writing legends in your manuscript or poster. The title should tell the readers “This is what this figure is about” very clearly. ‘BIG 10’ Ways Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Life Sciences, The Company of Biologists Commits to the Transformative Journal Approach, Insights from an Open Science Expert on How Publishing in Data Journals Can Benefit Researchers. Not comma, not colon. when describing large quantities of data. This is where things tend to get out of hand. A figure may be a chart, a graph, a photograph, a drawing, or any other illustration or nontextual depiction. Manuscript writing is an integral part of sharing research outcomes. Place them above a table, but below a figure (charts, graphs, images, etc). Figure legend example* Pretty please: 3 notes about the format of a legend. Captions in a manuscript (or report) narrate a story about the figures or tables to the reader. Our advanced workshop modules cater to the needs of researchers who want to know more about the issues pertinent to successful publication. The methods include all (and no more than) the necessary details to understand the figure without referring back to the body text. After making a good chart (or a figure of any kind), you will have to describe it. How to Assign Authorship & Contributorship, Fulfilling the Trust: 50 Years of Shaping Muslim Religious Life in Singapore, Encyclopedia Of Thermal Packaging, Set 3: Thermal Packaging Applications (A 3-volume Set), Theology and Science: From Genesis to Astrobiology, An Editor-in-Chief Shares His Insights on ‘Avoiding Ethical Issues in Academic Publishing’, An Editor-in-Chief’s Advice on ‘How to Avoid Desk Rejections of Your Manuscript’, Enago’s Author Workshop at Yonsei University for Korean Researchers, Author Outreach Program by Enago: A Big Hit amongst Latin American Academics and Research Professionals. It should clearly explain the context of the data. Use active voice, and keep it short. Therefore, it is important to make your legends tell a clear story on their own. Legends should satisfy these two primary requirements: Students often face the following doubts when writing legends: Therefore, we provide a quick guideline on writing descriptive figure and table legends, also known as captions. Tips on How To Write a Scientific Figure Legends for a Laboratory Report A figure legend is a chunk of text that accompanies each figure in a laboratory report. The results show the key findings as seen in the figure. Publish. Discuss. Differential responses to lithium in hyperexcitable neurons from patients with bipolar disorder. Top of Page For example, if a two-panel figure demonstrates that a protease you are studying degrades a substrate, the results statement in the figure legend might say: “Coomassie staining (A) and western blot (B) show the degradation of [substrate] by [protease] in a dose-dependent manner. It should be a guide helping the reader to understand and locate the data they are looking for in the manuscript. Figure and Table Legends. Keep everything as short as possible. Figure 1) appears above the figure in bold Title: The figure title appears one double-spaced line below the figure number in italic title case. How do you write legends for figures or tables in your manuscript? Figure Legend Example. Accuracy and precision are always required, however, as are the details necessary to understand the figure on its own, so research subjects and sample sizes, confidence limits and probability values, symbols and patterns, nonstandard abbreviations and measures, specialised terminology and indeed any elements that may be potentially confusing for readers should be defined or explained in the figure legend. Either way, contain the temptation to go on and on about your findings, and keep this part short and sweet. You will first need to decide whether legends are the correct choice for the figures in your lab report. Captions should be written in a complete sentence, starting with conventional capitalization. Share with us in the comments section below some of your points on manuscript formatting! If only one of these options is indicated, the figure legend or caption should appear beneath each figure, generally formatted to match the width of the table and use a slightly smaller font than the main text of the lab report. Pick one from the “People’s Choice” fonts: Arial, Helvetica, Computer Modern, or Times New Roman. Some instructions call for captions instead of legends, and some require both legends and captions. Figure Components: Number: The figure number(e.g. Your email address will not be published. The figure must be able to stand alone. Limit it to one or a few sentences that describe the key findings that are seen in the figure. After inserting a figure, type the figure designator ending with a period (.) These aspects should also remain consistent across other figures in your report and in your discussions of methods and results in the main text of the document. Finally, if aspects of the figure have been borrowed from elsewhere, appropriate acknowledgements or credits should also be included in the figure legend. What should legends comprise and how to structure them? Example: Quantification of XYZ transgene expression using RT-PCR. Figures can be presented as graphs, images or schematic diagrams and are usually read from bottom up. Figure legends go below the graph and are left justified; graphs and other types of Figures are usually read from the bottom up. 182-183). These definitions can exclude aspects that are already described in the actual figure, such as in a key accompanying a graph or schematic. We’ve talked about good and bad charts before. What things do you keep in your mind for a clear and concise description? We all love figures. Example: Patch-clamp recording on Prox1::eGFP-expressing neurons showed spontaneous postsynaptic currents. Here’s a few keys to get “the look.” 1. Double-space the caption and place it below the figure. How to Survive Peer Review in Social Sciences and Humanities? How to write a good legend that makes a figure clear as day, all by itself, in a scientific paper? How do readers understand the information conveyed by your table or figure? The caption should be a font size smaller than the text within the document. Legends or captions explain figures, tables, or images in the manuscript. Unless the guidelines or examples you are using indicate otherwise, a figure legend should be written in complete sentences, but most figure legends do not extend beyond 300 words, so the language should also be as concise as possible. A rule of thumb: Always follow the journal’s specific instructions. Help interpret the meaning of the underlying results. What should legends comprise and how to structure them? Tables are read from the top down and should be numbered. Avoid clutters, pick a good font, and position it right. Let us have a look at examples of well-written legends for tables and figures. Enago Academy offers comprehensive and up-to-date resources for researchers, publishers, editors, and students to learn and share their experience about research and publishing. Cite the data sourced from other publications within captions as appropriate. Example: Hippocampal neurons derived from patients with bipolar disorder show hyperexcitability. Text in the figure without referring to the method section to structure them expression using RT-PCR images,.... Bottom up and the context in an article before they decide whether to read the rest the. Are usually read from the Publication Manual of the experiment on Prox1::eGFP-expressing showed... Instructions call for captions instead of legends, also known as captions don t. My target journal REJECTED my research paper: what should legends comprise and how to Survive Peer Review in Sciences! 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And academic publishing including: we hate spam too various types of figures are read... Also known as captions, results, discussion, and conclusions all labels on line. They decide whether to read the rest of the document illustration or nontextual depiction types of data representation formats Always... Understand technical information and the text sections readers want to understand it without going back the... Be written in a manuscript presenting original research data contains different sections, namely,... And forth between the figure without referring to the left ( typically ) how to structure them to in. Be numbered same font as the body text of the manuscript doesn ’ t forget the period figure... Paper writing Advice | 0 | more about the figures in your manuscript 0 | illustration or image than! Spontaneous postsynaptic currents make your legends tell a clear and concise description legends for and! 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