title: Seeing is believing: good graphic design principles for medical research.
abstract: Have you noticed when you browse a book, journal, study report, or product label how your eye is drawn to figures more than to words and tables? Statistical graphs are powerful ways to transparently and succinctly communicate the key points of medical research. Furthermore, the graphic design itself adds to the clarity of the messages in the data. The goal of this paper is to provide a mechanism for selecting the appropriate graph to thoughtfully construct quality deliverables using good graphic design principles. Examples are motivated by the efforts of a Safety Graphics Working Group that consisted of scientists from the pharmaceutical industry, Food and Drug Administration, and academic institutions.
authors.affiliation: GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9302-8579
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Duke
authors.affiliation: Novartis AG, Drug Safety and Epidemiology, Novartis Campus, Basel, 4056, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bancken
authors.affiliation: Eli Lilly and Company, Global Statistical Sciences, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN, 46285, United States.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crowe
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
authors.forename: Mat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soukup
authors.affiliation: Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
authors.forename: Taxiarchis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Botsis
authors.affiliation: Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Forshee
mesh_terms: D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D003196:Computer Graphics / Q000592:standards*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods
keywords: communication; graphics; visual perception; visualization