A graphical abstract (or visual abstract [2] ) is a graphical or visual equivalent of a written abstract. [3] [4] Graphical abstracts are a single image and are designed to help the reader to quickly gain an overview on a scholarly paper, research article, thesis or review: and to quickly ascertain the purpose and results of a given research, as well as the salient details of authors and journal. Graphical abstracts are intended to help facilitate online browsing, as well as help readers quickly identify which papers are relevant to their research interests. Like a video abstract, they are not intended to replace the original research paper, rather to help draw attention to it, increasing its readership.
To the broader scientific community, graphical abstracts are a relatively new concept: therefore, there is no ubiquitous standard or style of formatting. Nevertheless, several distinct styles have emerged, which are largely a reflection of the intended audience.
Graphical abstracts, consisting mainly of diagrams, have been utilized since the mid to late 1970s, [5] primarily in the field of chemistry - due to the visual nature of the field. [6] This type of graphical abstract is usually produced by the researchers themselves with the intended audience being other researchers who are already very familiar with the topic, usually using highly technical language and abbreviations with no background context.
The visual abstract is a style of graphical abstract first introduced in June 2016 [7] by Annals of Surgery 's Creative Editor Andrew Ibrahim, MD, from the Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan. [8] Visual abstracts have been developed with a consistent formatting style in mind and are intended to be produced rapidly and easily by the researcher, using Microsoft PowerPoint—though professionally designed visual abstracts do exist. The general format consists of a title, followed by one (or multiple) key findings, each with a text description and a visual icon, supported by data. [9] So far, visual abstracts appear to be used exclusively by medical journals. [10] The use of visual abstracts has been shown to increase overall engagement on social media, particularly among healthcare professionals. [11]
These graphical abstracts tend to feature text and graphics together in a more visually appealing way. Infographic-style abstracts were among the first [3] [12] to gain popularity in early 2015 – 2016 (shortly prior to visual abstracts), appearing in academic journals such as PeerJ [13] [14] and Elsevier [15] [16] and often accompanying their press releases to news media outlets such as Newsweek [17] & VICE. [17]
Infographic style graphical abstracts are usually made with advanced illustrating software, and are therefore usually professionally produced. The intended audience is not limited to any particular level of research training, and can be aimed at expert researchers or the general public. Given their emphasis on well-presented graphics, this style is usually intended to engage a broader reader audience than expert researchers.
The comic style of graphical abstract is the most accessible form of graphical abstract. This style uses humor and illustrations to convey the research findings in a fun and more light-hearted way. It is therefore a popular style when aiming to engage the largest public audience.
There are relatively few studies investigating the efficacy of graphical abstracts at increasing publication impact.
Some studies have focused specifically on the impact of using visual abstracts. One study revealed that, relative to tweets without a visual abstract, tweets with a visual abstract produced a 7.7-fold increase in Twitter impressions, an 8.4-fold increase in retweets, and resulted in a 2.7-fold increase in article visits. [19]
However, a study in 2016 compared publications with or without graphical abstracts published in Molecules between March 2014 and March 2015, and found no apparent benefit of including graphical abstracts with the published manuscripts. Manuscripts published without a graphical abstract performed significantly better in terms of PDF downloads, abstract views, and total citations than manuscripts with a graphical abstract. [3] This appears to be the only empirical study of its kind, testing the effectiveness of graphical abstracts, and further studies that are not limited to one journal and one year of publications, would be useful in further establishing whether or not graphical abstracts are effective at increasing publication impact.
Thylacinus is a genus of extinct carnivorous marsupials in the family Thylacinidae. The only recent member was the thylacine, commonly also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. The last known Tasmanian tiger was in the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania, eventually passing away in 1936. The earliest known member of the genus, Thylacinus macknessi appeared during the Early Miocene, around 16 million years ago, and was smaller than the modern thylacine, with a body mass of about 6.7–9.0 kilograms (14.8–19.8 lb). Thylacinus represented the only extant genus of the family after the beginning of the Pliocene around 5 million years ago. Over time members of the genus saw an increase in body mass and a greater adaption to hypercarnivory in their dental morphology.
Protarchaeopteryx is a genus of turkey-sized feathered theropod dinosaur from China. Known from the Jianshangou bed of the Yixian Formation, it lived during the early Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous, approximately 124.6 million years ago. It was probably a herbivore or omnivore, although its hands were very similar to those of small carnivorous dinosaurs. It appears to be one of the most basal members of the Oviraptorosauria, closely related to Incisivosaurus, or a taxon slightly less closely related to birds than oviraptorosaurs were.
Dermochelyidae is a family of turtles which has seven extinct genera and one extant genus, including the largest living sea turtles.
Jixiangornis is a genus of basal avialans from the Early Cretaceous. Like later avialans, it had no teeth, but it also had a long tail, unlike modern birds. Since teeth were still present in some more derived short-tailed avialans, Jixiangornis seems to have evolved its toothlessness independently of modern birds. The long forelimb indicates at least some aerial ability. Jixiangornis is currently known only from a single specimen, a complete but juvenile skeleton. The fossil was found in the Yixian Formation near Beipiao City, western Liaoning, China.
Ticinosuchus is an extinct genus of suchian archosaur from the Middle Triassic of Switzerland and Italy.
Guloninae is a subfamily of the mammal family Mustelidae distributed across Eurasia and the Americas. It includes martens and the fisher, tayra and wolverine. These genera were formerly included within a paraphyletic definition of the mustelid subfamily Mustelinae.
Bouliachelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle from Cretaceous Australia. It was originally described as a member of Protostegidae. In 2013 study it was considered to be a member of Dermochelyoidae, although later studies consider it as a protostegid again.
Atoposauridae is a family of crocodile-line archosaurs belonging to Neosuchia. The majority of the family are known from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous marine deposits in France, Portugal, and Bavaria in southern Germany. The discovery of the genus Aprosuchus, however, extends the duration of the lineage to the end of the Cretaceous in Romania.
Isisfordia is an extinct genus of crocodyliform closely related to crocodilians that lived in Australia during the Middle Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian).
Fugusuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform, probably the basal-most member of the family Erythrosuchidae. The genus is known from a single fossil from the middle Early Triassic Heshanggou Formation in Shanxi, China. The partial skeleton consists of an incomplete skull, parts of the right forelimb, and an intercentrum. The skeleton, known as GMB V 313, is currently in the Geological Museum of China in Beijing.
Brachylophosaurini is a tribe of saurolophine hadrosaurs with known material being from N. America and potentially Asia. It contains at least four taxa; Acristavus, Brachylophosaurus, Maiasaura, and Probrachylophosaurus. A hadrosaur from the Amur river, Wulagasaurus, might be a member of this tribe, but this is disputed. The group was defined by Terry A. Gates and colleagues in 2011.
Plesiogulo is a genus of prehistoric carnivore that lived from Miocene to Pliocene of Africa, Eurasia and North America. An ancestral relationship to the wolverine was once suggested, but it is no longer considered likely. However, some authorities still consider it a member of the Guloninae.
The volatilome contains all of the volatile metabolites as well as other volatile organic and inorganic compounds that originate from an organism, super-organism, or ecosystem. The atmosphere of a living planet could be regarded as its volatilome. While all volatile metabolites in the volatilome can be thought of as a subset of the metabolome, the volatilome also contains exogenously derived compounds that do not derive from metabolic processes, therefore the volatilome can be regarded as a distinct entity from the metabolome. The volatilome is a component of the 'aura' of molecules and microbes that surrounds all organisms.
Machaeroidinae ("dagger-like") is an extinct subfamily of carnivorous sabre-toothed placental mammals from extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived from the early to middle Eocene of Asia and North America. Traditionally classified as hyaenodonts, this group is now classified as a member of the family Oxyaenidae.
Santanmantis is an extinct genus of mantises, the sole genus in the family Santanmantidae. The only species, Santanmantis axelrodi, is known from the Crato Formation of Brazil, dating to the late Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. It is amongst the most primitive known lineages of mantis. Like other mantises, the forelegs are modified into spined raptorial appendages. When describing a new specimen in 2017, Hörnig, Haug and Haug proposed that the second set of legs also had spines similar to the forelegs, and also served a raptorial function, but that they were not visible in the fossil due to being broken off. However a response to this paper criticised this assumption, finding that it had little evidence from the fossil itself or from living mantises.
The Naobaogou Formation is a geological formation in the Daqing Mountains of China. It is likely of Lopingian age. It consists of three rhythms of sediment, labelled members I-III primarily of purple siltstone, but each with a thick basal conglomerate bed. It is notable for its fossil content, producing one of the most diverse Late Permian vertebrate faunas outside Russia and South Africa.
Rebecca Cliffe is a British zoologist and one of the leading experts on sloth biology and ecology. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Sloth Conservation Foundation and author of the book Sloths: Life in the Slow Lane with photographs by award-winning wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas.
TheSloth Conservation Foundation (SloCo) is a non-profit organisation based in Costa Rica that is dedicated to the protection of sloths living in wild and human-modified habitats through research, education and community-based conservation. SloCo was founded in 2017 by sloth researcher Dr. Rebecca Cliffe.
Menefeeceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the Menefee Formation in New Mexico, United States. It is potentially the oldest known member of the ceratopsids, as well as the centrosaurine subfamily, related to animals including Yehuecauhceratops and Crittendenceratops. The type and only species is Menefeeceratops sealeyi, known from a partial, non-articulated skeleton.
Jiufengia is an extinct genus of therocephalian in the family Akidnognathidae. It is known from a single species, Jiufengia jiai, from the Late Permian Naobaogou Formation in China.