IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pbio00/1002128.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond Bar and Line Graphs: Time for a New Data Presentation Paradigm

Author

Listed:
  • Tracey L Weissgerber
  • Natasa M Milic
  • Stacey J Winham
  • Vesna D Garovic

Abstract

Figures in scientific publications are critically important because they often show the data supporting key findings. Our systematic review of research articles published in top physiology journals (n = 703) suggests that, as scientists, we urgently need to change our practices for presenting continuous data in small sample size studies. Papers rarely included scatterplots, box plots, and histograms that allow readers to critically evaluate continuous data. Most papers presented continuous data in bar and line graphs. This is problematic, as many different data distributions can lead to the same bar or line graph. The full data may suggest different conclusions from the summary statistics. We recommend training investigators in data presentation, encouraging a more complete presentation of data, and changing journal editorial policies. Investigators can quickly make univariate scatterplots for small sample size studies using our Excel templates.A systematic review of research articles reveals widespread poor practice in the presentation of continuous data. The authors recommend training for investigators and supply templates for easy use.

Suggested Citation

  • Tracey L Weissgerber & Natasa M Milic & Stacey J Winham & Vesna D Garovic, 2015. "Beyond Bar and Line Graphs: Time for a New Data Presentation Paradigm," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-10, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pbio00:1002128
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002128
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002128&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002128?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Regina Nuzzo, 2014. "Scientific method: Statistical errors," Nature, Nature, vol. 506(7487), pages 150-152, February.
    2. David Baker & Katie Lidster & Ana Sottomayor & Sandra Amor, 2014. "Two Years Later: Journals Are Not Yet Enforcing the ARRIVE Guidelines on Reporting Standards for Pre-Clinical Animal Studies," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-6, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tracey L Weissgerber, 2021. "Training early career researchers to use meta-research to improve science: A participant-guided “learn by doing” approach," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-5, February.
    2. Michael Greenacre, 2017. "Data reporting and visualization in ecology," Economics Working Papers 1558, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. Mariam Haji-Hassan & Tudor Călinici & Tudor Drugan & Sorana D. Bolboacă, 2022. "Effectiveness of Ultrasound Cardiovascular Images in Teaching Anatomy: A Pilot Study of an Eight-Hour Training Exposure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-9, March.
    4. Marten Postma & Joachim Goedhart, 2019. "PlotsOfData—A web app for visualizing data together with their summaries," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-8, March.
    5. Eric-Jan Wagenmakers & Alexandra Sarafoglou & Sil Aarts & Casper Albers & Johannes Algermissen & Štěpán Bahník & Noah Dongen & Rink Hoekstra & David Moreau & Don Ravenzwaaij & Aljaž Sluga & Franziska , 2021. "Seven steps toward more transparency in statistical practice," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 1473-1480, November.
    6. Ott, Vincent Leonard & van den Bergh, Don & Boutin, Bruno & van Doorn, Johnny & Bartoš, František & Judd, Nicholas & van Langen, Jordy & Korthals, Luke & Kievit, Rogier & Groot, Laura, 2024. "Informative Data Visualization with Raincloud Plots in JASP," OSF Preprints gv3ph_v1, Center for Open Science.
    7. Joachim Goedhart, 2020. "PlotTwist: A web app for plotting and annotating continuous data," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(1), pages 1-10, January.
    8. Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan & Sarafoglou, Alexandra & Aarts, Sil Dr. & Albers, Casper J & Algermissen, Johannes & Bahník, Štěpán & van Dongen, Noah N'Djaye Nikolai & Hoekstra, Rink & Moreau, David & van Rav, 2021. "Toward More Transparency in Statistical Practice," MetaArXiv t93cg, Center for Open Science.
    9. Ott, Vincent Leonard & van den Bergh, Don & Boutin, Bruno & van Doorn, Johnny & Bartoš, František & Judd, Nicholas & van Langen, Jordy & Korthals, Luke & Kievit, Rogier & Groot, Laura, 2024. "Informative Data Visualization with Raincloud Plots in JASP," OSF Preprints gv3ph, Center for Open Science.
    10. Lotte Schoot & Evelien Heyselaar & Peter Hagoort & Katrien Segaert, 2016. "Does Syntactic Alignment Effectively Influence How Speakers Are Perceived by Their Conversation Partner?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, April.
    11. Opiła Janusz, 2019. "Role of Visualization in a Knowledge Transfer Process," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 10(1), pages 164-179, April.
    12. Tracey L Weissgerber & Vesna D Garovic & Marko Savic & Stacey J Winham & Natasa M Milic, 2016. "From Static to Interactive: Transforming Data Visualization to Improve Transparency," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-8, June.
    13. Tracey L Weissgerber & Vesna D Garovic & Jelena S Milin-Lazovic & Stacey J Winham & Zoran Obradovic & Jerome P Trzeciakowski & Natasa M Milic, 2016. "Reinventing Biostatistics Education for Basic Scientists," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-12, April.
    14. Natasa Milic & Srdjan Masic & Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic & Goran Trajkovic & Jelena Marinkovic & Jelena Milin-Lazovic & Zoran Bukumiric & Marko Savic & Andja Cirkovic & Milan Gajic & Dejana Stanisavljev, 2018. "Blended learning is an effective strategy for acquiring competence in public health biostatistics," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(3), pages 421-428, April.
    15. Daniel Theisen & Isabel Rada & Amélie Brau & Paul Gette & Romain Seil, 2016. "Muscle Activity Onset Prior to Landing in Patients after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, May.
    16. Jesús Peral & Eduardo Gallego & David Gil & Mohan Tanniru & Prashant Khambekar, 2020. "Using Visualization to Build Transparency in a Healthcare Blockchain Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dean A Fergusson & Marc T Avey & Carly C Barron & Mathew Bocock & Kristen E Biefer & Sylvain Boet & Stephane L Bourque & Isidora Conic & Kai Chen & Yuan Yi Dong & Grace M Fox & Ronald B George & Neil , 2019. "Reporting preclinical anesthesia study (REPEAT): Evaluating the quality of reporting in the preclinical anesthesiology literature," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Jyotirmoy Sarkar, 2018. "Will P†Value Triumph over Abuses and Attacks?," Biostatistics and Biometrics Open Access Journal, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 7(4), pages 66-71, July.
    3. Arthur Matsuo Yamashita Rios de Sousa & Hideki Takayasu & Misako Takayasu, 2017. "Detection of statistical asymmetries in non-stationary sign time series: Analysis of foreign exchange data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Maurizio Canavari & Andreas C. Drichoutis & Jayson L. Lusk & Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr., 2018. "How to run an experimental auction: A review of recent advances," Working Papers 2018-5, Agricultural University of Athens, Department Of Agricultural Economics.
    5. Vivian Leung & Frédérik Rousseau-Blass & Guy Beauchamp & Daniel S J Pang, 2018. "ARRIVE has not ARRIVEd: Support for the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of in vivo Experiments) guidelines does not improve the reporting quality of papers in animal welfare, analgesia or anesthesi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, May.
    6. Felipe Campelo & Fernanda Takahashi, 2019. "Sample size estimation for power and accuracy in the experimental comparison of algorithms," Journal of Heuristics, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 305-338, April.
    7. Martin E Héroux & Janet L Taylor & Simon C Gandevia, 2015. "The Use and Abuse of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Modulate Corticospinal Excitability in Humans," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Roger Beecham & Nick Williams & Alexis Comber, 2020. "Regionally-structured explanations behind area-level populism: An update to recent ecological analyses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Shuxin Guo & Qiang Liu, 2024. "Data-generating process and time-series asset pricing," Papers 2405.10920, arXiv.org.
    10. Juan Li & Hanzhang Xu & Wei Pan & Bei Wu, 2017. "Association between tooth loss and cognitive decline: A 13-year longitudinal study of Chinese older adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, February.
    11. Felix Holzmeister & Magnus Johannesson & Robert Böhm & Anna Dreber & Jürgen Huber & Michael Kirchler, 2023. "Heterogeneity in effect size estimates: Empirical evidence and practical implications," Working Papers 2023-17, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    12. Michael E. Mann & Elisabeth A. Lloyd & Naomi Oreskes, 2017. "Assessing climate change impacts on extreme weather events: the case for an alternative (Bayesian) approach," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 131-142, September.
    13. Carmen Moret-Tatay & Inmaculada Baixauli-Fortea & M. Dolores Grau-Sevilla, 2020. "Profiles on the Orientation Discrimination Processing of Human Faces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-11, August.
    14. Alexander Koplenig, 2019. "A non-parametric significance test to compare corpora," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Jeffrey D Blume & Lucy D’Agostino McGowan & William D Dupont & Robert A Greevy Jr., 2018. "Second-generation p-values: Improved rigor, reproducibility, & transparency in statistical analyses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, March.
    16. Sajeet Pradhan & Lalatendu Kesari Jena, 2019. "Does Meaningful Work Explains the Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Innovative Work Behaviour?," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 44(1), pages 30-40, March.
    17. Steckley, Andrew & Steckley, Noah, 2024. "Subtle Signs of Scribal Intent in the Voynich Manuscript," OSF Preprints syu3n, Center for Open Science.
    18. Sogand Poureghbali & Jorge Arede & Kathrin Rehfeld & Wolfgang Schöllhorn & Nuno Leite, 2020. "Want to Impact Physical, Technical, and Tactical Performance during Basketball Small-Sided Games in Youth Athletes? Try Differential Learning Beforehand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-12, December.
    19. Olga Lavrinenko & Edmunds Čižo & Svetlana Ignatjeva & Alina Danileviča & Krzysztof Krukowski, 2023. "Financial Technology (FinTech) as a Financial Development Factor in the EU Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, February.
    20. Hoffmann, Munir P. & Cock, James & Samson, Marianne & Janetski, Noel & Janetski, Kate & Rötter, Reimund P. & Fisher, Myles & Oberthür, Thomas, 2020. "Fertilizer management in smallholder cocoa farms of Indonesia under variable climate and market prices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pbio00:1002128. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosbiology (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.