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Figures, Tables & Graphs

Graphs

Some key points worth noting regarding graphs:

  • Design your graphs so that they are easy to read and clearly show all key features
  • Graphs are figures, and should therefore have a figure number at the start of their caption ("Fig.1:", not "Graph 1:")

Here is a checklist you can use to check your graphs are compliant.

  • Things your graph should have:
    • Axis labels with units
    • Error bars
    • Tick marks at sensible intervals
    • A white background
    • Maximum and minimum values so that the most of the space is filled
    • Large enough font to be readable
  • Things your graph should not have:
    • A title - Figures do not have titles, this information should go in the caption
    • Gridmarks
    • A border around the whole graph
    • A legend, unless absolutely necessary. Again, this information should preferably go in the caption
    • The equation of your line

Figures 1 and 2 show 2 graphs that have been produced using Excel, one good and one bad. They have been annotated to highlight the differences.

Good graph example

Fig 1. A good graph, annotated

A bad graph example

Fig 2. A bad graph, annotated.

Tables

Like figures, tables must have a caption and must be numbered. Tables are not figures and do not get called Figure 1, Figure 2, etc… They should be called Table 1, Table 2, etc… Removing useless horizontal or vertical lines will improve the presentation of your tables. All the entries, including the headings, should fit comfortably in the width or height of the columns or rows; long headings should thus be avoided. Below you can see a few other things to take note of when using tables.

Don’t include tables of data when the information is adequately given in a graph or by a few words of text; this is redundant and wasteful of space. Below is the same data presented in two formats; if presenting your data in a graphical form enhances the ability to convey information (as is the case here) you do not need to include the table of data, just the graph.