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专业医学期刊的配图毫无疑问是影响阅读感受和刊物影响力的大事。 这在我之前的讨论中都曾经有谈及。例如以下两篇 配图为什么重要？ 因为人类进化到现在，对图像的反应远快于对文字的反应。 这其实就是比尔.盖茨的windows能独霸天下的主要原因——当年使用者要记住DOS的编程命令才能让计算机干活，而基于各种有趣图标（其实每一个图标就代表一个命令符）的windows的横空出世立即极大地提高了计算机的使用好感度和效率，也进一步促进了计算机的普及和相关系统的开发应用。 同样，乔布斯的每一次产品发布会能成为全球传媒界的盛事，除了因为产品本身的优势，视觉化的现场演示永远是全球Fans的心头好以及饕餮盛宴。 专业期刊何尝不是，新英格兰医学（NEJM），SCIENCE 和Nature这些国际大刊中的插图永远是文献摘引者、课件制作者的灵感源泉。 下面依次是来自NEJM、LANCET和Nature的对ARDS的机制配图： 这两天《Annals of Emergency Medicine》在线刊登了Chen等作者的“Graph Quality in Top Medical Journals（顶级医学期刊的图表质量）”一文。 文献信息： Graph Quality in Top Medical Journals Jennifer C. Chen, Richelle J. Cooper, Michael E. McMullen, David L. Schriger DOI: http://dx./10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.08.463 http://www./article/S0196-0644(16)30999-4/fulltext Study objective：Well-designed graphs can portray complex data and relationships in ways that are easier to interpret and understand than text and tables. Previous investigations of reports of clinical research showed that graphs are underused and, when used, often depict summary statistics instead of the data distribution. This descriptive study aims to evaluate the quantity and quality of graphs in the current medical literature across a broad range of better journals. Methods：We performed a cross-sectional survey of 10 randomly selected original research articles per journal from the 2012 issues of 20 highly cited journals. We identified which figures were data graphs and limited analysis to a maximum of 5 randomly selected data graphs per article. We then described the graph type, data density, completeness, visual clarity, special features, and dimensionality of each graph in the sample. Results：We analyzed 342 data graphs published in 20 journals. Our sample had a geometric mean data density index across all graphs of 1.18 data elements/cm2. More than half (54%) of the data graphs were simple univariate displays such as line or bar graphs. When analyzed by journal, excellence in one domain (completeness, visual clarity, or special features) was not strongly predictive of excellence in the other domains. Conclusion：Despite that graphs can efficiently and effectively convey complex study findings, we found their infrequent use and low data density to be the norm. The majority of graphs were univariate ones that failed to display the overall distribution of data. 简言之，研究者们按照每刊10篇原著性文章（每篇至少40例患者）的方案从2012年的20种顶级医学期刊选出要分析的文章中的图例。研究者只纳入数据图示，不纳入流程图、照片等，每篇文章最多纳入5个图示，随后按照 graph type（图表类型）,data density（数据密度）, completeness（完成度）, visual clarity（视觉清晰性）, and special features（特殊特性）、Dimensionality（维度） of each graph in the sample 等进行分类和计分。
看到这里，读者们可能有点小失望，为啥NEJM、JAMA都不是第一？ 正如作者对结果的分析所述：某项好并不代表其他项就好！（When analyzed by journal, excellence in one domain (completeness, visual clarity, or special features) was not strongly predictive of excellence in the other domains）。 例如《NEJM》， 其图示数据完成度最好，但在特殊属性中的排名只是中档——第6名；而特殊属性排名第二的《英国医学杂志（BMJ）在数据完成度方面只是第16名。而两者在视觉清晰度的表现均为中游（For example, the New England Journal of Medicine, the top-performing journal in terms of completeness, was in the middle range as the sixth performing journal in terms of special features, whereas the British Medical Journal, the second-performing journal in terms of special features, performed in the low range as the 16th journal in terms of completeness. Both fell into the middle performance range in terms of visual clarity）。 最后，作者总结道： There are currently no widely accepted standards in the medical literature for when to include a graph, or for graphic style and quality. Our analysis shows that there is room for improvement in terms of graphic complexity in top medical journals. Development of standards for graphic style (similar to rules of grammar for written prose) may help push authors to report more data and use higher-complexity graphic features such as bivariate data, by-subject data, and higher data density indexes. 显然，各刊物的图示系统仍有改进的空间，并且也需要建立起图示系统的标准化方案。 行文至此，本来要说一句让国内专业期刊躺枪的话，省省还是不要说了。 |
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