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Scientific Figure Guidelines

General Design Principles

Typography and Layout

  • CMU Sans Serif for better readability
  • Consider colorblind accessibility - certain color differences are more distinguishable than others
  • Ensure proper alignment of all graphical elements
  • Distribute whitespace harmoniously throughout your figure

Software-Specific Guidelines

ChemDraw:

  • Use ACS presets for chemical structures and diagrams

Adobe Illustrator:

  • Use arrow type 4 for consistency
  • Critical: Set artboard size to match your intended figure dimensions before starting Adjusting artboard size in Illustrator
  • Ensure arrows are orthogonal to artboard boundaries (enable grid view if uncertain)

Matplotlib:

  • Use our standardized plotting settings: https://github.com/lamalab-org/lama-aesthetics
  • Set correct figure dimensions to match journal specifications: 
    ONE_COL_WIDTH_INCH = 3.25
TWO_COL_WIDTH_INCH = 7.2
  • Consider the golden ratio for height-to-width proportions
  • Save as vector graphics (PDF format recommended)
  • Load our group's plotting style for consistency

Unit Notation Standards

Follow proper scientific notation for units:

  • Preferred: Use forward slash notation (e.g., "Energy / eV")
  • Avoid: Square brackets around units (violates DIN 1313 standard)

References:

Data Visualization Best Practices

Core Principles

  • Maximize data-to-ink ratio - remove unnecessary graphical elements
  • Show data distribution when presenting aggregated results
  • Display raw data points when possible, rather than just summaries
  • Explain error bars in captions (what they represent and sample size)
  • Choose appropriate color schemes (sequential, categorical, diverging) that match your data type

Accessibility Considerations

Quality Checklist

Content and Design:

  • Does the figure effectively show your key message?
  • Have you maximized the data-to-ink ratio?
  • Are all graphical elements aligned properly?
  • Is whitespace distributed harmoniously?
  • Can colorblind individuals interpret your figure?

Technical Specifications:

  • Uses CMU Sans Serif font
  • Follows group plotting style guidelines
  • Figure width matches journal column specifications (no rescaling needed)
  • Text is readable at intended size (especially for presentations/posters)

Data Presentation:

  • Shows data distribution for aggregated results
  • Error bars are explained in caption with sample sizes
  • Color scheme appropriately matches data type
  • Raw data points shown when feasible

Legal and Ethical:

  • No copyrighted elements without permission
  • All licensing requirements met

Style Guidelines

Tools

  • Sketching: Excalidraw - Free, collaborative diagramming tool
  • Plot Brainstorming: Napkin.ai - Text-to-figure conversion tool
  • Group Standards: LamaLab Aesthetics - Our plotting style repository