Preparing Scientific Illustrations: A Guide to Better Posters, Presentations, and Publications

Use this Book to Improve Your GQ!* *(Graphics Quotient) Every graduate student, postdoc and scientist knows that images and illustrations can make or break their lecture, poster presentation, and journal or book article. Graphics software and laser printers have placed professional-quality graphics within the reach of everyone. But in the end, whether your audience sees clear, understandable images or a 300 dpi mess depends on whether you've followed the principles presented by Mary Helen Briscoe in this book. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of visual presentations. Understand when to use a figure, and how much information can be represented in one. See examples of bad, good, and better graphs and tables. Focus on your audience, to learn that a figure prepared for an article may not be ideal for a slide or an overhead. The author also presents information on presenting DNA sequences, protein structures, and other molecular graphics. From reviews of the first edition: "The emphasis is on the nuts and bolts of how figures are printed and how knowledge of these processes can be applied by authors when preparing figures to ensure optimal reproduction in a book or journal . . . every graduate student would benefit from studying [this book]" --Trends in Biochemical Sciences "Mary Helen Briscoe has done every speaker, conference goer, and publisher a tremendous service by providing this readable manual on how to visually present scientific information. This book should be on the shelf of every educator, researcher, lab, and library. It should also be required reading for any new scientist giving a paper, presenting a poster, or submitting an article" --Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Science