A Beef

A bovine eye chart. Source (link dead in 2023)

by Elio
 

 
I have a complaint. Scientific papers can be quite demanding to read. So, why make life more difficult by making the legends of the figures so hard to read? My big complaint is that when a legend pertains to multiple parts, the letters corresponding to them are nearly invisible. Try finding the (c), (d), or (e) in the legend. For heaven’s sake, what is so hard about showing these in bold letters? Besides, life would be simpler if there were fewer images or if they weren’t grouped so tightly.
 

Next time you write a paper, tell the editor that you want the letters in figure legends to be in bold face. Thank you in the name of all of us.
 

 
 

 
 

Comments

[Vincent Racaniello]

Bolding the figure callouts is so easy, yet few journals do it. Unfortunately, unless it's part of the journal's style sheet, they won't change it on request.

I have another beef - tiny figures and legends in grant applications! Now that they are all pdfs, it makes it very hard for the visually challenged to read. Try blowing up a multi-part 2x2 inch figure and watch the pixels grow.