How to Write a Good Scientific Paper: Figures, Part 2

The article describes how to write a good scientific paper. The greatest value of a picture is when it forces the viewer to notice what they never expected to see. While many graphic forms can help to accomplish this goal, the most useful for science has proven to be the x-y scatterplot. The x-y scatterplot is a diagram having two variates plotted along its two axes and in which points are placed to show the values of these variates for each of a number of subjects, so that the form of the association between the variates can be seen. If the x-axis plots time, one generally calls the graph a time-series plot and often use unique analysis or interpretive frameworks for the data due to the unique role of time in causality. The final step in ensuring a good quality figure in one's published paper is to make sure the submitted figure matches the production requirements of the journal.