Science is already complex, don’t make it even more complicated in writing and illustration

Colors speak louder than words. It compels readers to read. In the case of scientific publications, journals usually publish online, therefore understanding the use of color in graphics is worth learning. Using professional colors, change the manuscript to professional and hook the readers nevertheless, if the wrong colors are used, reader retention will suffer. This tutorial will hopefully help to create professional-looking graphics for scientific writing.

Colors are divided into four different plates

Complementary colors (opposite from each other in the color wheel). Complementary colors, as shown in the diagrams, are two colors that are oppositely positioned on the color wheel. If just two colors are required for data representation, complimentary colors will be used.

Analogous colours (adjacent to each other in the colour wheel). Analogous colours, as you can see in the below colour plate, are adjacent to each other. Because these colours are difficult to distinguish, they are typically avoided in scientific depiction.

Triad colours (three colours with equidistance in the colour plate). Triad colours are made up of three colours that are evenly spaced on the colour wheel. As a result, if your data requires three colours, triad colours will provide a clear depiction.

Square colours (Four evenly spaced colours). Similarly, square colour offers a choice of four colours on the colour wheel, having equal space. Therefore, in case you needed four colours to represent your data, you will use the square colour wheel.

Instructions

• Colours truly depend on where they are used, however, too many colours will distract the readers

Always use your original figures. The other two categories lie in plagiarism. Therefore, always avoid them. In case, you have to use them in your study, take the proper copyright from the publishers.

• Yellow colors are difficult to read, so avoid them.

• Use a colour scheme that corresponds to the eyesight of a colourblind person. Because they are unable to distinguish between red and green colours, it is preferable to utilise purple and green instead.

• Two types of colours are accepted by journals, RGB (Red, Green, Blue) are used for online printing and CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) are used for hard printing. Therefore, decide the colour scheme as the journal publishes your article.
• Take care of the background colour of the figures
• Avoid colours that are difficult to differentiate

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Science is already complex, don’t make it even more complicated in writing and illustration. Follow the above simple steps to illustrate your complex data in tables. Furthermore, go through the below article to get ready for graphics used in scientific publications.

Follow the detail tutorial.

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