Bar Chart

Used to show discrete, or discontinuous, data e.g.

• percentage of the population using different types of transport

• Frequency of a particular genotype in the population• Number of hospitals using specific antibiotics

DDD is daily defined dose of each type of antibiotic.

Belgium (BE), Denmark (DK), Greece (GR), Finland (FI), France (FR), Luxembourg (LU), Sweden (SE), Estonia (EE), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), Poland (PL), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Croatia (HR) and Norway (NO).

Vander Stichele et al, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2006) 58, 159–167

(A–C) The following holistic impressions about each site's portrayal of the indications, risks, benefits, and readiness of the therapy offered were measured: determinacy of indications (i.e., the extent to which indications were well bounded and specific, as opposed to open-ended or vague), relevance (i.e., the extent to which the risk or benefit is likely in frequency or dramatic in magnitude), and readiness, (i.e., the extent to which the therapy is ready for general clinical access, as opposed to restricted access in the context of a trial protocol only). VC, very clear, bounded; SC, somewhat clear, bounded; SI, somewhat unclear, indeterminate; VI, very unclear, indeterminate.

Figure 1. Impressions Conveyed by Websites' Portrayals of Stem Cell Therapies

Lau et al., Cell Stem Cell 3, Dec 4, 2008

Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2009. ISBN 978 0 11553 162 0

Time-series graph

A line graph with time on the horizontal axis and the variable being measured on the vertical axis e.g.

• Reduction in infection rates in a hospital over 5 years• Increase in use of biofuels each month• Change in the number of households with two cars

They can also be used to compare two variables over time.

DeKosky et al., JAMA, Nov 19, 2008 – Vol 300, No.19

The National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register, 2006 Annual report

Figure 1. Food Supply, Intake and waste in America.(A) The average adult body weight (Δ) as measured by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (B). Per capita U.S. food availability unadjusted (○) and adjusted for wastage (▪) according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The solid curve represents the mathematical model prediction of average food intake change (dashed curves indicate±95% confidence intervals).

Hall KD, Guo J, Dore M, Chow CC, 2009 The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7940.

Forest plot

Used to show the relative effectiveness of different treatments from different scientific studies. Often used in meta-analysis of results of randomised controlled trials, observational and other studies.

An odds ratio can be used to show the measure of the effect.

They may use a logarithmic scale to show results more clearly.

The area of each point is usually proportional to that study’s weight in the analysis.

Fig 4 Forest plot of randomised controlled trials of peppermint oil versus placebo in irritable bowel syndrome.

Ford A C et al. BMJ 2008;337:bmj.a2313

©2008 by British Medical Journal Publishing Group

Figure 1. Forest plot of smoking and multiple sclerosis risk (conservative model).

Handel AE, Williamson AJ, Disanto G, Dobson R, Giovannoni G, et al. 2011 Smoking and Multiple Sclerosis: An Updated Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE 6(1): e16149

Figure 1. 1 Forest Plot of the association between birth weight and total physical activity

ES – effect size, SES Socioeconomic status.

Ridgway CL, Brage S, Sharp SJ, Corder K, Westgate KL, et al. 2011 Does Birth Weight Influence Physical Activity in Youth? A Combined Analysis of Four Studies Using Objectively Measured Physical Activity. PLoS ONE 6(1): e16125.

Pie Chart

• A circular chart divided into sections, with each section representing proportion / percentage.

Figure 4. Gut bacteria composition.The pie chart shows the distribution of gut bacteria obtained by searching RDP browser. Others are: Spirochaetes, Fusobacteria, Deferribacteres, Cyanobacteria, Planctomycetes, Lentisphaerae, TM7 and Tenericutes. Of the thirteen phyla, the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes occupy 65% and 30% of the pie, respectively, while the rest eleven phyla take up 5%.

Yang X, Xie L, Li Y, Wei C, 2009 More than 9,000,000 Unique Genes in Human Gut Bacterial Community: Estimating Gene Numbers Inside a Human Body. PLoS ONE 4(6): e6074.

The National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register, 2006 Annual report

The 2010 UK Radioactive Waste Inventory. ISBN: 978-1-905985-21-0

Box and whisker plot

Used to display information about the data including the range, the median and the quartile points.

It can be very useful if the range of data is not spread evenly around the mean.

Fig 5. Average scores of the six-item xerostomia questionnaire in two-dimensional radiation therapy (2DRT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) arms at various time point post-treatment. Positive score indicates improvement and negative score indicates deterioration. Spread of data denoted by box whiskers plot: box limits represent 25 and 75 percentiles, line within box median, whisker ends 1 and 99 percentiles; comparison of means denoted in inserts.

Kim et al.,Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 25, No 31 (November 1), 2007: pp. 4873-4879

Figure 2. Protein levels in female genital tract secretions collected by swabs and cervicovaginal lavages (CVL).Female genital tract secretions were collected by Dacron swabs (DS) and flocked swabs (FS) from the vagina and the endocervix (cervix) and by CVL using Normosol-R, saline, or water. Protein levels were determined using the Bradford assay. Data are presented as box and whisker plots where the median is the horizontal line through the vertical box which represents the 25–75th percentiles. Values within the 10–90th percentiles are represented by the error bars. Outliers are shown by filled circles.

Dezzutti CS, Hendrix CW, Marrazzo JM, Pan Z, Wang L, et al. 2011 Performance of Swabs, Lavage, and Diluents to Quantify Biomarkers of Female Genital Tract Soluble Mucosal Mediators. PLoS ONE 6(8): e23136.

Figure 3. Box-and-whisker plots showing the monthly variation in population density of mosquito Ae. vigilax from 1991–2005.

Monthly values show the median, 10 and 90 percentiles, and the minimum and maximum observations.

Yang G-J, Brook BW, Bradshaw CJA, 2009 Predicting the Timing and Magnitude of Tropical Mosquito Population Peaks for Maximizing Control Efficiency. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 3(2): e385.

Scatterplot to show correlation

Used to display two variables for a set of data. May be used to show a correlation between the data e.g. – lung capacity and number of cigarettes smoked– Ground cover and species of invertebrates

Figure 3. Associations between ANS accuracy (total percent correct scores adjusted for display time and age at testing) and either mathematics or language scores (each adjusted for age and grade at testing). The blue line represents the line of best fit for the data.

Mazzocco MMM, Feigenson L, Halberda J, 2011 Preschoolers' Precision of the Approximate Number System Predicts Later School Mathematics Performance. PLoS ONE 6(9): e23749.

Figure 3. Correlation between amygdala activation and associative memory performance.A. shows the graph illustrates the inverse correlation between correct response rate of negative word - face pairs and the contrast estimates during encoding of negative word - face pairs in the region of interest. B. shows the graph illustrates the positive correlation between correct response rate of positive word - face pairs and the contrast estimates during encoding of positive word - face pairs in the region of interest.

Okada G, Okamoto Y, Kunisato Y, Aoyama S, Nishiyama Y, et al. 2011 The Effect of Negative and Positive Emotionality on Associative Memory: An fMRI Study. PLoS ONE 6(9): e24862.

Figure 1. Number of journals that have published different numbers of papers that have been among the 100 most-cited in a scientific field in the last decade.The graph does not show outlying Science and Nature.

Ioannidis JPA, 2006 Concentration of the Most-Cited Papers in the Scientific Literature: Analysis of Journal Ecosystems. PLoS ONE 1(1): e5.

These data are calculations which researchers use to compare two different conditions in their experiment. They are calculated according to different formula.

Simplistically they are ratios of the probability of an event occurring in the treatment (or exposed) group compared with a non-treatment (or non-exposed) group.

Data are often presented showing confidence intervals, error bars or statistical deviation.

Graphs to show relative risks/odds ratio

Figure 1. Hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for fatal ischaemic heart disease associated with the combined influence of leisure-time physical activity level and weekly alcohol intake among 11914 men and women (1242 cases). Adjusted for age, smoking habits, body mass index, education, marital status and pre-existing diabetes. The reference group is those who are physically inactive and non-drinkers.

Pederson et al., European Heart Journal (2008) 29, 1–9

This figure displays the relative risk (odds ratio estimate) as horizontal rectangular bars for the risk of children having specific language impairment (SLI) by parent's level of education (reference: college graduate or more, 16+ years).

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/vsl/sli.htm 13.9.11

Fully adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of hypertension associated to a estimated 5 dB(A) increase in traffic noise by age, sex, country of birth, sleeping and resting problems due to traffic noise, difficulties paying bills and number of years living in the same residence . Bodin et al. Environmental Health 2009 8:38