research paper graph maker

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Free Online Graph Maker

Customize engaging graphs to show complex data in presentations and reports, and impress prospective clients, partners, and donors!

Not a designer? Not a problem. With Venngage's free library of easy-to-edit graph templates, anyone can create stunning graphs in minutes. 40,000+ businesses have trusted Venngage's free graph maker tool to improve their data visualizations!

Design from one of our graph templates

Customize one of our professionally-designed templates. see all graph templates, what can you do with venngage's free graph maker tool.

You can create amazing data visualization graphics without previous design experience. Why hire an expert when you can customize your favorite report or presentation template in minutes?

Excel can be complicated and it doesn't always look great. Forget dull communications, Venngage has hundreds of graph templates for projects, metrics, company milestones, proposals, and more!

Our intuitive graph creator makes you look good in no time, with professionally designed templates — powerful enough for marketers, executives and other professionals.

Use raw data to create stunning graphs. Enter new data in a simple table or paste your Google Sheets link or upload an Excel file to import information automatically with Venngage's graph generator.

How to make a graph in 5 easy steps:

Create a powerful graph with Venngage's graph maker tool

Customizable Graphs

Our bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, scatterplots, and other types of data visualization templates are professionally designed and easy to edit.

User-Friendly Editor

Make a graph easily by entering your data into our online graph creator – or upload an Excel file or paste the link to your Google Sheet to automatically import data.

Download in Multiple Formats

Easily share your graphs online with a click, download as HTML for emails, and as PNG, PDF, or PPT — to send them as images or add them on Slides or PowerPoint.

Fonts and Visuals

Stand out from the crowd with a bold font from our collection. Access our library of thousands of free and premium images, graphs, and icons to boost your creation.

24-Hour Priority Support

Have a question? We're here to help! Our support team is available around the clock, so your team can keep working like clockwork. We can help you design faster!

Royalty-Free Stock Photography

Our free graph maker tool is integrated with Pixabay and Pexels to elevate your design. Access stunning, professional photography with just one click.

Discover the art of inclusive design with Venngage's AI-powered tools

Import data easily from excel and google sheets.

With our graph creator, bringing data to life has never been easier!

Download or share your graph design in one click.

How do I sign up for Venngage?

Click the "Create Graph" button below. You'll sign up using your email address, Google or Facebook account. It's free and there's no credit card required.

Can I edit my graph after it's saved?

Absolutely. Venngage's editor automatically saves your work as you go along. Exit our free graph generator and come back at any time to make changes if you need to.

Can I download, share or print out my graph?

It's free to share a private link from our online graph maker. Nonetheless, there's a small monthly fee required to download the graph as a PDF or PNG.

Design a graph online with our free graph maker tool — select any of our powerful graph templates!

Get started with one of our top graph templates:

Scatterplot.

👀 Turn any prompt into captivating visuals in seconds with our AI-powered design generator ✨ Try Piktochart AI!

Online graph maker to create a graph in minutes

Make a graph for free with no design experience. Trusted by 11 million users, Piktochart is easy and fast. Use a pre-made template to create graphs and charts online without design experience.

11 million people worldwide use Piktochart

Make a Graph and Connect It to Google Sheets

Choose from multiple formats, chart types, and free templates that turn a non-designer into a pro.

Keep Your Graphs On-brand

All graph types have many customization options to make your graphs look how you want. bar graphs, pie charts, diagrams – the gallery includes professionally designed templates for beautiful data visualizations.

Charts, graphs, and diagrams

Easily Switch Between Different Chart Types

Whether you need diagrams, a line chart, bar chart, pie chart, or any other chart type, the Piktochart gallery has pre-made templates for any format. Enter your data series once and see how your data visualization looks using different charts. If you come back and decide you want to use a different type of chart, you can use our graph maker to change it again.

Content creation with free templates

Add Your Graph to Any Format

Design with the help of a free library of graphics, icons, fonts, and chart templates, upload your own images, and create visuals effortlessly. You can simply add a pie chart, bar chart, or another type of graph to your slides.

Create Once, Use Forever

With a team account, there’s no need to spend hours re-creating the same report or chart every week or month. Organize your templates and past projects in folders. Make it easy for anyone on your team to repurpose content on the fly, ultimately saving their time.

Add your custom graphs to any template

Testimonials

“Piktochart is my go-to tool when I’m looking for a way to summarize data that is easy for our upper management to review. Piktochart provides me with the tools to display data in a creative, visually appealing way.”

“Piktochart has allowed me to change the style of my company’s communications. The campaigns are more visual, modern and attractive thanks to the templates that always serve as inspiration. Now even my colleagues use it! Piktochart helped me to engage, increase participation in events, add value to internal campaigns and to reinforce the culture and communication flow of my business.”

“As an HR Assistant, I have to find new and creative ways to engage our employees and effectively communicate across a large organization. Piktochart has tremendously helped me in achieving this.”

“Piktochart helps me translate often dry financial policies and accounting standards to easy to understand and concise one-pager visuals for management.”

How to Make a Graph Online

Sign up for the Free plan or log into your Piktochart account.

2. Pick a free template

Pick a graph template made by designers or start from scratch. With our variety of types of graph , we’ve got you well covered.

3. Open the graph maker

Go to Tools and open up Piktochart’s chart maker. You’ll be able to make a graph online.

4. Enter your data set

Copy-paste your raw data points into our graph maker, or upload an Excel or CSV file. You can link a Google Sheet to have the data in the graph updated automatically.

5. Customize

Edit one of the templates (choose from different graph types or diagrams) and adjust data labels, x-axis, y-axis, graph title, background color, and more.

6. Download the custom chart or share

Download your graphic as a jpg, png, or pdf file. Alternatively, share your chart online.

Explore More Templates

Visualizing Data With Different Types of Graphs

Line graph maker.

Create line graphs to illustrate information that changes over time. With Piktochart’s graph maker, you can visualize data in seconds. Choose from the gallery of templates, icons, fonts, and images to customize.

Donut Chart Maker

Link up your Excel file or Google Sheet to create donut charts that automatically update in Piktochart. Use different charts in one presentation by using our online graph maker.

Scatter Plot Maker

Include a scatter plot in your dashboard to translate a data set into a visual story that will grasp your audience’s attention. Add icons and images to chart templates to create professional graphics, and download your work when it’s ready.

Pie Chart Maker

Build a professional, interactive dashboard ready to be shared with your stakeholders, and add a pie chart in your brand colors. You can access free graphs and charts templates that make all your visuals and pie charts beautiful.

Bar Graph Maker

With Piktochart, you can create reports, presentations and infographics that impress. Use the graph maker to present data in these visuals with no effort.

Comparison Chart Maker

Compare two products or highlight a subject’s pros and cons of a topic with a comparison chart in Piktochart. Choose the colors you prefer and design your visual fast. With our drag-and-drop editor, you’ll make a graph in minutes.

Ready to create graphs in minutes?

Join more than 11 million people who already use Piktochart’s free graph maker.

Is Piktochart’s graph maker free to use?

Do i need to have design experience to use a graph maker, what types of graphs can i create with a graph maker.

• Scatter plots
• Comparison charts
• Line graphs

Can I use a graph maker to create graphs for presentations or reports?

What should i consider when choosing a graph maker.

• The features offered. The more complex it is, the more flexibility you will have to make a graph.
• Freedom to test the tool by creating custom charts with a trial or free plan.
• Resources to learn the tool and ease of use.
• Value for money. What you get for your paid plan. Graph makers like Piktochart offer storage, downloads, and access to many features. In addition, it does not force its watermark on the visuals users create.

Can I import data from other sources into a graph maker?

Graph maker resources.

Data Visualization

20 Essential Types of Graphs and When to Use Them

Progress Report: How to Write, Structure, and Make Project Progress Visually Attractive

50 Interesting Data Sets to Find Data You Need

What else can you create with piktochart.

• Detect & Remove Outlier(s)
• One Way ANOVA
• Two Way ANOVA
• Tukey's Honest Significance Test
• Fisher's LSD Test
• Bonferroni's Test
• Benjamini-Hochberg Procedure
• Dunnett's Test (After One Way ANOVA)
• Linear Regression
• Polynomial Regression (2nd to 4th degree)
• Exponential Regression
• Logarithmic Regression
• Logistic Function
• Boltzmann Sigmoid

Your Data Table

Paste or type your Excel data in the box below, then click "Create Plot"

Troubleshoot.

• Try to use Chrome. GraphRobot is developed and tested in Chrome. Using other browsers may cause problems. GraphRobt does not work in Internet Explorer (IE).
• Try to clear the cache of your browser and refresh the page.
• If the problems persist, please contact me

May 30, 2024

Added a function to fit linear regression curves with intercept fixed at 0.

• GraphRobot is free.
• GraphRobot runs in the browser. You can access it from all your devices (even on your smart phone).
• GraphRobot has some smart features. For example, it can automatically add significance asterisks to the plot. No more manual drawing!

Data Summary

T-test options, t-test results, multiple comparisons results, fitting results.

Make a graph instantly with AI

GraphMaker never stores your data. Details on our security practices here .

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Online Graph Maker

Create over 30+ charts & diagrams with ease in Visme’s graph maker. Access customizable templates , live data integration and interactive graph capabilities. Easily share, download or embed your graph.

Used by small and large brands

Our graph maker is used by over 27,500,000 marketers, communicators, executives and educators from over 133 countries that include:

Use the graph maker to turn raw data into beautiful data visualizations.

Tap into our professionally designed graph templates or create your own custom charts, graphs and diagrams from scratch.

Make bar graphs, pie charts, flowcharts, diagrams, line graphs, histograms and everything in between with Visme’s graph maker. Import data in seconds and easily switch between different types of graphs to find the best presentation of your data.

More Great Features of the Chart & Graph Maker

Free library of chart templates to jumpstart your data visualization

Seamlessly pick and choose which type of graph works best for your data

Use your own brand fonts and colors to create branded company content

Easy drag-and-drop design tools, made with the non-designer in mind

Help your chart design stand out by adding photos, icons, illustrations and more

Download in a variety of formats, add to another project, share online or embed

Populate charts and graphs with data

Visme makes it easy to import data into your graphs. Choose to link Google Sheets, upload Excel files, pull data from existing data sources like Google Analytics or paste your data into the spreadsheet right in the dashboard.

Upload static data or connect to Google sheets for live data

Upload your data as an Excel or CSV file to populate charts or pull live data from Google Sheets to update your charts automatically. Take advantage of the graph maker’s list of integrations to create graphs based on survey data, website data and more.

Seamlessly switch between chart types to find the best visualization

After you insert your data into the graph maker, you can easily find the best type of chart or graph that works for your data. You can switch between chart types both before and after uploading your data. Simply click through our list of graph types to find your best option.

Excel is not the best software when trying to make graphs more interactive and engaging. Visme is just more convenient and has a lot of creative options available straight away.

With Visme, I have yet to miss a reporting deadline. In the past, setting charts up with inferior products required a set of skills learned by deep-diving into capabilities that are not intuitive to everyday operation. Visme has a great amount of presets and templates that make learning easy. I truly enjoy this tool.

I’m a big fan of easy to use tools to create great looking reports, presentations, and charts, and that’s why I like Visme.

Types of graphs you can create with Visme

Learn more about the various chart types available in our graph maker and find the right one for your project below.

Represent categorical data with a vertical or horizontal bar chart.

Line Graphs

Visualize linear data or information that changes over time with a line chart.

Visualize parts of a whole with a flat or 3D pie chart or donut chart.

Scatter Plots

Other Charts

Chart templates for all your data needs.

Ensure your data is easily readable by starting with a professionally designed chart template. For a more basic chart design, you can easily start from scratch before adding it into another project, like a report or presentation.

Share or download your graphs

There are a number of ways you can put your data visualizations in front of your audience with Visme’s graph maker. Share your Visme projects online, privately, or download them to insert into your own documents.

Share graphs online

Share your chart or graph online by generating a publicly shareable link, embed to your website with an embed code from Visme or share your diagram link on social media.

Share graphs privately

Generate your chart or graph as an encrypted non-indexable URL. You can even make it password protected, or share only with your team members or subject matter experts.

Download graphs

Download your graph as a PDF document or high resolution image, or create your entire infographic in Visme. Download as HTML5 with full interactivity or as a PowerPoint file.

Maximum flexibility. Everything you need from an online graph maker.

Convert your data to meaningful charts and graphs.

HOW IT WORKS

How to graph data with Visme’s graph maker

Turn your raw data into stunning and engaging data visualization charts or graphics with Visme. Elevate your key findings in projects, presentations or videos easily without design skills, complicated integration, coding or bulky and boring data visualization designs.

• Choose from our extensive library of 16 types of professionally designed graphs and charts templates created to display your most simple or complex data and findings.
• Customize the graph of your choice. Add your branding, animation so that it’s dynamic, and add or import data from apps such as Google Docs, Google Analytics, or Microsoft Excel, if needed.
• Download your graph as a high-resolution PNG or JPG image, PDF file, PPT file, HTML code, generate a shareable link, or embed code.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Creating a graph with Visme’s graph maker is 100% free. Just sign up for a free account, choose a graph template or start from scratch using our powerful graph editor, which gives you full granular control over your graph settings, including data, colors, fonts, legends and more. If you want to use premium graph templates and features, you can upgrade to a Standard or Business plan.

Absolutely! You can import graph data from Microsoft Excel by uploading a .XLSX or .CSV file. After that, you can also edit the data inside Visme’s graph maker to tweak it as you see fit.

Yes! It’s easy to add live data by connecting your graph to a Google Sheet. Simply head over to the Import Data tab in the graph editor, select Google Sheets and paste the URL of the Sheet you’d like to connect. Once you publish your project, your graph data will automatically sync with the changes you make in your Google Sheet. This means your published graph will be updated live on each visit so you no longer have to open and edit it manually.

Yes. Visme lets you download your graph in multiple formats, including JPG, PNG, PDF and HTML5. Use it as is, print it or add it to other projects like reports and presentations. You can also share your graph online with a link or embed it using a snippet of code.

Create Your Chart.

Online Chart Maker with live preview

* Free no registration or download required

How it Works

Enter the data, customize the chart, save & share, live preview.

Preview how the chart look like in real time

Customization options

Tons of customization options ( Colors, Margins, Texts, Legend, Fonts, Gradients .... )

Chart templates

Make beautiful data visualizations with more than 50 chart Templates

Types of Charts

Horizontal bar chart, stacked bar chart, stacked horizontal bar, doughnut chart, polar area chart, radar chart.

LiveGap Charts is a free website where teachers can create and share all kinds of charts: line, bar, area, pie, radar, icon matrix, and more. Start with a template and then edit the data in the spreadsheet (or copy it from your own spreadsheet). From there, there are tons of customization options. When finished, save the chart as an image or HTML, or create an account to save and share it online.

Thank you to Omar Sedki, for the nudge towards https://livegap.com/charts/ to make simple, but superb, online graphs, with a live preview as you change data. Create a line chart, bar chart, or radar chart, and then edit it in real time.

When you or your students just need to quickly generate a chart to use in a slide or share in a blog post. LiveGap Charts Builder will let you and your students quickly generate charts from simple data sets.

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Limited time offer: 20% off all templates ➞

How to Make Good Figures for Scientific Papers

Creating good figures for scientific publications requires using design best practices to make each figure clearly show the main point of your data story.

This article reviews important design principles that will help you create effective figures. However, if you want step-by-step tutorials on how to create the scientific illustrations and Excel graphs using Adobe Illustrator and PowerPoint, read these articles instead:

• Free Graphical Abstract Templates and Tutorials
• Free Research Poster Templates and Tutorials  

Four Rules to Create High-Quality Figures

The best data visualizations for scientific papers use a combination of good design principles and storytelling that allows the audience to quickly understand the results of a scientific study. Below are four rules that will help you make effective research figures and save you time with the final journal formatting. There are also practical tips on how to find the purpose of your figure and how to apply design best practices to graphs, images, and tables. 

Rule 1: Clearly show the main purpose to your audience

For every graph or figure you create, the first step is to answer the question: what is the purpose of my data? Clearly defining the main purpose of your scientific design is essential so that you can create and format the data in ways that are easy to understand. 

The most common purposes for scientific publications are to explain a process or method, compare or contrast, show a change, or to establish a relationship. Each of these purposes should then lead you to select graph types. For example, if the goal of your figure is to explain a method, you will likely want to choose process-focused graph types such as flow charts, diagrams, infographics, illustrations, gantt charts, timelines, parallel sets, or Sankey diagrams. Below are examples of the most common graph types that you can use for different data purposes. Read more articles to learn how to choose the right data visualizations and data storytelling . 

Rule 2: Use composition to simplify the information

After you define the purpose of your graph or figure, the next step is to make sure you follow composition best practices that make the information clear. Composition best practices include following the journal rules and formatting from left to right, top to bottom, or in a circle. You should also review your designs to remove or adjust distracting data, lines, shadows, and repeated elements. Applying good composition means spending time reviewing your layout and simplifying the story using these techniques.

Data Composition Best Practices:

• Design flow should be left to right, top to bottom, or in a circle 
• Make sure most important data is the focus of the design
• Remove or adjust excess data and text
• Make text easy to read
• Reduce contrast of bold lines
• Remove repeated elements
• Remove shadows 

The example below shows how to design a figure that applies the composition best practices by taking an initial layout of a figure on the left and then use formatting to fill the space, simplify information, and reorder the data to more clearly show the main purpose of the research. 

Follow Science Journal Formatting Requirements:

In order to organize the graphs, charts, and figures, you will also need to know the requirements of the scientific journal. You will need to know the limits of the figure sizes, the maximum number of figures, as well as color, fonts, resolution, and file type requirements. You can find different journal requirements by going to the Journal’s homepage and then finding the link to the author’s guidelines from there. If you Google the journal’s formatting requirements, make sure you find the most up-to-date page.

For example, the academic journal Science allows a maximum of 6 figures and requires that they have a width of 55 mm (single column) or 230 mm (double column). In contrast, the journal Nature only allows 3-4 figures or tables with maximum widths of 89 mm (single column) and 183 mm (double column). If you planned to submit your scientific publication to Nature, you would need to carefully plan which graphs and tables will best tell your scientific story within only four figures.

Rule 3: Use colors or grayscale to highlight the purpose

Color is one of the most powerful data storytelling tools. When used properly, color enhances understanding of your graphs and when used poorly, it can be very distracting. 

Scientific Color Design Tips: 

• If possible, limit your design to 1-2 colors that make the main point of the data stand out from the rest
• Make colors accessible to people with color blindness

The example below shows a graph on the left that has a lot of information about graduation rates for bachelor’s degrees in 2019. The text is small and the color design makes it difficult to understand the main results of the data. One way to improve this figure is to use colors to highlight the main story of the data, which is that private for-profit institutions have a much higher drop-out rate than all other institutions. The figure on the right improves this design using the bold pink color and clearer text to highlight the main point of the dataset.

Rule 4: Refine and repeat until the story is clear

The goal of good figure design is to have your audience clearly understand the main point of your research. That is why the final rule is to spend time refining the figure using the purpose, composition, and color tools so that the final design is clear.

It is normal to make 2-3 versions of a figure before you settle on the final design that works best. I recommend using the three clarity checkpoints below to improve your refinement process. 

Design Clarity Checkpoints:

• Checkpoint 1. Does the figure show the overall story or main point when you hide the text? If not, improve the data visualization designs to more clearly show the main purpose.
• Checkpoint 2. Can you remove or adjust unnecessary elements that attract your attention? Remove repetitive elements, bounding boxes, background colors, extra lines, extra colors, repeated text, shadows/shading, either remove or adjust excess data, and consider moving information to supplementary figures.
• Checkpoint 3. Does the color palette enhance or distract from the story? Limit the use of color and pick a color palette that improves audience understanding of the main purpose of the figure. If the color doesn’t serve an obvious purpose, change to grayscale.

Scientific Figure Design Summary

For every scientific publication, follow the four rules of good scientific figure design to help you create effective graphics that engage and impress your audience:

• Clearly show the main purpose to your audience
• Use composition to simplify the information
• Use colors or grayscale to highlight the main points of the figure
• Refine and repeat the process until the story is clear

Related Content: 

• Best Color Palettes for Scientific Figures and Data Visualizations
• Graphical Abstract Examples with Free Templates
• Free Research Poster Templates and Tutorials
• BioRender Alternatives: Scientific Illustration Software Comparisons

Create professional science figures with illustration services or use the online courses and templates to quickly learn how to make your own designs.

Interested in free design templates and training.

Explore scientific illustration templates and courses by creating a Simplified Science Publishing Log In. Whether you are new to data visualization design or have some experience, these resources will improve your ability to use both basic and advanced design tools.

Interested in reading more articles on scientific design? Learn more below:

Scientific Presentation Guide: How to Create an Engaging Research Talk

Data Storytelling Techniques: How to Tell a Great Data Story in 4 Steps

Best Science PowerPoint Templates and Slide Design Examples

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5 Free Data Analysis and Graph Plotting Software for Thesis

Best Graph Plotting Software Online for Research Article and Thesis - 100% Free

Plotting scientific graphs is essential for all researchers who want to present their findings in a meaningful way. Many free software tools for data analysis and scientific graph drawing are available in the market. To find the best software, ilovephd presents the 5 best graph plotting and data analysis tools for thesis and research article writing in this article.

Did thesis data analysis get you down? Fear not! Free graph plotting software like SciDAVis and Matplotlib etc., empower you to create impactful visuals for your thesis, all without breaking the bank. Explore, analyze, and create publication-quality graphs that elevate your research.

Data Analysis and Graph Plotting Software for Thesis

1. originlab.

OriginLab publishes graphing and data analysis software. It provides a comprehensive solution for scientists and engineers who need to analyze, graph, and professionally present data.

Origin has been growing in popularity among scientists and engineers since 1992. Origin is available in English, German, and Japanese and is used in a wide array of corporations, government agencies, colleges, and universities  worldwide.

Along with its easy-to-use graphical interface, Origin offers intuitive, yet powerful, tools for the daily needs of the researcher. Origin’s point-and-click interfaces allow you to start using it right out of the box, yet its wide range of advanced features will provide for researchers’ growing needs.

Simple Steps to Download and Use OriginLab

Here are the simple steps to download and use the OriginLab tool:

• Visit OriginLab Website: Head to the OriginLab website at [OriginLab download].
• Trial Version: Download a fully functional trial version for a 21-day evaluation period. This is a great way to test out OriginLab before purchasing.
• Origin Viewer (Free): If you only need to view existing Origin project files, you can download the free Origin Viewer.
• Download Installer: Click the appropriate download button based on your chosen option (Trial or Viewer) and your operating system (Windows, Mac, etc.).
• Run Installer: Once downloaded, locate the installer file and double-click it to begin the installation process.
• Follow Installation Prompts: The installation wizard will guide you through the setup process. Typically, you’ll just need to accept the license agreement and choose an installation location.
• Launch OriginLab: After successful installation, find the OriginLab program icon on your desktop or applications list and double-click to launch it.

Additional Notes:

• For the trial version, you’ll need to request a license key after installation. You can do this within the software itself.
• Consider checking OriginLab’s documentation or tutorials for getting started with the software’s functionalities: OriginLab Getting Started Manual

2. Matplotlib

In Python, Matplotlib is a comprehensive library for creating static, animated, and interactive visualizations in Python. Matplotlib makes easy things easy and hard things possible.

• Create  publication-quality plots .
• Make  interactive figures  that can zoom, pan, and update.
• Customize  visual style  and  layout .
• Export to  many file formats .
• Embed in  JupyterLab and Graphical User Interfaces .
• Use a rich array of  third-party packages  built on Matplotlib.

Simple Steps to Download and Use the Matplotlib

1. check python installation (optional):.

While not always mandatory, it’s recommended to ensure you have Python installed on your system. You can verify this by opening a terminal or command prompt and typing:

If Python is installed, this command will display the version. If not, you’ll need to download and install Python from https://www.python.org/downloads/ .

2. Open Terminal or Command Prompt:

Launch your terminal application or command prompt, depending on your operating system.

3. Install Matplotlib using pip:

Type the following command and press enter to download and install Matplotlib using pip, Python’s package manager:

4. Verify Installation (Optional):

To confirm successful installation, you can try a simple Python script. Create a new Python file (e.g., test_plot.py) and paste this code:

Use code with caution. content_copy

Run this script using the following command (replace “test_plot.py” with your filename):

If Matplotlib is installed correctly, you should see a graph with a line and the label “Some numbers” on the y-axis.

5. Using Matplotlib:

Once installed, you can import Matplotlib (usually as plt ) in your Python projects to create various plots and charts. The Matplotlib documentation offers a comprehensive guide and examples to get you started: https://matplotlib.org/stable/index.html

Gnuplot  is a portable command-line-driven graphing utility for Linux, OS/2, MS Windows, OSX, VMS, and many other platforms.

Scientists and students can visualize mathematical functions and data interactively thanks to the source code, which was created for this purpose.

Though copyrighted, it is freely distributed (i.e., you don’t have to pay for it). The code’s functionality has grown to support many non-interactive uses such as web scripting, and third-party applications like Octave also leverage it as a plotting engine.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS of Gnuplot

Simple Steps to Download and Use the Gnuplot

1. download gnuplot:.

• Head over to the official Gnuplot website: http://www.gnuplot.info/
• They offer downloads for various operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux).

2 . Choose your download:

• On the Gnuplot website, you’ll find download options. For Windows, it’s typically an executable file (e.g., gp542-win64-mingw.exe).

3. Download and Install:

• Click the download link for your operating system.
• Once downloaded, follow the installation instructions specific to your OS. It might involve running the downloaded installer and following on-screen prompts.

4. Using Gnuplot:

• Gnuplot is a command-line tool. After successful installation, you can launch it from your command prompt or terminal window.
• Gnuplot has its language for defining plots and manipulating data. There are many resources online to learn Gnuplot commands and functionalities.

LabPlot is a free, open-source, and cross-platform Data Visualization and Analysis software for thesis writing.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS of LabPlot

• High-quality data visualization and plotting with few clicks
• Reliable and easy data analysis and statistics, no coding required
• Intuitive and fast computing with interactive notebooks
• Effortless data extraction from images
• Smooth data import and export to and from multiple formats
• Available for Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD

Simple Steps to Download and Use LabPlot

Here are the simple steps to download and use LabPlot:

• Head to the Download Page: Visit the official LabPlot download page [LabPlot Download].
• Windows: They offer a downloadable installer and a Microsoft Store option. Choose the one you prefer.
• macOS: Depending on your Mac’s processor (Intel or M1/M2), download the appropriate signed installer (.dmg).
• Linux: They provide multiple options: AppImage (works on most distributions), Flatpak package (requires Flatpak support), or Snap package (requires Snap support). Alternatively, check your Linux distribution’s package manager for LabPlot.
• Download and Install: Follow the on-screen instructions for your chosen download method to complete the installation.
• Launch LabPlot: Once installed, find LabPlot in your applications list and launch it to start using the tool for data visualization and analysis.

5. SciDAVis

SciDAVis is a free interactive application aimed at data analysis and publication-quality plotting. It combines a shallow learning curve and an intuitive, easy-to-use graphical user interface with powerful features such as scriptability and extensibility. SciDAVis runs on GNU/Linux, Windows, and MacOS X; possibly also on other platforms like *BSD, although this is untested.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS of SciDaV

• Tables (2D data), matrices (3D data), graphs (2D or 3D plots) and notes (text notes or scripts) are gathered in a Project and can be organized using folders.
• Data for tables or matrices can be entered directly or imported from ASCII files.
• Cell values in tables can be computed using standard and special functions (and much more if you have Python installed). Each table cell can be assigned an individual formula.
• Multi-level undo/redo for tables and matrices.
• Many built-in analysis operations like column/row statistics, (de)convolution, FFT and FFT-based filters.
• Extensive support for fitting linear and nonlinear functions to the data, including multi-peak fitting.
• Publication-quality 2D plots of various types including symbols/lines, bars, and pie charts which can be exported to a variety of formats (JPG, PNG, EPS, PDF, SVG, and more).

Simple Steps to Download and Use SciDAVis

Here are the two main ways to download and use SciDAVis:

Option 1: Pre-built installer (recommended for most users)

• Search online: Search for “SciDAVis download” on your web browser. The official download page hosted on SourceForge should be among the top results.
• Download the installer: Look for the download link corresponding to your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux). It will likely be an executable file (“.exe” for Windows, “.dmg” for macOS, etc.).
• Run the installer: Double-click the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions to install SciDAVis. This typically involves agreeing to a license and choosing an installation location.
• Launch SciDAVis: Once installed, you should find an icon for SciDAVis in your applications list or start menu. Click on it to launch the program and start visualizing your data!

Option 2: Compiling from source code (for advanced users)

Note: This method is generally recommended for experienced users comfortable working with command lines and building software.

• Download dependencies: SciDAVis relies on other software tools. You’ll need to download and install Python, Qt, and other dependencies specific to your operating system. Refer to the SciDAVis documentation for detailed instructions at https://github.com/SciDAVis/scidavis/blob/master/INSTALL.md .
• Download source code: From the SciDAVis download page, you’ll also find a link to download the source code.
• Compile and install: The process to compile and install from source code varies depending on your operating system. Refer to the SciDAVis installation instructions for specific steps https://github.com/SciDAVis/scidavis/blob/master/INSTALL.md .

These free tools cater to a range of experience levels, from user-friendly interfaces like SciDAVis to more code-centric options like Matplotlib. Consider your comfort level and specific needs when choosing the best fit for your project.

Remember, effective graph plotting software not only generates clear visuals but can also play a vital role in data exploration and analysis. Experiment with these free options to unlock the power of data visualization and elevate the impact of your thesis.

Also Read: 10 Best Free Online Drawing Software Top 7 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools in Scientific Research

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• Online Drawing Tools
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• Artificial intelligence

Best Practices of Graphs and Charts in Research Papers

Do you want to know how to make your research papers stand out through charts and graphs? Then this blog is what you need. Read it now!

We live in a world of data! From simple to complicated and scattered to neatly arranged based on several factors – we are entirely encapsulated in it.

Furthermore, at some point or another, we have all used a graph to represent this aforementioned data in the form of a comparison, a trend, or just a division of the whole (like a pie). 

Let’s be honest – what a graph is, what are its advantages, and what are its disadvantages have been discussed at length by numerous people, around the globe, over the past decades.

Yet, it retains its gravity with the increasing number of settings it can be used in, so much so that a free infographic maker can be used to provide you the most beautiful infographics in half the time.

So before we dive into the specifics of their usage in Research Papers, let’s take a quick recap, shall we?

What is a graph?

A graph, in layman terms, is a pictorial representation of organized data that helps the readers of the same understand complex information more easily.

While each kind of visual aid comes with its own pros and cons, some of the main features that underlie each can be summed up as below:

• They provide information in the form of easy-to-understand images.
• Different data types require different graphs.
• They are often unable to display the major assumptions and causes behind the data fluctuations.
• They are easier to manipulate than factual information.

When do you need a chart or graph in the research paper?

A research paper is in itself a resultant report of all the investigations and surveys you conducted, be it through primary or secondary data. However, not everyone can understand those figures or calculations and at times the reader might have to read the entire copy just to get to the numbers.

This calls for a simpler approach to ease the process. You may end up using a chart for any one or multiple reasons mentioned next.

To prove your point

It is far easier to attest to your standing when you have a graphical representation alongside the tabulated results. Your reader might be much more comfortable when they don’t have to try and understand the calculations just to realize what your final conclusion is.

To make your information more comprehensive

The level of your audience’s comprehension can be directly related to the ease with which they can make sense of the compiled data. Using a chart can help enhance this ease further.

A graph can describe more information with minimum real estate

Conveying more details in the least amount of words and space is an art that can be practiced with the help of graphs. A diagram that pictorially represents the entire data collection and its output is also more visually appealing.

Deliver complicated points

With illustrations and grids, you can put across the complex data in a simplified version which drives your point home while being easier on the reader’s eyes.

Compare data

When you are looking to compare two or more sets of data consisting of a whole lot of factors and numbers, it is a good idea to use visual aids like a chart that can help the reader understand the comparative state of each element at a glance.

Assess If You Actually Need a Graph/ Chart

Oftentimes, students and researchers alike tend to use graphs more than needed in their papers to make their point stand out prominently.

However, there are cases where you can simply put across your premise as well as results in just a few sentences.

In such scenarios, it is advisable to avoid the usage of charts as they can lower the authority of your more important diagrams further in the research.

Select the Right Graph for the Message

As mentioned earlier, different types of data require different kinds of charts. On one hand, pie charts could be ascertained as perfect for displaying an approximate division of hours of a day and the way they are spent but on the other, a line graph would be more suitable to show a market trend spread over a few months or years.

A wrong graph chosen to plot your data might just make it more difficult for the user to make sense of the research rather than simplifying it and that is the absolute last thing you’d want. Using a graph creator online can be a way to go to avoid the same.

Therefore, your understanding of the variety of these diagrams is equally important. Broadly, they can be categorized into the following.

Types of graphs and charts

• Scatter Plot

• Gantt Chart

• Bullet Chart

For understanding these and much more, you can go through other articles in our blog like: Ultimate Guide on Creating Comprehensive Graphs for Your Research Paper .

Focus on Readability

The most important function of a chart is to bring to the forefront the crux of a topic, that can be understood by anyone reading it, even without a firm grasp of the subject at hand. Having said that, we would like to strongly emphasize the need for a legible diagram.

If your reader cannot decipher the diagrams you’ve used, its presence is as good as none. Per our observation, several students, researchers, and even scientists make this error of integrating so much data in one graph that it becomes unintelligible.

An incomprehensible illustration is viewed by most as nothing more than an image, thus hampering the reading experience of your report.

To ensure your chart is readable, formatting it optimally is a crucial step. It includes not just the font type, font size, and symbols used therein but also elements like the colors used, caption & title given to the graph, names used for each axis as well as an index or data field for reference. Some useful considerations regarding readability:

• The text used on a diagram should always be kept to a minimum while making sure the message is not being lost.
• Symbols used should be distinct so as to avoid confusion.
• De-clutter the figure by removing all non-essential data and elements from the grid and adding it to the footnote instead.

• The background of the chart should be in good contrast to the chart itself, to make certain that the data stands out prominently.
• The axes should not be named simply “temperature” & “time” for instance unless it provides a complete clarification of the segments.
• Choose the graph’s layout to maximize readability.

Maintain the Look-and-Feel

A chart’s visual appeal is just as important as the data it is representing, if not more. An attractive diagram compels the reader to stop and go through the information it is rendering instead of glimpsing it once and moving ahead.

You can ensure this step by simply keeping in mind the following tips.

Informative Title

The heading you give to your graph is of significant importance because it lets the reader know what is it that the picture is portraying. It should be self-explanatory and clear because based on that the user will be making a decision to read or not read the chart.

Acknowledge the Source

Adding a small footnote recognizing and pointing to the source of the information being displayed lends credibility and authority to your data.

Brand Integration

If you are doing the research under a specific college, university or company, remember to use their mandatory colors and logos.

Accurate Dimensions

Give the first preference to a 2D chart as it is simpler to understand. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in a position to use a 3D graph, see to it that the same is comprehensible and includes only the truly important elements on the grid.

Do not, under any circumstances, forget to add a relevant key to the diagram that gives clarity to the presented data.

Keep all The Junk and Fluff Aside

As we mentioned above, a clean chart is the need of the hour.

Clearing up your figures of all the unnecessary elements helps the most important information stand out, giving the reader exactly what he/ she came for.

• Use the minimum amount of text on your chart. You can add any notes you wish to in the footnote of the same.
• Use short forms and abbreviations wherever possible.
• Avoid using too many colors or the graph might become too loud and noisy for the reader.

Avoid Using 3D Graphs

If at all feasible, we would highly recommend you avoid the use of 3D Graphs. While at a glance they may make an attractive picture, but in actuality, they can often be misleading.

A three-dimensional chart, be it in the form of a pie chart or a bar graph can be difficult to interpret due to the differences in perspectives. When viewed from different angles, the figure could point to different results due to a distorted visual relationship. This also affects the information being derived from it.

Moreover, 3D spacing makes a comparison between the values and volumes of each factor challenging.

Make Graphs with No Grid Lines

Illustrated above under our ‘Focus On Readability’ section, you can find the perfect example of why using grid lines can sometimes be a bad idea.

Remember, if the reader is looking for incremental differences with exact data points, they can always refer to your tabulated facts and figures.

However, what they are indeed looking for in the graph is a general trend. Thus eliminating the grid lines might actually be a good proposition.

Our Brain Focuses on What Stands Out

While designing an infographic, be it in Excel or in a specialized tool like Mind the Graph , one of the most essential things to keep in mind is that you have a lot of data and not all of it is as highly significant.

Always ensure that you are highlighting the important parts in a way that they are vividly noticeable and attract attention.

You would not want your readers to miss out on those bits in a sea of data and the only way to make certain that they don’t is by creating the graph accordingly.

People Comprehend Visually Elegant Data

Take a quick look at the picture below.

I’m certain that while spotting the animals in the first two images would have been simple, it would have taken a little more effort for your brain to process its presence in the third one.

This happened because where in the first two, contrasting colors were used for the animal and the trees behind, there was no such differentiation in the last picture.

This is to illustrate our simple point that your mind, just like your reader’s, is programmed to comprehend information that is visually refined. Therefore, using colors that aren’t too loud and similar is the right choice to make.

Get a Reality Check

After going through the above tips, we are sure you’re going to be able to take your graphs’ quality a notch higher. But if you’re still apprehensive, we recommend getting a reality check.

Take an Opinion

Have your best friend, your project guide, or anyone you trust and hold in esteem go through your infographics. Just remember to choose a person who would be giving you the best and unbiased advice.

Gather Feedbacks

Ask the aforementioned people to give you honest feedback about your graphs along with suggestions to make them better.

Depending on the responses you’ve received, get down to editing the charts to make them more comprehensive and readable.

Research papers are some of the most important documents you write and publish in your entire life and good statistical and scientific visualizations are the key to making them that much better.

Your charts will always be dependent on the kind of data you wish to represent, but these tips are going to help you across all domains. Here’s a recap of everything we went through in this article:

So what are you waiting for?

Bring out that data you’ve compiled and get down to creating some of the most beautiful graphs seen.

• Image Source.

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About Fabricio Pamplona

Fabricio Pamplona is the founder of Mind the Graph - a tool used by over 400K users in 60 countries. He has a Ph.D. and solid scientific background in Psychopharmacology and experience as a Guest Researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (Germany) and Researcher in D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR, Brazil). Fabricio holds over 2500 citations in Google Scholar. He has 10 years of experience in small innovative businesses, with relevant experience in product design and innovation management. Connect with him on LinkedIn - Fabricio Pamplona .

Content tags

• How to make research data graphs and charts for the web
• Published: Sep. 11, 2020
• Data visualization , Insights

everviz is a multiplatform visualization solution that lets you create interactive charts and maps online for publishing on your website, social media or through your cloud-based newsroom system. It only takes a minute to create your first visualization. Publish where you meet your audience. Why not try it yourself? It only takes a minute to create your first chart.

If you are a researcher or academic, the growth of the internet has brought many opportunities for sharing your achievements with the world! 

However, journal publication can still be a lengthy process, and sometimes you might just want to share a quick snippet of your research activities less formally.

The good news is that it is easier than you might think to turn your data into stunning graphics to engage an online audience. 

This article will help to understand what works well on the web, and how to make your research results shine!

A Global Audience

There are now many options for publishing your work and reaching a larger audience.  Researchers are no longer restricted to publishing work via academic journals, you can share your news in other ways. 

Perhaps you also want to post news of your department’s achievements, or respond quickly to a topic story with relevant data from your own research?

Or maybe you want to build your personal profile as a researcher, showing off your work on your own website or Linked-in profile?

News can be new!

Advantages of displaying your research data online.

A strong online presence that is updated regularly will boost your profile and allow you to reach a bigger audience.  With online content, you can publish articles quickly, allowing you to respond to topical events or promote your services at the best time for maximum impact.

But marketing is not just for commercial companies.  Even if you are not selling a product or service, you can benefit from developing a strong online brand.  Whether you want to attract students to your department or position yourself as an expert in your field, then a strong online presence is key.   

A good way of boosting readership and engagement with your site is by providing regular, high-quality content like news and blog articles.  Good content will also help increase your search engine performance and improve your rating on Google.

As a researcher, you could show-off your research to the world by presenting your data in new and interesting ways.  A stunning visualization can really help attract people to your website and get them interested to learn more.

Web publishing opens up the opportunity to be creative with your data visualization.  Interactive graphs are particularly useful in increasing reader engagement as you allow people to explore the data for themselves.  An attractive graph or map can really gain attention and draw people into your site, perhaps generating traffic to your website from a social media post.   

Online publishing also offers flexibility.  You can really tailor your content to suit the audience.  Think about providing shorter news snippets aimed at the casual reader but with links to papers or more detailed content for fellow researchers and academics.  Layers of information can work well, making the initial content accessible to a wide audience but allowing people to explore as deeply as they choose.

Summary – Advantages of Publishing Research Online

• Present research in a visual way
• Use interactivity to engage users
• Showcase expertise
• Develop your brand
• Marketing potential
• Tailor content to different audiences
• Link with social media
• Publish quickly
• Respond to topical events
• Improve search engine performance

Challenges in creating web-friendly data visualizations

The internet brings many opportunities for self-publishing, but to have the greatest impact, you need to tailor your approach to suit the medium and your audience.

If you are a researcher, you are likely to be comfortable with producing graphs and visualizations for printed publications, but these rarely translate well to the web.  You may need to adapt your approach to produce web-friendly charts, graphs, and maps.

You may be wondering, ‘How do I make a graph interactive?’  Luckily, there all tools available that make this easy.  For example, with everviz, you can create stunning, interactive visualizations without having to write a single line of code.

Web content needs to work effectively across all devices.  The use of mobile phones for accessing the internet is ever increasing, so you need to ensure your graphs and visualizations work across all screen sizes.

Web content should be made accessible to all, ensuring all users have equal access to information and function.  This means ensuring your content is available to people with disabilities, as well as people who might have restricted bandwidth or internet speeds.  Accessibility of web content is an issue that should be considered by all developers and content creators, and compliance it is often a specific requirement at universities and other large institutions. 

BUT – all this doesn’t need to be difficult.  The everviz platform will make it easy to create a web-ready graph that automatically scales to the user’s screen size and is compliant with accessibility best practices.

Everviz makes it easy!

• Create interactive graphs with ease
• Wide range of graph, chart, and map types
• Preview visualization on different screen sizes
• Accessibility built into the platform (A11Y standards)

All that is left for you to do is to select your data and decide how best to display it! Keep reading for examples and tips on how to create stunning data visualizations with ease.

What works well on the web

It is well known that people have a short attention span when it comes to online content.  According to one survey by Chartbeat, 55% of readers spend fewer than 15 seconds on a webpage. 

This means you really need to grab attention quickly before they move on, and a good looking visualization can be a great way to do this.

In many cases, less is more!  A simple but eye-catching graphic can grab the audience’s attention and make them want to learn more.

Open access publishing means more citations

Notice how the donut chart above provides a quick visualization of the difference, but by hovering over each section, a user can view the data behind the graph.

Donut charts, like pie charts, are good for displaying the difference between a small number of scenarios, but for more complex data sets you will need to use different types of graph.

Different graphs for different data types

Different charts can be combined to tell a story, selecting an appropriate chart type for the type of data that is involved.

The need to adapt

In the example above, a simple line chart clearly shows the trend in online vs print media, but the second graph provides an interesting visualization of how media usage is split into different age groups. This uses a dot plot which gives a high level overview that encourages the reader to explore and understand the data.

Tell a Story with Data

A colorful and unusual visualization can create intrigue, encouraging the reader to examine the data in more detail.

When a reader can explore the data for themselves, they are likely to be much more engaged and they might even share the article with their friends!  Interactive visualizations make research articles much more interesting and memorable.

Student Movement

This dependency wheel is a visualization type allowing you to display the interactions within your data.  It is similar to a Sankey diagram, but allows for multi-directional flow to be illustrated.

Making the most of interactivity

Another great way to get people exploring your data is to let them find themselves or find something that they can relate to.

Does your data have locations? Consider using a map to display the data, encouraging users to check out their own location, and to see how they compare to others.

Internet usage varies by country

Using tooltips.

A tooltip is a message or information that appears when you hover the mouse over an element on the page.  This allows you to display additional information without overcrowding your visualization with too many facts and figures.  For example, on the map above, the tooltip shows the country name and associated data.

Scientific Data Integrity

If you are targeting researchers or academics, then they are often skilled at quickly scanning papers to see if they contain what they are looking for.  Attention grabbing visualizations can work well here too – think about how to summarize your research findings in a few simple graphics. 

Historically, in print-based publishing, it was often necessary to compromise on visual appearance to demonstrate data integrity.  In academic research, tables of figures often imply rigorous scientific study, which might be lost in a simple bar chart.  But with web visualizations, you can have both! 

Web published scientific papers don’t need to be small print, double column, dense documents! You have as much space as you need – why not use it?

No need to compromise

In the above chart, the exact figures are not immediately obvious, which allows the reader’s attention to focus on the general picture. But the underlying data is available in a tooltip, allowing you to maintain that data integrity and to provide that extra information to fellow academics and researchers who may be looking for scientific rigor. 

The online world opens up a multitude of opportunities to share your research data and achievements with different audiences.

It’s easier than you might think to create high-quality, interactive visualisations – you don’t need to be a web developer!

• Make an impact with stunning visualizations
• Be adventurous and experiment with your visualization designs
• Web charts can be interactive – use this to your advantage
• Keep it simple (without compromising scientific integrity)
• Interactive charts can be made easily with everviz – no need for code

Questions or ideas? Get in touch!

Would love to hear your thoughts, please get in touch!

everviz is a multiplatform visualization solution that lets you create interactive charts and maps online for publishing on your website, social media or through your cloud-based newsroom system. It only takes a minute to create your first visualization. Publish where you meet your audience.

Why not try it yourself? It only takes a few seconds to create your first free chart.

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How to Use Tables & Graphs in a Research Paper

It might not seem very relevant to the story and outcome of your study, but how you visually present your experimental or statistical results can play an important role during the review and publication process of your article. A presentation that is in line with the overall logical flow of your story helps you guide the reader effectively from your introduction to your conclusion. 

If your results (and the way you organize and present them) don’t follow the story you outlined in the beginning, then you might confuse the reader and they might end up doubting the validity of your research, which can increase the chance of your manuscript being rejected at an early stage. This article illustrates the options you have when organizing and writing your results and will help you make the best choice for presenting your study data in a research paper.

Why does data visualization matter?

Your data and the results of your analysis are the core of your study. Of course, you need to put your findings and what you think your findings mean into words in the text of your article. But you also need to present the same information visually, in the results section of your manuscript, so that the reader can follow and verify that they agree with your observations and conclusions. 

The way you visualize your data can either help the reader to comprehend quickly and identify the patterns you describe and the predictions you make, or it can leave them wondering what you are trying to say or whether your claims are supported by evidence. Different types of data therefore need to be presented in different ways, and whatever way you choose needs to be in line with your story. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that many journals have specific rules or limitations (e.g., how many tables and graphs you are allowed to include, what kind of data needs to go on what kind of graph) and specific instructions on how to generate and format data tables and graphs (e.g., maximum number of subpanels, length and detail level of tables). In the following, we will go into the main points that you need to consider when organizing your data and writing your result section .

Table of Contents:

Types of data , when to use data tables .

• When to Use Data Graphs 

Common Types of Graphs in Research Papers 

Journal guidelines: what to consider before submission.

Depending on the aim of your research and the methods and procedures you use, your data can be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data, whether objective (e.g., size measurements) or subjective (e.g., rating one’s own happiness on a scale), is what is usually collected in experimental research. Quantitative data are expressed in numbers and analyzed with the most common statistical methods. Qualitative data, on the other hand, can consist of case studies or historical documents, or it can be collected through surveys and interviews. Qualitative data are expressed in words and needs to be categorized and interpreted to yield meaningful outcomes. 

Quantitative data example: Height differences between two groups of participants Qualitative data example: Subjective feedback on the food quality in the work cafeteria

Depending on what kind of data you have collected and what story you want to tell with it, you have to find the best way of organizing and visualizing your results.

When you want to show the reader in detail how your independent and dependent variables interact, then a table (with data arranged in columns and rows) is your best choice. In a table, readers can look up exact values, compare those values between pairs or groups of related measurements (e.g., growth rates or outcomes of a medical procedure over several years), look at ranges and intervals, and select specific factors to search for patterns. 

Tables are not restrained to a specific type of data or measurement. Since tables really need to be read, they activate the verbal system. This requires focus and some time (depending on how much data you are presenting), but it gives the reader the freedom to explore the data according to their own interest. Depending on your audience, this might be exactly what your readers want. If you explain and discuss all the variables that your table lists in detail in your manuscript text, then you definitely need to give the reader the chance to look at the details for themselves and follow your arguments. If your analysis only consists of simple t-tests to assess differences between two groups, you can report these results in the text (in this case: mean, standard deviation, t-statistic, and p-value), and do not necessarily need to include a table that simply states the same numbers again. If you did extensive analyses but focus on only part of that data (and clearly explain why, so that the reader does not think you forgot to talk about the rest), then a graph that illustrates and emphasizes the specific result or relationship that you consider the main point of your story might be a better choice.

When to Use Data Graphs

Graphs are a visual display of information and show the overall shape of your results rather than the details. If used correctly, a visual representation helps your (or your reader’s) brain to quickly understand large amounts of data and spot patterns, trends, and exceptions or outliers. Graphs also make it easier to illustrate relationships between entire data sets. This is why, when you analyze your results, you usually don’t just look at the numbers and the statistical values of your tests, but also at histograms, box plots, and distribution plots, to quickly get an overview of what is going on in your data.

Line graphs

When you want to illustrate a change over a continuous range or time, a line graph is your best choice. Changes in different groups or samples over the same range or time can be shown by lines of different colors or with different symbols.

Example: Let’s collapse across the different food types and look at the growth of our four fish species over time.

You should use a bar graph when your data is not continuous but divided into categories that are not necessarily connected, such as different samples, methods, or setups. In our example, the different fish types or the different types of food are such non-continuous categories.

Example: Let’s collapse across the food types again and also across time, and only compare the overall weight increase of our four fish types at the end of the feeding period.

Scatter plots

Scatter plots can be used to illustrate the relationship between two variables — but note that both have to be continuous. The following example displays “fish length” as an additional variable–none of the variables in our table above (fish type, fish food, time) are continuous, and they can therefore not be used for this kind of graph. 

As you see, these example graphs all contain less data than the table above, but they lead the reader to exactly the key point of your results or the finding you want to emphasize. If you let your readers search for these observations in a big table full of details that are not necessarily relevant to the claims you want to make, you can create unnecessary confusion. Most journals allow you to provide bigger datasets as supplementary information, and some even require you to upload all your raw data at submission. When you write up your manuscript, however, matching the data presentation to the storyline is more important than throwing everything you have at the reader. 

Don’t forget that every graph needs to have clear x and y axis labels , a title that summarizes what is shown above the figure, and a descriptive legend/caption below. Since your caption needs to stand alone and the reader needs to be able to understand it without looking at the text, you need to explain what you measured/tested and spell out all labels and abbreviations you use in any of your graphs once more in the caption (even if you think the reader “should” remember everything by now, make it easy for them and guide them through your results once more). Have a look at this article if you need help on how to write strong and effective figure legends .

Even if you have thought about the data you have, the story you want to tell, and how to guide the reader most effectively through your results, you need to check whether the journal you plan to submit to has specific guidelines and limitations when it comes to tables and graphs. Some journals allow you to submit any tables and graphs initially (as long as tables are editable (for example in Word format, not an image) and graphs of high enough resolution. 

Some others, however, have very specific instructions even at the submission stage, and almost all journals will ask you to follow their formatting guidelines once your manuscript is accepted. The closer your figures are already to those guidelines, the faster your article can be published. This PLOS One Figure Preparation Checklist is a good example of how extensive these instructions can be – don’t wait until the last minute to realize that you have to completely reorganize your results because your target journal does not accept tables above a certain length or graphs with more than 4 panels per figure. 

Some things you should always pay attention to (and look at already published articles in the same journal if you are unsure or if the author instructions seem confusing) are the following:

• How many tables and graphs are you allowed to include?
• What file formats are you allowed to submit?
• Are there specific rules on resolution/dimension/file size?
• Should your figure files be uploaded separately or placed into the text?
• If figures are uploaded separately, do the files have to be named in a specific way?
• Are there rules on what fonts to use or to avoid and how to label subpanels?
• Are you allowed to use color? If not, make sure your data sets are distinguishable.

If you are dealing with digital image data, then it might also be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the difference between “adjusting” for clarity and visibility and image manipulation, which constitutes scientific misconduct .  And to fully prepare your research paper for publication before submitting it, be sure to receive proofreading services , including journal manuscript editing and research paper editing , from Wordvice’s professional academic editors .

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What is a Table Chart?

When can teams collaboratively use a table chart to organize & gather information.

Here are a few ways a team can use a table chart to collaboratively organize information:

Tracking tasks: A team can use a table chart to track tasks and their status. The table can include columns for task name, assigned team member, due date, and status (e.g., not started, in progress, completed). This can help to ensure that everyone is aware of their responsibilities and the status of each task.

Comparing data: A table chart can be used to compare data from different sources. For example, a team can create a table with columns for data from different time periods or locations, allowing them to easily compare and analyze the data.

Budgeting: A table chart can be used to create and manage a budget. The table can include columns for budget categories, actual and projected expenses, and notes on any budget changes or concerns.

Decision-making: A table chart can also be used to facilitate decision-making. The team can create a table with columns for each option being considered, along with relevant criteria and a rating system for each option. This approach can help to ensure that decisions are made based on objective criteria rather than personal opinions.

Project management: A table chart can be a powerful tool for project management. The team can create a table with columns for project milestones, assigned team members, due dates, and status. This approach can help to ensure that the project is progressing as planned and that everyone is aware of their responsibilities.

How to Create a Table Chart Collaboratively with Creately?

Open a Creately workspace and add your peers as collaborators with edit access allowing them to work on the table chart with you in real-time.

Gather the information you need. Open the relevant CSV or Spreadsheet to be imported.

Select a table chart template from Creately’s template library or draw one from scratch using Creately’s extensive shape library.

Style your table chart using the shape settings and add key data for each element on the table using the data panel as necessary.

Share the table chart with reviewers, editors, or viewers or invite them to a real-time video conference, with Creatley’s intergration with Mircrosoft Teams, while making the edits.

Find the changes that the collaborators made via the multi-cursors on the canvas in real-time or via the version history. In case you want to revert to a previous iteration, select the version to apply the changes.

Gather feedback and discuss with Creately’s in-line commenting.

Once finalized, use Google/Microsoft add-ons, embed in an email, website, or export the table chart in various formats including CSV, SVG, PDF, PNG, and many more.

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Tables are usually used to represent large amounts of quantitative or qualitative data in a summarized, easy to understand way. You can use tables when you want to;

• Quickly uncover patterns or trends in data.
• Enable readers to look up specific information that applies to them such as location, age, income, etc.
• Make decisions such as deciding the best interest rate, the best price, or the best job, based on precise numbers.
• Compare data or show ranking in data.

Here are some best practices that you may consider to create better table charts.

• Use a limited number of columns. The lesser the columns are the easier it is to read.
• Instead use more rows to show numbers as it’s easier to skim through data that is presented vertically.
• Use zebra shading or color every second column gray to make it easier to read if your table chart has many columns.
• If your table has a fewer number of rows, use a wide layout, whereas you can use a more compact layout for a table with a lot of rows.
• Use colors to highlight important information in your table.

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GraphRAG Is A Better RAG And Now It’s Free

GraphRAG, which is superior to RAG for powering AI answer engines and chatbots, is now available on GitHub for free

Microsoft is making publicly available a new technology called GraphRAG, which enables chatbots and answer engines to connect the dots across an entire dataset, outperforming standard Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) by large margins.

What’s The Difference Between RAG And GraphRAG?

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is a technology that enables an LLM to reach into a database like a search index and use that as a basis for answering a question. It can be used to bridge a large language model and a conventional search engine index.

The benefit of RAG is that it can use authoritative and trustworthy data in order to answer questions. RAG also enables generative AI chatbots to use up to date information to answer questions about topics that the LLM wasn’t trained on. This is an approach that’s used by AI search engines like Perplexity.

The upside of RAG is related to its use of embeddings. Embeddings is a way of representing the semantic relationships between words, sentences, and documents. This representation enables the retrieval part of RAG to match a search query to text in a database (like a search index).

But the downside of using embeddings is that it limits the RAG to matching text at a granular level (as opposed to a global reach across the data).

Microsoft explains:

“Since naive RAG only considers the top-k most similar chunks of input text, it fails. Even worse, it will match the question against chunks of text that are superficially similar to that question, resulting in misleading answers.”

The innovation of GraphRAG is that it enables an LLM to answer questions based on the overall dataset.

What GraphRAG does is it creates a knowledge graph out of the indexed documents, also known as unstructured data. The obvious example of unstructured data are web pages. So when GraphRAG creates a knowledge graph, it’s creating a “structured” representation of the relationships between various “entities” (like people, places, concepts, and things) which is then more easily understood by machines.

GraphRAG creates what Microsoft calls “communities” of general themes (high level) and more granular topics (low level). An LLM then creates a summarization of each of these communities, a “hierarchical summary of the data” that is then used to answer questions. This is the breakthrough because it enables a chatbot to answer questions based more on knowledge (the summarizations) than depending on embeddings.

This is how Microsoft explains it:

“Using an LLM to summarize each of these communities creates a hierarchical summary of the data, providing an overview of a dataset without needing to know which questions to ask in advance. Each community serves as the basis of a community summary that describes its entities and their relationships. …Community summaries help answer such global questions because the graph index of entity and relationship descriptions has already considered all input texts in its construction. Therefore, we can use a map-reduce approach for question answering that retains all relevant content from the global data context…”

Examples Of RAG Versus GraphRAG

The original GraphRAG research paper illustrated the superiority of the GraphRAG approach in being able to answer questions for which there is no exact match data in the indexed documents. The example uses a limited dataset of Russian and Ukrainian news from the month of June 2023 (translated to English).

Simple Text Matching Question

The first question that was used an example was “ What is Novorossiya? ” and both RAG and GraphRAG answered the question, with GraphRAG offering a more detailed response.

The short answer by the way is that “Novorossiya” translates to New Russia and is a reference to Ukrainian lands that were conquered by Russia in the 18th century.

The second example question required that the machine make connections between concepts within the indexed documents, what Microsoft calls a “query-focused summarization (QFS) task” which is different than a simple text-based retrieval task. It requires what Microsoft calls, “connecting the dots.”

The question asked of the RAG and GraphRAG systems:

“What has Novorossiya done?”

This is the RAG answer:

“The text does not provide specific information on what Novorossiya has done.”

GraphRAG answered the question of “What has Novorossiya done?” with a two paragraph answer that details the results of the Novorossiya political movement.

Here’s a short excerpt from the two paragraph answer:

“Novorossiya, a political movement in Ukraine, has been involved in a series of destructive activities, particularly targeting various entities in Ukraine [Entities (6494, 912)]. The movement has been linked to plans to destroy properties of several Ukrainian entities, including Rosen, the Odessa Canning Factory, the Odessa Regional Radio Television Transmission Center, and the National Television Company of Ukraine [Relationships (15207, 15208, 15209, 15210)]… …The Office of the General Prosecutor in Ukraine has reported on the creation of Novorossiya, indicating the government’s awareness and potential concern over the activities of this movement…”

The above is just some of the answer which was extracted from the limited one-month dataset, which illustrates how GraphRAG is able to connect the dots across all of the documents.

GraphRAG Now Publicly Available

Microsoft announced that GraphRAG is publicly available for use by anybody.

“Today, we’re pleased to announce that GraphRAG is now available on GitHub , offering more structured information retrieval and comprehensive response generation than naive RAG approaches. The GraphRAG code repository is complemented by a solution accelerator , providing an easy-to-use API experience hosted on Azure that can be deployed code-free in a few clicks.”

Microsoft released GraphRAG in order to make the solutions based on it more publicly accessible and to encourage feedback for improvements.

Read the announcement:

GraphRAG: New tool for complex data discovery now on GitHub

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