Graphing Inline: Understanding Word-scale Graphics Use in Scientific Papers

TL;DR

This study investigates the use of word-scale graphics in scientific papers, revealing their rare adoption, common use of icons, and their role in enhancing communication, with insights for future improvements.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of word-scale graphics in scientific literature, introducing a framework for understanding their placement, purpose, and design.

Findings

Word-scale graphics are rarely used in scientific papers.

Icons are the dominant visual representation.

Visuals are linked to specific communicative functions.

Abstract

Graphics (e.g., figures and charts) are ubiquitous in scientific papers, yet separating graphics from text increases cognitive load in understanding text-graphic connections. Research has found that word-scale graphics, or visual embellishments at typographic size, can augment original text, making it more expressive and easier to understand. However, whether, if so, how scientific papers adopt word-scale graphics for scholarly communication remains unclear. To address this gap, we conducted a corpus study reviewing 909 word-scale graphics extracted from 126,797 scientific papers. Through analysis, we propose a framework that characterizes where (positioning), why (communicative function), and how (visual representation) authors apply word-scale graphics in scientific papers. Our findings reveal that word-scale graphics are rarely used, that icons dominate visual representation, and that visual representation connects with communicative function (e.g., using quantitative graphs for data annotation). We further discuss opportunities to enhance scholarly communication with word-scale graphics through technical and administrative innovations.