Review and Analysis of Scientific Paper Embellishments

TL;DR

This paper systematically reviews the use of visual embellishments in scientific papers, analyzing their purposes, design, and placement to understand their impact on scientific communication.

Contribution

It offers a structured analysis of embellishments in visualization papers, identifying key dimensions and providing insights into their role in scientific writing.

Findings

Identified 374 papers using embellishments from 2019-2024.

Characterized embellishments by purpose, design, and location.

Provided a structured perspective on current practices.

Abstract

We present a review and analysis of scientific paper embellishments -- simple visual elements that are deeply integrated into the text of scientific publications. These embellishments are increasingly used in research papers, which have the potential to enhance textual descriptions, strengthen connections between figures and content, and improve internal textual coherence, while also carrying the risk of disrupting the reading experience. As their exact impact is not yet well understood, we conducted a systematic review of all visualization papers published between 2019 and 2024 in IEEE VIS, ACM CHI, and EuroVis. From this corpus, we identified 374 papers that used paper embellishments and distilled three key dimensions that characterize their usage: purposes (WHY), design choices (HOW), and locations (WHERE) of paper embellishments. Our findings provide a structured perspective on the form of current embellishments in scientific writing in the visualization domain and provide insights into their role in shaping scientific communication.