ILLUSTRATING DATA

In the days of powerful computers and graphic printers, it is tempting to include many graphs or illustrations. Don't be tempted. They are great for verbal presentations and for reports. But be very cautious about including graphs and illustrations in papers destined for publication.

Avoid tables, graphs and illustrations if you can. Use tables, graphs and illustrations only to present data which would be both too complex and tedious to describe in words.

We have discussed elsewhere how to illustrate data using tables, graphs or illustrations (see Using graphics).

Here, we will only highlight a few additional points.