Nature Geoscience Figures (ngeo-figures)
When to trigger
- You have many candidate maps, sections, and time series and must choose 4–6
- Your lead figure does not convey the Earth-system advance at a glance
- Panels are dense, captions are long, or map/section elements are unreadable at column width
- You are over the display-item ceiling and must merge or relocate
- A coauthor wants to "add one more panel just in case"
Display-item budget for an Article
A Nature Geoscience Article carries 4–6 display items (figures and/or tables combined; verify). Every one must earn its place and be legible to a non-specialist. The hierarchy:
- Lead figure (Fig. 1) — conveys the headline advance at a glance. A reader skimming should grasp the result, and ideally its uncertainty, from this figure plus its caption alone. Often a map or cross-section that situates the study and shows the key signal.
- Supporting figures — each makes exactly one additional point (a mechanism, a dependence, a data–model comparison, a time series with error envelope).
- Everything else — extended maps, all model members, secondary proxies, raw traces → Supplementary Information (Fig. Sn).
If a display item does not advance the single headline result or one essential support, move it to SI.
Earth-science lead-figure rules
| Principle |
Practice |
| One glance, one message |
The eye lands on the advance immediately |
| Show the uncertainty |
Error bars, shaded confidence envelopes, or stippling for significance |
| Locate the reader |
An inset locator map / schematic orients out-of-subfield readers |
| Data and model together |
Overlay the decisive comparison, not in separate figures |
| Honest cartography |
State projection, scale, and data source; avoid misleading color scales |
| Annotate the key feature |
Arrow / label on the anomaly, front, transition, or trend that matters |
Production standards
- Design for the Nature column grid; check legibility at final printed size.
- Use perceptually-uniform, color-blind-safe colormaps (e.g. viridis, cividis, batlow); never rainbow/jet for quantitative fields, and never encode by color alone.
- For maps: label projection and scale; show the color-bar with units; mark significance (stippling/hatching) rather than hiding it.
- Vector formats for line art and schematics; high-resolution raster for satellite imagery and gridded fields.
- Define every symbol, unit, and abbreviation in the caption; match notation to the main text and Methods.
- Tables: reserve for values that cannot be shown graphically; they count against the display-item budget.
Panel discipline
- Prefer fewer panels with a clear reading order; label (a), (b), (c).
- A dense multi-panel map grid usually signals that supporting panels belong in SI.
- Insets (locator map, zoom, schematic of the mechanism) are powerful but must stay legible.
Checklist
Anti-patterns
- A lead figure too dense to parse without the main text
- Multi-panel map grids that bury the headline
- Rainbow/jet colormaps or color-only encoding that fails in grayscale or for color-blind readers
- Maps with no scale, projection, or units
- Hiding uncertainty by plotting only best-estimate fields
- Decorative figures that do not advance the headline result
- Long captions that quietly consume space
Output format
【Display-item count】N (≤6) — each essential? yes / cut list
【Fig. 1 conveys the advance at a glance】yes / redesign
【Uncertainty shown】yes / fix
【Per-figure single point】list
【Cartography: projection/scale/units】complete / fix
【Colormap: perceptual + color-blind-safe】yes / fix
【Moved to SI】list
【Next】ngeo-supplementary (SI) or ngeo-length-management (fit limit)
Display-item counts, figure specs, and colormap guidance are durable in spirit but specific in detail — verify current Nature Geoscience figure rules on the official author pages (Checked: 2026-07-16).
1---2name: ngeo-figures3description: Use when designing or auditing display items for a Nature Geoscience manuscript, where 4-6 figures/tables must carry the Earth-system advance and its uncertainty for a broad readership. Designs figure strategy; does not run the analysis or write prose.4---56# Nature Geoscience Figures (ngeo-figures)78## When to trigger910- You have many candidate maps, sections, and time series and must choose 4–611- Your lead figure does not convey the Earth-system advance at a glance12- Panels are dense, captions are long, or map/section elements are unreadable at column width13- You are over the display-item ceiling and must merge or relocate14- A coauthor wants to "add one more panel just in case"1516## Display-item budget for an Article1718A Nature Geoscience Article carries **4–6 display items** (figures and/or tables combined; verify). Every one must earn its place and be legible to a non-specialist. The hierarchy:1920- **Lead figure (Fig. 1)** — conveys the headline advance at a glance. A reader skimming should grasp the result, and ideally its uncertainty, from this figure plus its caption alone. Often a map or cross-section that situates the study *and* shows the key signal.21- **Supporting figures** — each makes exactly one additional point (a mechanism, a dependence, a data–model comparison, a time series with error envelope).22- **Everything else** — extended maps, all model members, secondary proxies, raw traces → Supplementary Information (Fig. Sn).2324If a display item does not advance the single headline result or one essential support, move it to SI.2526## Earth-science lead-figure rules2728| Principle | Practice |29|----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|30| One glance, one message | The eye lands on the advance immediately |31| Show the uncertainty | Error bars, shaded confidence envelopes, or stippling for significance |32| Locate the reader | An inset locator map / schematic orients out-of-subfield readers |33| Data and model together | Overlay the decisive comparison, not in separate figures |34| Honest cartography | State projection, scale, and data source; avoid misleading color scales |35| Annotate the key feature | Arrow / label on the anomaly, front, transition, or trend that matters |3637## Production standards3839- Design for the Nature column grid; check legibility at final printed size.40- Use **perceptually-uniform, color-blind-safe** colormaps (e.g. viridis, cividis, batlow); never rainbow/jet for quantitative fields, and never encode by color alone.41- For maps: label projection and scale; show the color-bar with units; mark significance (stippling/hatching) rather than hiding it.42- Vector formats for line art and schematics; high-resolution raster for satellite imagery and gridded fields.43- Define every symbol, unit, and abbreviation in the caption; match notation to the main text and Methods.44- Tables: reserve for values that cannot be shown graphically; they count against the display-item budget.4546## Panel discipline4748- Prefer fewer panels with a clear reading order; label (a), (b), (c).49- A dense multi-panel map grid usually signals that supporting panels belong in SI.50- Insets (locator map, zoom, schematic of the mechanism) are powerful but must stay legible.5152## Checklist5354- [ ] Total display items are within the 4–6 ceiling and each is essential55- [ ] Fig. 1 conveys the Earth-system advance at a glance56- [ ] Uncertainty / significance is shown, not hidden57- [ ] Every figure makes exactly one point58- [ ] Maps state projection, scale, units, and data source59- [ ] Color-blind-safe, perceptually-uniform colormaps; no rainbow/jet; not color-only60- [ ] Decisive data–model comparison shown directly61- [ ] Captions define all symbols/units and are as short as clarity allows62- [ ] Non-essential panels/datasets moved to SI6364## Anti-patterns6566- A lead figure too dense to parse without the main text67- Multi-panel map grids that bury the headline68- Rainbow/jet colormaps or color-only encoding that fails in grayscale or for color-blind readers69- Maps with no scale, projection, or units70- Hiding uncertainty by plotting only best-estimate fields71- Decorative figures that do not advance the headline result72- Long captions that quietly consume space7374## Output format7576```77【Display-item count】N (≤6) — each essential? yes / cut list78【Fig. 1 conveys the advance at a glance】yes / redesign79【Uncertainty shown】yes / fix80【Per-figure single point】list81【Cartography: projection/scale/units】complete / fix82【Colormap: perceptual + color-blind-safe】yes / fix83【Moved to SI】list84【Next】ngeo-supplementary (SI) or ngeo-length-management (fit limit)85```8687> Display-item counts, figure specs, and colormap guidance are durable in spirit but specific in detail — verify current Nature Geoscience figure rules on the official author pages (Checked: 2026-07-16).
brycewang-stanford