Pnasnexus Figures

Display Items (pnasnexus-figures)

When to trigger

• Figures and tables push the page / graphical-element budget (pnasnexus-writing).
• Fonts are unreadable at print size, or colors are not colorblind-safe.
• Bar charts hide the underlying data (no points, no n).
• Panels are screenshots of software output pasted into the figure.
• You are unsure how figures count against the length limit.

Figures count toward the page budget

PNAS Nexus measures length in pages, and figures and tables are part of that budget: a standard 6-page Research Report is described as roughly 4,000 words, 50 references, and 4 medium-size graphical elements. So every figure/table competes with text for space.

• Treat ~4 medium display items as the working target for a 6-page Research Report; more is possible up to the 12-page max, but each item costs page budget.
• Move secondary/supporting figures and tables to Supporting Information rather than inflating the main text.
• Confirm exact figure-count and sizing rules in the current PNAS Nexus author/digital-art guidelines.

Sizing and legibility

Design each figure to render at the journal's print column widths without rescaling text (PNAS Nexus is a multi-column OUP journal; confirm the exact widths — they are commonly on the order of a single column ≈ 9 cm, 1.5 column ≈ 11–12 cm, and full width ≈ 18 cm).

• Minimum font in the final figure: legible after reduction to print size (sans-serif, e.g., Helvetica/Arial; aim for ~6–8 pt at final size — confirm).
• Line weights heavy enough to survive printing (avoid hairlines).
• Submit at the required resolution (line art high-dpi; halftones/photos at the specified dpi) — confirm specs.

Show the data, not just the summary

• Replace bar-of-means with dot plots / box+points / violins+points wherever n is small.
• Always state n in the legend, and what n is (cells? animals? subjects? independent experiments?).
• Error bars must be defined in the legend (SD vs SEM vs 95% CI) — never undefined.
• For images (blots, micrographs): include scale bars.

Color and accessibility (an open-access advantage)

• Because PNAS Nexus is fully online and open access, color figures display freely — use color where it aids understanding (confirm there are no separate color charges).
• Use a colorblind-safe palette (avoid red/green as the only contrast); don't encode meaning by color alone — add shape/pattern/labels.
• No rainbow/jet colormaps for continuous data — use perceptually uniform maps (viridis, etc.).
• Check that figures remain interpretable in grayscale for readers who print.

Figure legend structure

Each legend: a short title sentence (the claim of the figure), then per-panel descriptions (A, B, C…), then statistics (test, n, error-bar definition, exact P or values). The legend should let the figure stand alone. Remember legends count toward the page budget — keep them tight.

Integrity rules (non-negotiable — and tied to the data policy)

• No selective deletion, splicing, or beautification of gels/blots/images without a labeled boundary; disclose any grouping.
• Quantitative comparisons must come from the same experiment/exposure.
• Retain raw, unprocessed images and source data. PNAS Nexus requires that "all data and any direct outputs from imaging systems must be retained in their raw, unprocessed versions" — editors/reviewers can request them, and failure to provide data can be grounds for rejection or retraction (pnasnexus-data).

Output format

【Item count】 figures + tables vs graphical-element budget (~4 for a 6-pp Research Report; confirm) → ok / over
【Sizing】 designed at journal column widths? fonts legible at print size? yes/no
【Data shown】 points + n + defined error bars? yes/no
【Color】 used freely (OA)? colorblind-safe? grayscale-readable? yes/no
【Integrity】 scale bars / disclosed splices / raw unprocessed images retained? yes/no
【Main vs SI】 secondary items moved to SI? 
【Fixes】 [...]
【Next】 pnasnexus-statistics

Anti-patterns

• Do not paste raw Stata/Prism/ImageJ screenshots as figures.
• Do not use bars to hide n=3 with huge spread — show the points.
• Do not leave error bars undefined or mix SD and SEM across panels.
• Do not discard raw image files — the data policy requires retaining them.
• Do not inflate the main text with secondary figures — move them to SI.

Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → PNAS-Nexus-Skills/skills/pnasnexus-figures/SKILL.md