gec-figures-and-tables

Figures & Tables (gec-figures-and-tables)

GEC exhibits are read by people from many disciplines and by policy-oriented readers. An exhibit must stand on its own, communicate the human-dimensions point quickly, and survive print and grayscale. This skill also covers the journal's Highlights requirement.

When to trigger

• Designing main and supplementary figures, tables, framework diagrams, or maps
• A reviewer found an exhibit "hard to read," "overloaded," or "disconnected from the argument"
• Writing the Highlights (3-5 bullets) at submission
• Deciding what belongs in the main text vs. supplementary material

Principles for GEC exhibits

1. Self-contained. Title, axes, units, sample, and source are legible without the text. A reader from another field should grasp the point from the exhibit and caption alone.
2. Show the human/policy point. Foreground the social driver, consequence, distribution, or governance outcome — not just a biophysical trend.
3. Framework diagrams earn their place. A clear conceptual / systems diagram often carries the contribution; keep it uncluttered and consistent with the text's terms.
4. Maps and scale. When mapping spatial variation, state the unit and scale; use classed, colorblind-safe schemes; avoid implying precision the data lack.
5. Accessible. Colorblind-safe palettes, legible in grayscale, vector output (PDF/EPS) for print; no information conveyed by color alone.

Highlights (Elsevier requirement)

• 3-5 bullet points, each <=85 characters including spaces, submitted as a separate editable file with "highlights" in the file name.
• Capture the novel results and contribution in plain language — they are a shop window for an interdisciplinary, policy audience.

Tables

• Report effect sizes and intervals, not stars alone; label units and samples.
• Keep main-text tables focused; move full specifications and diagnostics to supplementary material.
• Ensure every table/figure number matches the analysis workflow (the archive must reproduce them).

Anti-patterns

• A chart that needs three paragraphs of text to interpret
• Color-only encoding; rainbow scales; unreadable in grayscale
• A framework diagram that contradicts the terms used in the text
• Maps with no scale/unit, or implying spurious precision
• Highlights that restate the title instead of the contribution

Exhibit-review patterns at GEC and the fix

GEC exhibits face a reader who may not share your discipline, so the editor and referees test whether the human-dimensions point survives translation. These are the recurring objections.

What a referee flags	Underlying problem	The GEC fix
"I cannot read this exhibit without the text"	Not self-contained	Put sample, unit, scale, and the social variable in the caption; make the point legible standalone
"The figure shows a biophysical trend, not the human story"	Foregrounds the wrong half	Plot the social driver, distribution, or governance outcome; relegate the raw biophysical series if needed
"The map implies precision the data lack"	Continuous shading on coarse units	Class the scheme, state the spatial unit, and use a colorblind-safe palette
"Highlights just restate the title"	Shop-window wasted	Each bullet carries a distinct novel result in plain language
"The framework diagram contradicts the text"	Terms drifted	Make every box and arrow use the manuscript's defined concepts

Worked micro-example (illustrative — coastal vulnerability map)

A coastal-adaptation paper proposes a single choropleth of "vulnerability" across districts.

• Weak exhibit: a smooth rainbow gradient over district outlines, no unit stated, vulnerability undefined in the legend, readable only in colour.
• GEC-strong exhibit: five classed quantiles on a colorblind-safe sequential ramp, the legend naming the index components (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity), the district as the stated unit, and a caption noting that the top quantile holds 28% of population but 11% of adaptation spending (illustrative). A paired small-multiple shows the same pattern in grayscale.
• Payoff: the inequity — the human-dimensions point — is visible from the exhibit and caption alone, and survives print.

Calibration anchors (hedged)

• Self-containment bar: a non-specialist editor should grasp the contribution from the exhibit plus caption; if they cannot, it is not yet a GEC exhibit.
• Accessibility bar: colorblind-safe, grayscale-legible, vector output is the expectation, not a courtesy.
• Re-check figure-format rules on the journal's live author guidelines before filing, as Elsevier updates them.

Output format

【Exhibit】figure / table / framework diagram / map
【Point】the one human-dimensions takeaway it must convey
【Self-contained】readable from caption alone? [Y/N]
【Accessible】colorblind-safe + grayscale-legible + vector? [Y/N]
【Highlights】3-5 bullets, <=85 chars each, drafted? [Y/N]
【Next】gec-writing-style

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — plotting, diagramming, and mapping tools
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — Highlights and formatting requirements