Graphical abstracts in open access research: Visibility and impact

Open-access articles aim to facilitate knowledge transfer between researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. Making an impact amongst a wider audience can entail creative methods that go beyong the written word.

Graphical abstracts can help bridge the gap between the scientific community and these broader audiences, ensuring that the research findings are understood and applied in real-world settings.

After all, today’s world is all about visuals: visuals capture attention, simplify complex information, and enhance communication. They make content more engaging, memorable, and accessible.

In science, visual tools like graphical abstracts  

• help convey messages quickly,  

• improve comprehension, and  

• are essential for building social media engagement and public scientific literacy. 

Let us look at some of the specific uses of a graphical abstract and what benefits it offers researchers. 

What is the purpose of a graphical abstract?  

A good graphical abstract is not merely a visual summary of a research paper. It  

• Helps viewers quickly grasp the key aspects of the study 

• Helps browsing readers quickly identify which papers are relevant to them or not 

Benefits of graphical abstracts 

A graphical abstract helps you as a researcher in many ways, especially in amplifying the impact of your study.

1.  It attracts readers: Ibrahim et al. (2017) found that social media posts of articles with graphical abstracts were 8 times more likely to be shared than social media posts of articles without a graphical abstract. 
2. It improves your Altmetric scores: Bennett and Slattery (2023) found that in the field of sport science, articles published with a graphical abstract had higher Altmetric scores than articles without a graphical abstract. 
3. It improves citation counts: Kim et al. (2022) found that articles with graphical abstracts had higher Web of Science citation counts than those without, and that graphical abstracts were effective in increasing citation counts even after adjusting for journal impact factor. 
4. It increases the number of article clicks: Graphical abstracts make browsing easier. Lee and Yoo (2023) suggested that including a graphical abstract might increase the number of article clicks.
5. It improves social media engagement: A randomized controlled trial evaluating plain English and graphical abstracts in the field of surgery (Chapman et al., 2019) showed that graphical abstracts increased social media engagement, especially from other healthcare professionals. Another triple crossover trial in nephrology (Oska et al., 2020) showed that article tweets containing a graphical abstract had 5 times the engagement of tweets with only a citation and >3.5 times the engagement of tweets containing a key figure from the concerned research paper. These findings were further supported by Hoffberg et al.’s (2020) randomized crossover trial.  

Open Access and Graphical Abstracts

Here are some ways in which including a graphical abstract may improve the reach, impact and accessibility of your research:

1. Improving Accessibility and Understanding

Open-access articles, which are available to the public without paywalls, can reach a diverse audience. Combined with graphical abstracts, these research findings become more accessible to a broader audience.

2. Enhancing Discoverability

Visual content often attracts more attention online compared to text-only articles. When researchers and readers browse open-access databases, journals, or social media platforms, graphical abstracts can stand out, helping research be discovered more easily. This increased visibility can lead to more citations and broader dissemination of the work.

3. Supporting Wider Dissemination via Social Media

Graphical abstracts are highly shareable on social media platforms. The visual appeal and easy-to-understand format make it easier for other users to share and discuss the research online.

4. Improving Knowledge Translation

Open-access articles often aim to facilitate knowledge transfer between researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. Graphical abstracts can help bridge the gap, ensuring that the research findings are understood and applied in real-world settings.

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5. Encouraging Reader Engagement

In an open-access context, a graphical abstract can serve as a gateway, leading to increased readership and engagement.

6. Expediting Collaboration

Open access often leads to more rapid sharing of research, and graphical abstracts can accelerate the communication of research concepts, enhancing collaboration opportunities.

The bottom line 

An increasing number of journals are encouraging authors to make a graphical abstract, especially as preliminary findings by Kim et al. (2022) suggested that the longer a journal utilizes graphical abstracts, the higher its impact factor. If you care about boosting the reach and impact of your research, building your reputation in your field, and increasing your networking, graphical abstracts are a valuable tool.