KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A recent article from the ISMPP’s MAP newsletter highlights the importance of effective data visualisation.
• Collaborative working across all stakeholders is needed to facilitate the creation of credible and impactful data visualisations.

Visualising data using well-designed figures, charts, and infographics can improve scientific communication and make research data more accessible. In a recent article for the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP)’s MAP newsletter, Louise Brown et al. called on all those working in medical publishing to ensure effective data visualisations are prioritised throughout scientific publications.

“We must take learnings about the power of data visualisation, and the importance of getting it right, into our world of publications.”

A call to action

The group recommend key actions for each stakeholder who may play a role, alongside authors, in developing medical publications:

• Pharmaceutical industry
  • Encourage use of data visualisations.
  • Plan early with publication authors and consider data visualisation within core publication content, as well as in enhanced or additional features.
  • Ensure scientific rigour via compliant processes.

• Medical communications agencies
  • Provide teams with training in data visualisation.
  • Educate stakeholders on the value of data visualisation and on best practice.
  • Support the planning and development of effective data visualisations.

• Scientific publishers
  • Offer guidance to authors on how to incorporate data visualisations across publication content.
  • Work towards cross-publisher uniformity in processes such as editorial and peer review.
  • Enable feedback for authors through metrics and other means.

Brown et al. hope that, by working collaboratively in this way, the medical publishing community can promote better understanding of complex scientific data, including among time-poor clinicians, ultimately improving clinical practice and benefitting patients.

What could the future hold?

Looking ahead, the group also considered the potential of technologies such as improved metrics and artificial intelligence (AI) in ensuring data visualisations are impactful. While Nature recently banned the use of AI to create data visuals, Brown et al. point to AI’s ability to produce multiple visual representations of the same source data, based on individual preferences, learning needs, or health literacy levels. In their recent position statement, ISMPP emphasised the importance of human oversight when using AI in medical communications to ensure accuracy, which will surely be as critical for data visuals as for other publication content.

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