New visual culture of science: analysis of graphical abstracts in the life science journal “Cell”

Abstract Driven by the shift towards online journal publishing, many academic journals have introduced graphical abstracts (GAs) since the 2000s to convey the primary findings of research papers. This study investigated this visual culture in life sciences by analyzing GAs with focus on content, representation, and background. In total, 333 GAs were collected from articles published in the journal Cell in 2021 and analyzed. Among these, 295 GAs (88.6%) explained the results and models and succinctly presented the key findings, and 251 GAs (75.4%) used a layout that divided the area into two or more sections. New graphics that were not present in the main text were featured in 222 GAs (66.7%), indicating substantial investment in their creation. The GAs shared commonalities with modern infographics commonly seen on the internet, which emphasize clarity. The increased used of GAs may be attributed to the need for “instant comprehension,” which is an epistemic virtue reinforced by authors, readers, and journals and driven by the scientific self of “surviving researchers and journals” in a competitive scientific environment.