A Graphical Abstract is a single, concise, pictorial and visual summary of the main findings of the article. This could either be the concluding figure from the article or a figure that is specially designed for the purpose, which captures the content of the article for readers at a single glance. For examples, visit any journal from your field.
The Graphical Abstract will be displayed in online search result lists, the online contents list, the online article and also appear in the article PDF file depending upon respective journal guidelines.
Author instructions
A Graphical Abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the main take-home message of the paper and is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.
Authors must provide an image that clearly represents the work described in the paper. A key figure from the original paper, summarizing the content can also be submitted as a graphical abstract.
Graphical Abstracts should be submitted as a separate file as a supplementary file during the manuscript submission process. Name the file as “Graphical Abstract” and upload it at step 4 of submission (the step meant for uploading supplementary files)/or should be submitted as Cover image by following Edit Metadata link after completion of submission.
Specifications:
A Graphical Abstract should be an image file and should visualize one process or make one point clear. For ease of browsing, the Graphical Abstract should have a clear start and end, preferably “reading” from top to bottom or left to right. Try to reduce distracting and cluttering elements as much as possible.
- Image size: Please provide an image with a maximum 300 x 750 pixels (hxw) using a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. The larger images would be resized to fit the contents. You can download representative image size template (700 x 250 px) from
this link
- Font: Please use Times, Arial, Courier or Symbol font with a large enough font size as the image will be reduced in size for the Table of Contents to fit a window of 250 (max) pixels high.
- File type: accepted file types are .png, .jpg, .gif, SVI files. Please also submit the original file in which you prepare the graphics.
- There should not be any additional text, outline or synopsis in the graphics image. Any text or label must be part of the image file and should be limited to labeling of image components.
this link
For vector image creation, authors can use Inkscape (inkscape.org), a free software for creation of vector images.
