1 WRITING CHEMICAL RESEARCH PAPERS Oh boy! TABLES AND FIGURES
Slide 2 2 Purpose and Organization Purpose To report clearly
numerous complex data To reveal data trends or patterns
Organization Figure and table content and captions should be
decided at the outline and first draft stages (preparation) Slide 3
3 First Steps Having decided which data to present, decide on a
combination of figures and tables Make sure these give crucial
information that cannot satisfactorily be presented in the text
Include only data that are relevant to the questions posed in the
Introduction Slide 4 4 Design Design each figure and table to be
intelligible without referring to the text Number each figure and
table in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text
The figure and table order should tell a story (i.e. should be
sequential) Slide 5 5 Presentation Figures and tables are usually
presented as separate files or in the text file, following the
references (check with journal instructions) If the journal
requires figures and tables in the text, there should be no page
break in middle Make sure all figures and tables are referred to in
the text Slide 6 6 Further Thoughts Make sure permission is
obtained from copyright holder, if using previously published items
Figure and table legends are best in the past tense (but see
journal style) The legend should be a summary of the figure topic
or table content Slide 7 7 Tables: Function Tables are used to make
the article easier to read, by removing numeric data from the text
They can also be used to display existing (literature) data (with
references): this can be very useful for comparison purposes Slide
8 8 Tables : Construction Create tables with table function of MS
Word. Dont use tabs or MS Excel (but see journal instructions) Use
clear column headings and footnotes or references, where needed
Check with journal regarding table and legend on same page Slide 9
9 Figures: Function Figures provide visual impact They can display
trends in data variation (e.g. graphs, charts) They can be used to
display complex processes or experimental set-up They can be used
as evidence of results (e.g. photographs of nanorods) They can be
used to show detailed data more simply Slide 10 10 Figures:
Construction Graphs: Label each axis clearly and with units Check
with journal regarding legend and figure on same page Figures
should be of high image quality (usually 300 dpi) Check format
needed (e.g. jpeg, etc) Slide 11 11 Figures: Final Check whether
color is allowed: most journals specify monochrome Legend should be
precise (with essential details but no lengthy experimental
details) Choose correct figure type: graph for numeric variables;
bar chart for cases where only dependent variable is numeric Slide
12 12 Reagents and conditions : (a) LDA, THF, 0 o C to rt; (b) Cl 3
CCN, DBU, EtCN, -78 o C; (c) Hg(CF 3 COO) 2, K 2 CO 3, THF, 0 o C,
then aq KBr; (d) c HCl, EtOH, AcOH, reflux, then Zn, reflux; (e)
iPrMgBr, THF, -20 to 0 o C; (f) TsOH, MeOH, 60 o C. Note: a. clear
symmetrical delineation of structures and arrows; b. Compound
numbers in bold; c. Lettering of certain steps for indication of
reagents and reaction conditions, in footnote; d. Inclusion of %
yield over arrows Scheme 13 Example 1 Slide 13 13 Example 2 Note:
a. Clear axis scales, points and lines; b. Line labels; c. Extra
information on figure and in caption Figure 1 Pseudo first-order
rate constant/acid concentration profile for the hydrolysis of 1 at
44.8C. Slide 14 14 Table 15.5 Some examples of chemometric analysis
of wine colour using uv-visible spectra Example 3 Note: a. Clear
axis labels; b. Points with bar lines, giving estimates of
uncertainty Slide 15 15 Example 4 A numerical table Note: a.
Detailed caption; b. Inclusion of units; c. Extra information in
footnote (e.g individual step rate constants and estimates of
uncertainty Slide 16 16 Example 5 Another numerical table Note: a.
Indication of scale and units of k 1 in caption rather than in
table; b. Extra information in footnote Slide 17 17 Example 6 A
non-numerical table Note: a. Detailed caption; b. Structures (with
labels) as table entries
