4 Visual Presentation of Data

Line graphs have 2 or 3 axes with continuous quantitative scales on which data points connected by curves demonstrate the relationship between 2 or more quantitative variables, such as changes over time. Line graphs usually are designed with the dependent variable on the vertical axis (y-axis) and the independent variable on the horizontal axis (x-axis) (Example , Example ).Survival plots of time-to-event outcomes, such as from Kaplan-Meier analyses (see Figure in , Study Design and Statistics), display the proportion of individuals, represented on the y-axis as a proportion or percentage, remaining free of or experiencing a specific outcome over time, ...Less

Many journals, including JAMA, use both titles and legends to describe and clarify figures. Others, like the Archives Journals, combine the title and legend underneath the figure.The figure title follows the designation “Figure” numbered consecutively (ie, Figure 1, Figure 2) and does not appear in the figure itself. Articles that contain a single figure use the designator “Figure” (not “Figure 1”). The title is a succinct clause or phrase that identifies the specific topic of the figure or describes what the data show. Each major word in a figure title is capitalized and follows the same rules as for article ...Less