The Best Resources for Free Scientific Stock Illustrations and Photos (2024)
When crafting a scientific paper, poster, or PowerPoint presentation, the thought of creating the necessary images can be daunting after extensive writing. Clear and precise visuals are crucial in scientific communication, but did you know that you can alleviate this burden by using free professional clipart and stock photos?
Here, we introduce several free image resources with tons of scientific clipart and elements perfect for enhancing your publication. However, remember to check the journal’s policy on third-party content, as some journals require all images to ...
Presenting to Diverse Audiences (scientists or non-scientists)
When giving a presentation to an audience with varying levels of knowledge on your topic, it can be challenging to strike a balance between providing enough detail for the experts and not losing the novice audience. Preparing such talks opens up a taunting dilemma that can increase your anxiety and hinder presentation effectiveness.
This is also one of the questions I often get from my workshop participants (scientist). Fortunately, there are several strategies you can use.
If you are new to your topic and inexperienced in presenting, I suggest you to choose a single ...
How to Choose a PowerPoint Aspect Ratio: 4:3 or 16:9?
When designing a PowerPoint presentation, one of the first choices one makes is the slide size. PowerPoint has switched to default 16:9 aspect ratio of the presentations a couple of years ago, which follows the trend of "wide-everything", including smartphones, computer monitors, TVs, and projectors & beamers. But with the craze to wide-everything, is 16:9 slide presentation aspect ratio the best choice for all circumstances? Here are my thoughts.
(more…)
Humans Are Visual Creatures
Here we gathered some interesting facts to emphasize why using visual aids in scientific communication is so important.
(more…)
The »7 C’s of Effective Communication« Applied to Science
The concept of »7 C’s of Effective Communication« first appeared in business, where time is precious and there is no room for mistakes done out of misinformation. The »7 C's« stand for seven essential principles of communication starting with the letter C. Each one represents a requirement that the message should meet to be effective. Applying these principles to your communication ensures that your message will be in sync with the recipient's understanding and free from ballast.
(more…)
The Importance of Good Visual Design in Horizon 2020 Grant Proposals
Horizon 2020
H2020 is European Union's Research and Innovation programme, a financial instrument with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).
The best-known H2020 sections are:
European Research Council (ERC) grants,
Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) funds,
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA),
Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) funding instrument,
Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) pilot.
When writing Horizon 2020 grant proposals, we are usually in a hurry to finish before the deadline. This is why many ...
5 Websites with Free Science Art and Photos
Did you know that you can get professional clipart images and stock photos to use free of charge in your research papers, posters and PowerPoint presentations? Even if it is in restricted-access papers that could be interpreted as commercial use? Below we present a selection of free image repositories with scientifically-appropriate content, which is especially convenient to use in graphical abstracts. We added notes on the terms and conditions of use, so that you can be confident you're using the material in the right way.
However, always check the journal's policy on ...
What is Effective Communication?
Communication, spontaneous and strategic
Communication is all around us. It is the process of exchanging information or ideas between individuals or groups. The purpose of communication is to share information and coordinate actions in order to achieve a common goal or understanding. But what contributes to making the communication effective? Is there any way for us to become more effective communicators?
(more…)
How to Create an Effective Graphical Abstract • Guide
What is a graphical abstract?
A graphical abstract (also called 'visual TOC' or 'TOC figure' or 'visual abstract') is a figure that succinctly visually conveys what your research is about. They have been a part of scientific publications for decades in some research fields (e.g. chemistry) but have only recently penetrated other research fields. As there is not a lot of literature on graphical abstracts, I'll share some of my findings from analyzing thousands of graphical abstracts from different journals.
(more…)
7 Graphical Abstracts You Could Make With PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most used computer programs among scientists, so it's probably not far from the truth to say it's also the most used program for creating graphical abstracts. From the 2007 edition onwards, it comes with a rich array of drawing and design tools that can be easily accessed from the Insert and Format tabs.
Below we're presenting a selection of graphical abstracts that could have been created with PowerPoint. (more…)
