name: gec-figures-and-tables
description: Use when designing the figures, tables, framework diagrams, and maps for a Global Environmental Change (GEC) manuscript, plus the required Highlights. GEC reaches an interdisciplinary, policy-relevant audience, so exhibits must be self-contained and legible across disciplines. Improves exhibits; it does not fabricate data.
Figures & Tables (gec-figures-and-tables)
GEC exhibits are read by people from many disciplines and by policy-oriented readers. An exhibit must
stand on its own, communicate the human-dimensions point quickly, and survive print and grayscale. This
skill also covers the journal's Highlights requirement.
When to trigger
- Designing main and supplementary figures, tables, framework diagrams, or maps
- A reviewer found an exhibit "hard to read," "overloaded," or "disconnected from the argument"
- Writing the Highlights (3-5 bullets) at submission
- Deciding what belongs in the main text vs. supplementary material
Principles for GEC exhibits
- Self-contained. Title, axes, units, sample, and source are legible without the text. A reader
from another field should grasp the point from the exhibit and caption alone.
- Show the human/policy point. Foreground the social driver, consequence, distribution, or
governance outcome — not just a biophysical trend.
- Framework diagrams earn their place. A clear conceptual / systems diagram often carries the
contribution; keep it uncluttered and consistent with the text's terms.
- Maps and scale. When mapping spatial variation, state the unit and scale; use classed,
colorblind-safe schemes; avoid implying precision the data lack.
- Accessible. Colorblind-safe palettes, legible in grayscale, vector output (PDF/EPS) for print;
no information conveyed by color alone.
Highlights (Elsevier requirement)
- 3-5 bullet points, each <=85 characters including spaces, submitted as a separate editable
file with "highlights" in the file name.
- Capture the novel results and contribution in plain language — they are a shop window for an
interdisciplinary, policy audience.
Tables
- Report effect sizes and intervals, not stars alone; label units and samples.
- Keep main-text tables focused; move full specifications and diagnostics to supplementary material.
- Ensure every table/figure number matches the analysis workflow (the archive must reproduce them).
Anti-patterns
- A chart that needs three paragraphs of text to interpret
- Color-only encoding; rainbow scales; unreadable in grayscale
- A framework diagram that contradicts the terms used in the text
- Maps with no scale/unit, or implying spurious precision
- Highlights that restate the title instead of the contribution
Exhibit-review patterns at GEC and the fix
GEC exhibits face a reader who may not share your discipline, so the editor and referees test whether the human-dimensions point survives translation. These are the recurring objections.
| What a referee flags | Underlying problem | The GEC fix |
|---|
| "I cannot read this exhibit without the text" | Not self-contained | Put sample, unit, scale, and the social variable in the caption; make the point legible standalone |
| "The figure shows a biophysical trend, not the human story" | Foregrounds the wrong half | Plot the social driver, distribution, or governance outcome; relegate the raw biophysical series if needed |
| "The map implies precision the data lack" | Continuous shading on coarse units | Class the scheme, state the spatial unit, and use a colorblind-safe palette |
| "Highlights just restate the title" | Shop-window wasted | Each bullet carries a distinct novel result in plain language |
| "The framework diagram contradicts the text" | Terms drifted | Make every box and arrow use the manuscript's defined concepts |
Worked micro-example (illustrative — coastal vulnerability map)
A coastal-adaptation paper proposes a single choropleth of "vulnerability" across districts.
- Weak exhibit: a smooth rainbow gradient over district outlines, no unit stated, vulnerability undefined in the legend, readable only in colour.
- GEC-strong exhibit: five classed quantiles on a colorblind-safe sequential ramp, the legend naming the index components (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity), the district as the stated unit, and a caption noting that the top quantile holds 28% of population but 11% of adaptation spending (illustrative). A paired small-multiple shows the same pattern in grayscale.
- Payoff: the inequity — the human-dimensions point — is visible from the exhibit and caption alone, and survives print.
Calibration anchors (hedged)
- Self-containment bar: a non-specialist editor should grasp the contribution from the exhibit plus caption; if they cannot, it is not yet a GEC exhibit.
- Accessibility bar: colorblind-safe, grayscale-legible, vector output is the expectation, not a courtesy.
- Re-check figure-format rules on the journal's live author guidelines before filing, as Elsevier
updates them.
Output format
【Exhibit】figure / table / framework diagram / map
【Point】the one human-dimensions takeaway it must convey
【Self-contained】readable from caption alone? [Y/N]
【Accessible】colorblind-safe + grayscale-legible + vector? [Y/N]
【Highlights】3-5 bullets, <=85 chars each, drafted? [Y/N]
【Next】gec-writing-style
Supplementary resources