Module 3: Visualization

Evidence, Not Decoration

Author

A. C. Del Re

The APA Style Guide for Figures

A figure in a manuscript is not art; it is data. APA 7th Edition has strict rules: 1. Font: Times New Roman or Arial (Credit: sans-serif is allowed in 7th, but serifs are classic). 2. Background: White (No grey grids!). 3. Axis Lines: Black, clean lines. 4. Legend: Inside the plot or clearly labeled.

1. Setup (Simulating Data)

2. The Default (Bad) Plot

This is what ggplot2 gives you by default. Grey background, white gridlines. Journals hate this.

3. The APA Makeover

We strip the β€œchartjunk” using specific themes and font settings.

High-Resolution Export

If you copy-paste that image, it will be blurry. Journals require 300 DPI.

In RStudio (Desktop), you run this command:

ggsave(
  filename = "Figure1_Review_Quality.tiff",
  plot = p_apa,
  width = 6,
  height = 4,
  units = "in",
  dpi = 300,
  compression = "lzw" # Lossless compression
)

This creates a crisp, professional file ready for upload to the submission portal.



Next Module: The Final Manuscript >