Journals are increasingly requesting the submission of a “graphical” or “visual abstract” alongside the body of the article. This is a single, concise, pictorial and visual summary of the main findings of the article. It could either be the concluding figure from the article or better still a figure that is specially designed for the purpose, which captures the content of the article for readers at a single glance. Examples of graphical abstracts can be found in the latest issues of one of our journals

A graphical abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the take-home message of the paper and is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.

Research has shown that articles which have graphical abstracts are beneficial both in terms of views of the article as well as increased activity on social media. In particular, the average annual use of an article is doubled when compared with those without a visual abstract.

Some titles have specific instructions for graphical abstracts, so please ensure you read the guide for authors of the journal in question before finalizing your work.

Source: https://www.elsevier.com/authors/tools-and-resources/visual-abstract

Guidelines for graphical abstracts for our journals

A graphical abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the take-home message of the paper and is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.

Authors must provide an image that clearly represents the work described in the paper. It could either be the superposition of several figures from the article or a figure that is specially designed for the purpose. Any postage stamps, currency from any country, or trademarked items should not be included in it. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file.

Requirements for graphical abstract:
– Image size: the minimum required size for the graphical abstract is 560 × 1100 pixels (height × width) with minimum resolution of 300 dpi. If you are submitting a larger image, please use the same ratio. Please note that your image will be scaled proportionally to fit in the available window.
– Font: please use font with a large enough font size as the image will be reduced in size for the table of contents to fit a window.
– File type: .jpg, .jpeg, .png.
– File size: no more than 5 Mb.

No additional text, outline or synopsis should be included. Any text or label must be part of the image file. Please do not use unnecessary white space or a heading “graphical abstract” within the image file.

Examples of graphical abstracts can be found in the latest issues of one of our journals