Prevalence and characteristics of graphical abstracts in a specialist pharmacology journal

Graphical abstracts (GAs) are publication extenders used to visually communicate scientific concepts and data alongside their parent manuscript. This study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of GAs published in a clinical pharmacology journal that facilitates GA use through free publication and providing templates to authors. The characteristics of clinical publications in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in issues dated 2021–2023 were collated and accompanying GAs reviewed and compared with the associated written abstracts. In total, 64/1019 (6.3%) publications were accompanied by a GA. There was no association between the presence of a GA and the geographical location of the principal investigator, year of publication or open access status. Industry-funded studies were significantly more likely to include a GA compared with non-industry funded studies (19/179 [10.6%] vs. 25/458 [5.5%]; Fisher’s exact test, p = 0.0246). Professional medical writing support was also associated with a numerically higher prevalence of GAs (16.7% [11/66] vs. 7.6% [7/92] with no medical writing support; Fisher’s exact test, p = 0.1257). While GAs generally included study results (94%), only approximately half presented methodology (58%) and conclusions (50%). Few GAs (27%) included the title of the publication. In conclusion, uptake of GAs by authors was low. Industry and professional medical writing support was associated with increased GA uptake, but the prevalence remained below 20%. GAs are also heterogenous in nature, often inconsistent with the written abstract and are generally unable to stand alone.