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est-figures-and-tables
GitHub用于ES&T论文图表及TOC图形设计。确保内容自包含、展示不确定性、无障碍且可复现。区分正文与SI，生成视觉摘要，避免常见错误，符合期刊格式要求。
Trigger Scenarios
设计主要结果图表
构建强制性的TOC/摘要图形
决定内容归属正文或补充材料
修复不清晰或未自包含的图表
Install
npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill est-figures-and-tables -g -y
SKILL.md
Frontmatter
{
"name": "est-figures-and-tables",
"description": "Use when building figures, tables, and the mandatory Table of Contents (TOC)\/abstract graphic for an Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) manuscript. ES&T requires a TOC graphic for Research Articles, Reviews, Features, Perspectives, and Policy Analysis, and figures\/tables may count toward the word limit, so every exhibit must earn its space. It designs exhibits; it does not run the analysis."
}
Figures, Tables & TOC Graphic (est-figures-and-tables)
Exhibits are where an expert reviewer checks whether the result is real, and at ES&T they also carry two venue-specific rules: a mandatory TOC/abstract graphic, and a word budget in which figures/tables may count as word-equivalents (historically ~300 for small, ~600 for large — 待核实 on the live page). Every exhibit must pull its weight.
When to trigger
- Designing the main results figures/tables
- Building the TOC/abstract graphic (required for most article types)
- Deciding what belongs in the article vs. the Supporting Information
- A reviewer found an exhibit unclear, mislabeled, or not self-contained
Principles
- Self-contained. Each exhibit is intelligible from its caption, axis/column labels, units, n, and notes alone — state the sample, conditions, and what the value is.
- Show uncertainty. Error bars/intervals with the dispersion measure named; significance markers defined; never bars without spread.
- Accessible. Colorblind-safe palettes, legible in grayscale, no chartjunk/3D; vector output (PDF/EPS) where possible for print.
- The TOC graphic. A single clear visual abstract that illustrates the paper's core idea — not a duplicate of an in-text figure. Legible at thumbnail size; follow ACS size/format specs. Required for Research Articles, Critical Reviews, Features, Perspectives, and Policy Analysis; not required for Viewpoints/Spotlights/Letters.
- Article vs. SI. Keep the few exhibits that carry the argument in the article; move full
spectra, calibration curves, balance tables, and robustness grids to the Supporting Information
— this also helps you fit the word budget (see
est-reporting-and-reproducibility). - Reproducible. Each exhibit is generated by the master script; values match the deposited data.
Environmental-science exhibits
- Concentration/time profiles, kinetics and dose–response curves with fitted models
- Mass-balance / Sankey-style flow diagrams; reaction/transformation schemes (ChemDraw)
- Sampling-site and spatial-variation maps (
sf/tmap, QGIS); contour/heat maps - Spectra (with insets), microscopy with scale bars, speciation diagrams
TOC graphic: required-by-type and what makes it pass
The TOC/abstract graphic is the exhibit most often mishandled at ES&T. Use this to decide whether one is required and whether yours earns the slot (confirm size/format on the live ACS spec — 待核实):
| Article type | TOC graphic | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| Research Article | required | clones Figure 1, not a concept |
| Critical Review / Perspective | required | busy multi-panel, illegible at thumbnail |
| Feature | required | decorative art, no scientific content |
| Policy Analysis | required | a table screenshot, not a visual |
| Viewpoint / Spotlight / Letter | not required | effort wasted building one |
A passing TOC graphic shows the paper's single idea — a process arrow, a before/after, a fate pathway — readable at search-result-thumbnail size.
Worked micro-example (illustrative — LCA of a treatment technology)
A life-cycle assessment comparing granular activated carbon (GAC) vs. ion exchange for PFAS removal. Exhibit choices (illustrative):
- Main figure: grouped bar of cradle-to-gate global-warming potential per m³ treated, GAC vs. IX, with error bars naming the Monte Carlo band (5th–95th percentile, n=1,000). Without intervals a reviewer cannot tell whether a ~15% (illustrative) difference is real.
- SI, not main text: full inventory, characterization factors, and per-category contributions.
- TOC graphic: a two-box flow (feedwater → technology → treated water) annotated with the trade-off (lower carbon vs. higher regeneration burden), not a shrunken bar chart.
The discipline separating a clean LCA figure from a rejected one: every bar names its uncertainty band and the functional unit sits in the caption, so the exhibit is self-contained.
Referee-pushback patterns and the venue-specific fix
- "Means without uncertainty." → Add intervals with the dispersion measure named and n stated.
- "TOC graphic duplicates Figure 1." → Redraw as a conceptual visual abstract.
- "Map has no scale bar / projection." → Add scale bar, north arrow, projection, and coordinates.
Anti-patterns
- Submitting without the required TOC graphic, or a TOC graphic that just clones Figure 1
- Bars with no error bars; undefined significance markers
- Cramming every spectrum/robustness panel into the main text (blows the word budget — use SI)
- Color-only encoding that fails in grayscale or for colorblind readers
- Maps/micrographs with no scale bar, north arrow, or units
- Exhibit values that do not match the deposited data
Output format
【Main exhibits】what each shows + why figure vs table
【TOC graphic】required for this type? designed as a visual abstract (not a clone)? [Y/N]
【Self-contained】caption + labels + units + n? [Y/N]
【Accessible】grayscale + colorblind-safe + scale bars? [Y/N]
【Article vs SI】split decided; word-budget impact noted
【Reproducible】matches deposited data? [Y/N]
【Next】est-reporting-and-reproducibility
Supplementary resources
../../resources/external_tools.md— plotting, structure-drawing, and mapping tools; TOC-graphic guidance../../resources/official-source-map.md— TOC-art mandate and word-limit policy
Version History
- 1839142 Current 2026-07-05 13:12
