Infographics as a communication tool in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences

Area of Science:

• Scientific communication
• Research dissemination
• Visual literacy

Background:

• Infographics offer a potential alternative to traditional text-based abstracts for scientific research communication.
• Well-designed infographics may broaden audience reach beyond academic circles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness and viewer experience of infographics versus text-based abstracts.
• To assess understanding, recall, cognitive load, and attention for different research communication formats.

Main Methods:

• A pilot digital study randomized participants in pharmacy or pharmaceutical sciences to view either infographics or text abstracts.
• Data were collected via surveys assessing understanding, recall, effectiveness, cognitive load, and attention.
• Statistical analyses included chi-square tests and unpaired t-tests; exclusion criteria were applied.

Main Results:

• Analysis included 30 infographic viewers and 16 text abstract viewers, primarily white, female students from the US.
• No statistically significant differences were found across most measures between infographics and text abstracts.
• Some infographics demonstrated significantly higher scores for attention and effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• Infographics may not outperform text abstracts for communicating research findings to scientific audiences.
• The study's limited power may have prevented detection of true differences.
• Further research is needed to optimize infographic use and explore diverse populations.