The declining use of animal and behaviour images in animal behaviour journals

It is difficult to overstate the value of images in science. Visualization is often the most effective tool to convey scientific concepts, and the opportunities that come with imaging techniques are growing. Nevertheless, we noticed that recent articles in animal behaviour journals include few images of animals or behaviour. To see whether their numbers have declined, we selected five behaviour journals and collected data from 1114 articles published over the journals' histories. We discovered that graphs (x–y plots) have increased over time, charts and tables have not changed, and images (graphical representations, including photographs, of animals, of behaviour, of animals expressing behaviour and of experimental design) have significantly decreased. To test whether supplementary online information has had effects, we compared the use of visual devices in 75 articles with or without supplementary online information. We found that supplementary online information has added means of visually presenting information, but has not compensated for the decline of images.

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