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Example 5 - Micrograph

Study the figure below and answer the questions that follow.. Once you have entered your thoughts in the box provided click on the 'Check your answer' button to see a suggested answer.

Figure 5: Bcl-2 expression. A poorly differentiated section of the retinoblastoma tumour stained for Bcl-2 expression showing positive staining around the central blood vessel.

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Questions:

1. Are there any omissions in the way the micrograph is presented?
2. Is the legend sufficient to make the data comprehensible to the reader without having to refer to the main text of the article or is additional information required?

The figure could be improved by annotating the micrograph with arrows or labels to highlight the significant components (in this example, the blood vessel and the positive staining). This will direct the attention of the reader to the key parts of the figure.

In addition, the figure could be cropped slightly from the left so that only the essential features are included.

A scale bar to indicate the magnification should also be added on to the micrograph (or included in the legend).

The figure also looks slightly blurred. The image could be sharpened by using standard graphics editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.

The legend is incomplete. It requires more explanatory text to make the data comprehensible.

The figure could be improved as shown below. If you study the improved figure, you will see that the micrograph is annotated with the scale bar and the blood vessel is annotated with the label BV (and the abbreviation is defined in the legend). The legend has also been expanded to include additional details on the methods used and the results observed.

Figure 5 Bcl-2 expression in a poorly differentiated section of the retinoblastoma tumour. Sections of the retinoblastoma tumour were immuno-stained with antibody Bcl-2 (124) (1:200 dilution) and visualised by standard light microscopy. Positive staining (brown cells) is localised primarily around the blood vessel (BV).

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