Make an online review figure from an evidence map

Use four evidence fields before drawing

Create a working table with four fields: the item, its category, the relationship you want to show, and the source supporting that relationship. This is a preparation method, not a required software import format. It makes inconsistent categories visible before they become colored segments.

For example, fabrication methods, material properties and applications answer different questions. Putting all three into one ring can imply that they are equivalent categories. Separate layers or panels may explain the hierarchy more accurately. Keep the evidence table outside the artwork so that a co-author can review the scientific organization independently.

Choose between a circle, matrix and panels

Layout	Information task	Check before committing
Circular or semicircular	A central topic with related categories	Are sibling categories comparable?
Matrix	The same criteria applied to several items	Can each row and column be named consistently?
Separate panels	Different information levels or successive questions	Is the reading order explicit?

The PDMS case note uses a semicircular archive to discuss membrane layers, design strategies and applications. It is a composition example, not a platform-generated result or a new claim about membrane performance.

Edit one layer at a time

Start with the information skeleton. Replace category names and remove unused sections before selecting decorative assets. Next, arrange the objects and connectors. Finally, assign colors, label hierarchy and spacing. These three passes separate content, relationships and presentation.

The existing product offers review-figure editing and templates. Its international deployment is still being prepared, so this preview does not send you into a China account or promise that an overseas template catalog is already available. Read the platform scope for the region boundary.

Treat color as a role, not as the only explanation

Use a consistent role for each category and supplement color with labels, boundaries or line styles. A reader should still identify the groups when the figure is reduced or printed without color. Avoid using an unlabelled gradient for a numerical quantity unless the scale and data basis are defined.

Keep user-written scientific terms unchanged when switching interface languages. A translated menu is not a reason to rewrite gene names, chemical formulas, source citations or study terminology inside the artwork.

Save a project and inspect a separate export

Keep the editable source project, an exported figure and the source-evidence table. These are three different records. A successful save does not prove an export is complete, and an image opening in a slide application does not establish that all of its contents are editable.

Open the exported file and check the intended final size, readable labels, missing glyphs, clipping and connector meaning. Read the target journal's current instructions for dimensions, color and file type; no single setting applies to every journal.

Use a five-item final check

1. Each category has a stated question and evidence basis.
2. Arrows and line styles have one defined meaning.
3. Labels remain legible at the final publication size.
4. Sources and material permissions can be traced.
5. The source project matches the delivered export.

When the figure needs a designer to reorganize the narrative or prepare publication files, use a separate illustration commission. Describe the figure task in a non-confidential brief rather than sending unpublished files in the first message.