The Journey to a Successful Illustrated Review.

Illustrated review articles, rooted in scientific rigor, are made up of "capsules" or panels of visuals that together provide an up-to-date overview of a topic. Illustrated reviews aim to provide a more accessible format than traditional written reviews to facilitate more effective knowledge translation and dissemination. However, the novelty of this format can dissuade prospective authors due to uncertainty and lack of comfort. To remedy this uncertainty, we have summarized the journey of developing an illustrated review, from identifying an appropriate topic to submitting the final manuscript for peer review. We highlight the importance of approaching an illustrated review from a storytelling perspective, and encouraging authors to keep their audience in mind when picking a theme or characters. We provide storyboard considerations and simplify graphic design principles to develop an outline and line draft for the illustrated review. We list programs available to authors to demystify creating attractive and engaging scientific visuals. Finally, we provide information on choosing colors or fonts and where to find copyright-free icons, graphics, illustrations, and pictures. This review provides prospective authors with the knowledge, tools, and resources to create an effective illustrated review article. If there is difficulty with the links embedded within the document please download the full PDF.

RELATIONSHIP DISCLOSURE

Dr Cushman is editor‐in‐chief and Dr. Sholzberg is an associate editor of Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis (RPTH), and they receive honoraria. Sarah Nersesian is the owner of and a scientific illustrator at Designs That Cell.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

SN and MS contributed to conceptualizing, writing, and designing article content. MC and AW contributed to conception and design and reviewed drafts of the work and the final article.