In a study analyzing nearly 3,400 life-science papers, researchers found that almost one-third of bar charts distorted data, indicating a need for improved data literacy.
"Data are getting more complex all the time, and data literacy doesn't always keep pace with that. Even still, I do think it's surprising how common some of these mistakes are," says Rebecca Goldin.
Markita Landry highlights that 88% of the analyzed papers contained bar charts, and 29% of those had distortions, mainly including y-axis not starting at zero.
"More collaborators may make it easier for mistakes to fall through the cracks," Landry explains, pointing to the correlation between co-authorship and data distortions.
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