• CASA0005 seminar 2
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Recommended resources
    • 2.1 Resouces for the ggplot2 package
    • 2.2 Resouces for graphs or data visualization in academic research
    • 2.3 How to find more useful resources
  • 3 Recap
  • 4 Getting started
    • 4.1 Installing packages
    • 4.2 Loading packages
    • 4.3 Dataset
  • 5 Graphics with ggplot2
    • 5.1 Basic components of a ggplot2 Plot
    • 5.2 Building a simple ggplot plot
      • 5.2.1 Make sure your datasets are data frames
      • 5.2.2 Plot background and set the x and y axis
      • 5.2.3 Add a layer
      • 5.2.4 Color the point
      • 5.2.5 Add a linear regression line
      • 5.2.6 Split a single plot into many related plots
    • 5.3 Customizing the graph
      • 5.3.1 Change the point colour
      • 5.3.2 Change the point size
      • 5.3.3 Change the point shape
      • 5.3.4 Modify fitted regression lines
      • 5.3.5 Change the axis titles
      • 5.3.6 Add axis labels and units
      • 5.3.7 Add in title
      • 5.3.8 Change themes
      • 5.3.9 Change the font size
      • 5.3.10 Add in the Pearson correlation coefficient result in the plot
    • 5.4 Saving graphs
    • 5.5 Extensions
  • 6 Challenges
    • 6.1 Challenge 1: reorder the items in legend
    • 6.2 Challenge 2: Manualy setting the colour of the line and point
  • 7 Answer
  • Q & A
  • Published with bookdown

Customizing ggplot2 plots in R for scientific research

2 Recommended resources


Data visualisation is the visual representation of patterns in data. An efficient data visualisation makes data more understandable.

2.1 Resouces for the ggplot2 package

  • Data Visualization with ggplot2 Cheat Sheet - RStudio
  • ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis
  • Data Visualization in R with ggplot2
  • Top 50 ggplot2 Visualizations - The Master List (With Full R Code)

2.2 Resouces for graphs or data visualization in academic research

  • Ten guidelines for effective data visualization in scientific publications
  • Beyond Bar and Line Graphs: Time for a New Data Presentation Paradigm
  • How to Write a Paper
  • R Graphics Cookbook, 2nd edition
  • Data visualization beginner’s guide: a definition, examples, and learning resources
  • From Data to Viz
  • The R Graph Gallery

2.3 How to find more useful resources

  • GOOGLE