A review of maps in PhDs : is your map worth a 1000 words?

Abstract

Maps are useful for providing location context and for graphically presenting spatial relationships. They are often used in PhD dissertations to show the location of a study area or to present scientific results. These maps have to tell their story without the PhD candidate being present. We searched for maps in 575 PhD dissertations, and reviewed 192 maps in 65 of these: 38% were created by PhD candidates, 48% were inserted and 14% were adapted from other sources. Maps prepared by PhD candidates had more design shortcomings than other maps. Nevertheless, the number of problems with maps from other sources suggests that guidelines for including them in a dissertation could be useful. Our results suggest that PhD candidates use GIS software to design maps, but that there is room for improvement to guide users towards appropriate design choices. The results will help to plan support services for PhD candidates at universities.