Behind the scenes: Visual abstracts in UEG Journal

Zsa Zsa Weerts is a gastroenterology and hepatology resident at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands and serves as a trainee editor for the UEG Journal under the supervision of Joost PH Drenth, editor-in-chief. She holds a PhD in Neurogastroenterology and Motility.

— We’ve all seen the visual abstracts from the UEG Journal on our website and social media platforms, could you tell us a bit more about the process of preparing the visual abstracts?

— Absolutely! UEG Journal has been offering authors a visual abstract alongside their article for promotional purposes for some time now, and it is great to see how popular these visual abstracts have become.

Creating the visuals is truly a collaborative effort, so let me start by introducing you to our team before we delve further into the creation process. Anna Burelli, a surgeon from Italy specialising in the pancreas, and I started working together with Susan Tyler in January 2023. Susan is a highly experienced medical illustrator and has been with the journal since 2022. Claudia Campani, a hepatologist from Italy, joined our team in October 2023, and we are very pleased to have her on board.

When an article submitted to UEG Journal is about to be accepted, we receive an email from the production office notifying us to start preparing a visual abstract. Anna, Claudia, or I then read the article and distill the most crucial information to be included in the abstract. This requires reflection on what truly is the most important message of the article and it’s a task I enjoy. We then provide Susan with some notes, images from the internet, or sketches illustrating how we envision the abstract.

— So tell, us what does Susan do with this information from the paper?

— Susan is truly remarkable and I admire her for her sharp ability to transform words and sketches into beautiful, medically accurate pieces of art. She is full of energy and ideas and often adds a little twist or unexpected element to the abstracts, making them even more engaging. After Susan creates the visual abstract based on our notes and sketches, Joost reviews all the visual abstracts and gives valuable feedback. We then proceed with the visual abstract as it is or make some adjustments before showing it to the authors for final approval before publication. We have created over 200 visual abstracts so far.

— How does the UEG Journal stand out from other journals here?

— Joost had a very clear vision for the visual abstracts of the UEG Journal from the start. He wants them to be visually attractive, featuring the bold style that Susan masters so beautifully, and he wants us to use minimal text to truly capture the essence of each article. The aim of the visual abstracts is to encourage readers to visit the website and read the complete article. Creating these visual abstracts serves the authors by making their articles stand out and by promoting them on social media platforms to spark interest and discussion. I don’t think any other medical journal does it quite like UEG Journal so we really stand out here.

Joost's guidance has been crucial to shaping both this UEG Journal style and content, and we are very pleased with how the abstracts have evolved over time. I am personally grateful to be part of this team to positively impact research dissemination in this way.