Vissual Argument

Science communication · Social sciences

Vissual
Argument

Complex research told for more readers, with its evidence and its limits in view.

Question Evidence Claim Limits

What a visual argument is

A visual argument tells a piece of research as a story: it starts from a question, proposes an answer and shows the evidence behind it. It uses analogies and familiar forms to make complex work legible, without hiding what the data cannot support.

Infographic

Summarises facts to be read at a glance.

Data visualisation

Shows patterns in data and leaves the interpretation to the reader.

Visual argument

Makes a claim, shows its evidence and states its limits. Data and methods are published so that others can check it.

Arguments

Each argument keeps its own identity, suited to its subject and its readers.

Origin

Vissual Argument is an author-led, evolving practice for communicating complex research through interactive visual forms. It brings an argument’s evidence and limits into view for readers beyond its usual specialist audience.

It draws on data-led explanatory visual storytelling, including work such as The Pudding, and explores how that approach may inform conceptual and empirical research in the social sciences. It is an exploratory effort.

It starts from a conviction: science should be open. Telling an academic debate through a story, an analogy or a familiar object lets more people read it, discuss it and question it.

Author

Adela Santos Domínguez

  • Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute (2025–2026)
  • Researcher «A», Centre for Legal and Parliamentary Studies (CEDIP), Mexican Chamber of Deputies

Links