Geoscience Communication
Geoscience Communication
GC
Articles | Volume 5, issue 1
Articles | Volume 5, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-83-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-83-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 5, issue 1
GC Insights
 | 
11 Mar 2022
GC Insights |  | 11 Mar 2022

GC Insights: Rainbow colour maps remain widely used in the geosciences

Richard M. Westaway

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Latest update: 27 Oct 2025
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Short summary
Rainbow and red–green colour schemes are widely used in scientific publications despite being known to be problematic, particularly to people with colour blindness. This study investigates to what extent such colour schemes are used in geoscience publications. Based on a desk survey of over 2500 papers from six journals between 2005 and 2020, it is found that over half of the published papers have maps or graphs with colour issues that are therefore potentially misleading to readers.
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