Graphics (e.g., figures and charts) are ubiquitous in scientific papers, yet separating graphics from text increases cognitive load in understanding text-graphic connections. Research has found that word-scale graphics, or visual embellishments at typographic size, can augment original text, making it more expressive and easier to understand. However, whether, if so, how scientific papers adopt word-scale graphics for scholarly communication remains unclear. To address this gap, we conducted a corpus study reviewing 909 word-scale graphics extracted from 126,797 scientific papers. Through analysis, we propose a framework that characterizes where (positioning), why (communicative function), and how (visual representation) authors apply word-scale graphics in scientific papers. Our findings reveal that word-scale graphics are rarely used, that icons dominate visual representation, and that visual representation connects with communicative function (e.g., using quantitative graphs for data annotation). We further discuss opportunities to enhance scholarly communication with word-scale graphics through technical and administrative innovations.

翻译：图形（如图表和图示）在科学论文中无处不在，然而将图形与文本分离会增加理解文本与图形关联的认知负荷。研究发现，字级图形（即排版尺寸的可视化修饰元素）能够增强原始文本的表达力，使其更具表现力且更易于理解。然而，科学论文是否、以及在何种程度上采用字级图形进行学术交流，其具体方式尚不明确。为填补这一空白，我们开展了一项语料库研究，分析了从126,797篇科学论文中提取的909个字符级图形。通过分析，我们提出了一个框架，用于描述作者在科学论文中应用字级图形的位置（定位）、目的（交流功能）及方式（视觉呈现）。研究发现表明：字级图形使用频率极低；图标在视觉呈现中占主导地位；视觉呈现与交流功能密切相关（例如使用量化图表进行数据标注）。我们进一步探讨了通过技术与制度创新，利用字级图形增强学术交流的潜在机遇。