Survey of Surveys (SoS) ‐ Mapping The Landscape of Survey Papers in Information Visualization

Abstract

Information visualization as a field is growing rapidly in popularity since the first information visualization conference in 1995. However, as a consequence of its growth, it is increasingly difficult to follow the growing body of literature within the field. Survey papers and literature reviews are valuable tools for managing the great volume of previously published research papers, and the quantity of survey papers in visualization has reached a critical mass. To this end, this survey paper takes a quantum step forward by surveying and classifying literature survey papers in order to help researchers understand the current landscape of Information Visualization. It is, to our knowledge, the first survey of survey papers (SoS) in Information Visualization. This paper classifies survey papers into natural topic clusters which enables readers to find relevant literature and develops the first classification of classifications. The paper also enables researchers to identify both mature and less developed research directions as well as identify future directions. It is a valuable resource for both newcomers and experienced researchers in and outside the field of Information Visualization and Visual Analytics.

A Survey of Information Visualization Books

“…The full lists of subtopics are: interaction, human perception and cognition, aesthetics, profiles of prominent people within the subject and research directions. Our chapter topic classification mirrors the information visualization pipeline from Card's classic book [CMS99] and the topic classification used in a survey of surveys (SoS) [ML17].…”

“…McNabb and Laramee present an SoS [ML17] which classifies over 80 survey papers within the information visualization and visual analytics domains. Alharbi et al [AAM*17] also present an SoS of molecular visualization within the computational biology field.…”

“…Citations in survey papers, ordered by topic, before and after 2010, courtesy of McNabb and Laramee [ML17], highlighting that the majority of research paper citations predate 2010.…”

Feature-Rich, GPU-Assisted Scatterplots for Millions of Call Events

“…For all related research literature, we first consult a survey of surveys in information visualization by McNabb and Laramee [9] and a survey of information visualization books by Rees and Laramee [10]. Friendly and Denis [11] show that the scatterplot has a history dating back to the 17th century, however there are limitations to the visual design when plotting large volumes of data.…”

Dynamic Choropleth Maps – Using Amalgamation to Increase Area Perceivability

“…We examine three main branches of related work which include zooming, choropleth maps, and cartographic generalization. The Survey of Surveys for information visualization [32] identifies one related survey paper on clutter reduction, no related surveys on the topic of choropleths or surveys focused on geo-spatial zooming, and one survey focused on hierarchical aggregation [18]. Ellis and Dix provide a taxonomy of clutter reduction for information visualization and review 11 clutter reduction techniques including clustering, space-filling, and animation [17].…”