Meta-analysis · 2 panels

Multi-panel figure: forest and funnel plot

A two-panel meta-analysis figure: the BCG vaccine forest plot across the full width (A) and its funnel plot in a single-column cell below (B), at 174 mm.

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VaccinatedNot vaccinatedStudyEventsTotalEventsTotalWeightRR [95% CI]Aronson 19484123111395.0%0.41 [0.13, 1.26]Ferguson & Simes 19496306293036.3%0.20 [0.09, 0.49]Rosenthal 19603231112204.4%0.26 [0.07, 0.92]Hart & Sutherland 19776213,59824812,8679.7%0.24 [0.18, 0.31]Frimodt-Moller 1973335,069475,8088.9%0.80 [0.52, 1.25]Stein & Aronson 19531801,5413721,45110.1%0.46 [0.39, 0.54]Vandiviere 197382,545106296.0%0.20 [0.08, 0.50]TPT Madras 198050588,39149988,39110.2%1.01 [0.89, 1.14]Coetzee & Berjak 1968297,499457,2778.7%0.63 [0.39, 1.00]Rosenthal 1961171,716651,6658.4%0.25 [0.15, 0.43]Comstock 197418650,63414127,3389.9%0.71 [0.57, 0.89]Comstock & Webster 196952,49832,3413.8%1.56 [0.37, 6.53]Comstock 19762716,9132917,8548.4%0.98 [0.58, 1.66]Total (95% CI)1,065191,0641,510166,283100.0%0.49 [0.34, 0.70]0.050.21520Favours vaccineFavours controlHeterogeneity: Tau² = 0.31; Chi² = 152.23, df = 12 (P < 0.001); I² = 92%Test for overall effect: Z = 4.00 (P < 0.001)0.10.20.51250.00.20.40.60.8Standard errorRisk ratio (log scale)StudiesImputed studies (trim and fill)Summary estimateAdjusted estimate (trim and fill)P value:≥ 0.100.05–0.100.01–0.05< 0.01Egger’s test: bias = -2.11, t = -1.40, df = 11, P = 0.189Begg’s test: Kendall’s tau = 0.026, P = 0.952Trim and fill: 1 study imputed on the right; adjustedRR 0.52 [0.37, 0.73]AB
A, forest plot of 13 BCG vaccine trials; B, funnel plot of the same trials. Each panel was made at the width it occupies.

About this example

Reviews usually report the pooled estimate and the check for small-study effects together. A forest plot needs the full page width for its study labels and numbers, while a funnel plot reads well at single-column width, so the arrangement “1,2” gives the forest plot its own row and puts the funnel plot in half of the second row.

Both panels come from CleanFigure’s own tools and were drawn at their cell widths (174 mm and 85.5 mm). Because nothing was scaled after drawing, their text is the same size as the rest of the figure; the checks under the figure would say so if a panel had been shrunk.

The data

Panel AForest plot (BCG trials)
Panel BFunnel plot (BCG trials)

Each panel was made in its own CleanFigure tool at the width of its cell, so the text keeps its size. Open the example, replace the data with your own, and export the figure as SVG, PDF, PNG or TIFF.

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