The committee consisting of Anita Gohdes (Hertie School), Nils W. Metternich (University College London), and Yuri Zhukov (Georgetown University) has awarded the eleventh JPR Best Visualization Award to
Omar García-Ponce (George Washington University), Lauren E Young (UC Davis), and Thomas Zeitzoff (American University).
The prize-winning publication is a research article titled ‘Anger and support for retribution in Mexico’s drug war' and was published in Journal of Peace Research 60(2): 274–290. The article focuses on the impact of criminal violence on attitudes towards justice and the rule of law. The main argument is that anger as a result of experiencing criminal violence increases citizens’ preferences for harsher punishment, even if this violates current laws. The article provides support for this argument using observational and experimental studies. The article uses a range of graphs, to visualize the research puzzle (Figure 1), independent variable (Figure 2), survey responses (Figure 3), and treatment effects (Figures 5-6). Figures in color effectively make use color gradients that enable the complete display of information in greyscale print. Figures generally use captions and labels effectively to ensure that the visualization of information is self-sufficient and independently interpretable. Figure 2 is a good example, where the article engages the reader to understand the distribution of data on different dimensions by effectively using color, multiple plotting types (boxplots and dotplots), and labels in a visually appealing interplay. The committee found that the use of excellent visualizations, throughout the article, demonstrates our discipline’s state of the art and therefore Omar García-Ponce, Lauren E Young, and Thomas Zeitzoff are deserving winners of this year's JPR Best Visualization Award. The award is USD 500.
