Once you’ve collected your data, calculated the mean values and standard deviations, you’ll want to display your hard work and tell a narrative using a graph.

Making a graph that is both full of data and easy to read can be challenging.

Here are a few tips:

Keep the graph as simple as possible – include as few lines or points as is required to get the data across. A good general rule is to try to minimize the amount of ink making up the graph. For example, graph averages and standard deviations in place of raw data (if appropriate).
Remove any gridlines and background shading; they’re useless.
Remove the figure legend – it is often not needed. If you have multiple lines or items on a graph that need to be labeled, insert text near the lines or items as labels.
Reduce the number of axis scale labels that are present – often only labeling 3 of the tick marks is enough to get the scale across.
Unless you are conveying information with color or depth, avoid using colors other than black and 3-D styles of presentation.
Remember that the point of a graph is to convey overall differences between different treatments quickly and easily. Thus, anything you can do to make the graph less cluttered and easier for your reader to understand is probably better.

Watch the video below to learn how to make a graph on Google Spreadsheets, recorded by Mesa College's biology professor, Dr. Paige Hu: