The visual or graphical abstract transforms scientific information into a graphic format that can be distributed promptly in social media. Simply put, it is a visual summary of information contained in the abstract of a manuscript. Visual abstracts capitalize on humans' inherent ability to rapidly process and retain visual as opposed to textual information. In a digital age, in which consumers of information are faced with an exponentially growing body of scientific research, the main role of visual abstracts is to help the reader preview the study to decide whether or not to pursue the full article. In addition, visual abstracts can aid in highlighting studies and facilitating discussion.

Visual abstracts are well suited for sharing via social media. Saved as a picture file, they are shared with an accompanying link to the associated journal article. Visual abstracts are often repurposed as slides in presentations and talks, and as images to populate blog posts. The visual abstract has emerged as an important media to promote a study in social media.

It is important to note that similar to text abstracts, the visual abstract is not meant to replace the full-text article. Because it only provides highlights of the study, its purpose is to provide the reader with a glimpse of the study to help him or her decide if the full article is worth reading, and to facilitate discussion of the study.