The anatomy and variations of box plots

The figure is reproduced from Potter, K. 2006, Methods for presenting statistical information: the box plot.
Figure above shows the anatomy of a box plot in a. The variations of box plots are aligned in b-e with the same anatomical information. b is also known as the range-bar chart, c is a modified box plot, dis the the quartile plot, and e is the abbreviated box plot.In other variations of box plots, outliers are shown as dots or stars as in c. A mathematical formula may be used to calculate the minimum and maximum values to avoid outliers influencing the appearance of the box plot. The lengths of the different parts of box plots provide information about the spread and reflect the bias in the data (panel a). An effective use of box plot is to communicate a single estimate such as the mean estimate of body weight [Lipkus and Hollands 1999]