A Survey on Annotations in Information Visualization: Empirical Studies, Applications and Challenges
Md Dilshadur Rahman, Bhavana Doppalapudi, Ghulam Jilani Quadri, Paul Rosen
Abstract
Annotations are widely used in information visualization to guide attention, clarify patterns, and support interpretation. We present a comprehensive survey of 191 research articles describing empirical studies, tools, techniques, and systems that incorporate annotations across various visualization contexts. Based on a structured analysis, we characterize annotations by their types, generation methods, and targets, and examine their use across four primary application domains: user engagement, storytelling, collaboration, and exploratory data analysis. We also discuss key trends, practical challenges, and open research directions. These findings offer a foundation for designing more effective annotation systems and advancing future research on annotation in visualization.