Cartographic Standards — Vika Intelligence Figure Quality Protocol | Vika Group
Cartographic Standards
The quality assurance protocol governing every map and figure produced for the Vika Intelligence library.
Purpose
This protocol governs the production and approval of every map, figure, and cartographic illustration published in the Vika Intelligence library.
A figure in an institutional research publication is not decoration. It is an argument made visually. It must be as rigorous as the text it accompanies — and it must be capable of being understood independently of that text.
The purpose of this protocol is to define a reusable quality standard that applies to every future figure, not merely to the figure that prompted it. A standard written after a single figure is reviewed is more durable than a standard written before any figure exists.
This protocol is a companion document to the Editorial Charter and the Publication Governance Framework. Where those documents are silent on cartographic matters, this protocol governs.
Scope
This protocol applies to all figures produced for Vika Intelligence publications, including:
- Geographic maps showing country outlines, provincial boundaries, or regional territories.
- Infrastructure maps showing rail corridors, road networks, port facilities, or energy transmission routes.
- Industrial maps showing mine locations, processing facilities, or economic zones.
- Composite figures combining two or more of the above.
- Schematic diagrams that use spatial positioning to convey analytical relationships.
It does not apply to data charts, financial tables, or non-spatial diagrams, which are governed by the Editorial Charter's general quality gates.
The Five-Stage Review
Every figure passes through five sequential review stages before it is approved for publication. A figure that fails any stage is revised and re-reviewed from that stage. It is not approved until all five stages are passed.
Stage 1: Rendering check
All layers are visible. No assets are missing. The figure renders correctly at the intended display size. Projection arithmetic is verified: coordinates are in signed decimal degrees, southern hemisphere latitudes are negative, and projected pixel positions are checked against known reference points.
Stage 2: Hierarchy check
Visual weight is distributed in proportion to analytical importance. Regional headings dominate city labels. City labels dominate mine labels. The transport network is the dominant linear feature. No secondary element competes visually with a primary element. The label hierarchy follows the cartographic convention: region > province > transport > settlement > facility.
Stage 3: Collision check
No label overlaps another label. No label obscures a symbol. No label sits on a railway or border line. Leader lines are used only where a label cannot be placed in clear space by offset adjustment alone. Leader lines are thin (stroke weight ≤ 0.6) and do not cross other labels or symbols. Zone and region labels occupy the interior of the territory they name — they do not float above the territory as headings competing with adjacent region labels.
Stage 4: Readability check
The figure can be understood at a glance. The primary analytical message — the argument the figure is making — is immediately obvious without reference to the accompanying text. The caption states the figure number, a descriptive title using a colon after the figure identifier, and the key analytical layers shown. The legend is sized as supporting information, not as a primary visual element: it occupies no more than 15% of the figure area and is positioned so that it does not compete with the map content.
Stage 5: Final freeze
If all four preceding stages are passed, the figure is marked "Approved for publication." The approval is recorded in the Editorial Record alongside the publication it accompanies. Once approved, the figure is not revised unless a factual or cartographic error is subsequently identified. Aesthetic preferences expressed after approval do not constitute grounds for revision.
Cartographic Conventions
The following conventions apply to all figures produced under this protocol. They are not preferences — they are the standard.
Signed decimal degrees throughout. Southern hemisphere latitudes are negative. Western hemisphere longitudes are negative. No degree-minute-second notation in source data.
Region > province > transport infrastructure > principal settlement > secondary settlement > industrial facility. Each tier is visually subordinate to the tier above it. Font size, opacity, and letter-spacing are the primary tools for establishing hierarchy — not colour alone.
Labels for named zones, provinces, or regions are placed inside the territory they name, not above it. A label placed above a zone boundary competes with adjacent region labels. A label placed inside the zone reads as a fill label — the standard cartographic convention for named territories.
Leader lines are used only when a label cannot be placed in clear space by offset adjustment. They are drawn at stroke weight 0.6 or less, at reduced opacity (≤ 0.50), and must not cross other labels, symbols, or primary infrastructure lines.
The legend is supporting information. It is scaled so that the map content is the primary visual element. A legend that dominates the upper corner of a figure has been sized incorrectly. The standard scale is approximately 70–80% of the default rendered size.
Figure captions follow the format: "Figure [N]. [Descriptive title]: [list of principal layers shown]." A colon separates the figure title from the layer list. This is the convention used in institutional publications from development finance institutions, multilateral agencies, and academic geography journals.
Country fills are present to orient the reader, not to assert territorial claims. They are rendered at reduced opacity (≤ 0.65) so that the analytical layers — infrastructure, industrial zones, settlements — read as the primary content. A country fill that competes visually with the infrastructure network has been rendered at excessive opacity.
Revision After Approval
A figure approved under this protocol is not revised after publication except in the following circumstances:
- A factual error is identified: a settlement, mine, or infrastructure feature is incorrectly positioned, labelled, or attributed.
- A cartographic error is identified: a projection error, coordinate sign error, or layer rendering failure that materially misrepresents the geography.
- A primary source is corrected or superseded and the figure reflects the superseded information.
Aesthetic preferences, stylistic suggestions, or requests for minor visual refinement expressed after approval do not constitute grounds for revision. The purpose of the approval stage is to make the figure final.
Where a revision is made under this protocol, the revision is recorded in the Editorial Record alongside the original approval entry. The figure version number is incremented in accordance with the Publication Governance Framework.
Relationship to the Editorial Charter
This protocol implements the Editorial Charter's quality gate requirement as it applies to figures. The Editorial Charter requires that every publication satisfies its eight quality gates before issuance. This protocol defines what those gates mean for cartographic content.
A figure that passes all five stages of this protocol is deemed to have satisfied the Editorial Charter's quality requirements for visual content. A figure that has not been reviewed under this protocol has not satisfied those requirements, regardless of its visual quality.
Where this protocol and the Editorial Charter conflict, the Editorial Charter governs on matters of editorial standard. This protocol governs on matters of cartographic practice.
Constitutional layer
This document is part of the Vika Intelligence constitutional layer.