How to Add P-Values onto Basic GGPLOTS

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01 Jun

How to Add P-Values onto Basic GGPLOTS

Alboukadel

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FAQ

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This article describes the basics of how to compute and add p-values to basic ggplots using the rstatix and the ggpubr R packages.

You will learn how to:

  • Perform pairwise mean comparisons and add the p-values onto basic box plots and bar plots.
  • Display adjusted p-values and the significance levels onto the plots
  • Format the p-value labels
  • Specify manually the y position of p-value labels and shorten the width of the brackets

We will follow the steps below for adding significance levels onto a ggplot:

  1. Compute easily statistical tests (t_test() or wilcox_test()) using the rstatix package
  2. Auto-compute p-value label positions using the function add_xy_position() [in rstatix package].
  3. Add the p-values to the plot using the function stat_pvalue_manual() [in ggpubr package]. The following key options are illustrated in some of the examples:

    • The option bracket.nudge.y is used to move up or to move down the brackets.
    • The option step.increase is used to add more space between brackets.
    • The option vjust is used to vertically adjust the position of the p-values labels

Note that, in some situations, the p-value labels are partially hidden by the plot top border. In these cases, the ggplot2 function scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.1))) can be used to add more spaces between labels and the plot top border. The option mult = c(0, 0.1) indicates that 0% and 10% spaces are respectively added at the bottom and the top of the plot.



Contents:

Prerequisites

Make sure you have installed the following R packages:

  • ggpubr for creating easily publication ready plots
  • rstatix provides pipe-friendly R functions for easy statistical analyses.

Start by loading the following required packages:

library(ggpubr)
library(rstatix)

Data preparation

# Transform `dose` into factor variable
df <- ToothGrowth
df$dose <- as.factor(df$dose)
head(df, 3)
##    len supp dose
## 1  4.2   VC  0.5
## 2 11.5   VC  0.5
## 3  7.3   VC  0.5

Comparing two means

To compare the means of two groups, you can use either the function t_test() (parametric) or wilcox_test() (non-parametric). In the following example the t-test will be illustrated.

Compare two independent groups

Box plots with p-values

# Statistical test
stat.test <- df %>%
  t_test(len ~ supp) %>%
  add_significance()
stat.test
## # A tibble: 1 x 9
##   .y.   group1 group2    n1    n2 statistic    df      p p.signif
## * <chr> <chr>  <chr>  <int> <int>     <dbl> <dbl>  <dbl> <chr>   
## 1 len   OJ     VC        30    30      1.92  55.3 0.0606 ns
# Box plots with p-values
bxp <- ggboxplot(df, x = "supp", y = "len", fill = "#00AFBB")
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "supp")
bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p") +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.1)))

# Customize p-value labels using glue expression 
# https://github.com/tidyverse/glue
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(
  stat.test, label = "T-test, p = {p}",
  vjust = -1, bracket.nudge.y = 1
  ) +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.15)))

Grouped data

Group the data by the dose variable and then compare the levels of the supp variable.

# Statistical test
stat.test <- df %>%
  group_by(dose) %>%
  t_test(len ~ supp) %>%
  adjust_pvalue() %>%
  add_significance("p.adj")
stat.test
## # A tibble: 3 x 11
##   dose  .y.   group1 group2    n1    n2 statistic    df       p   p.adj p.adj.signif
## * <fct> <chr> <chr>  <chr>  <int> <int>     <dbl> <dbl>   <dbl>   <dbl> <chr>       
## 1 0.5   len   OJ     VC        10    10    3.17    15.0 0.00636 0.0127  *           
## 2 1     len   OJ     VC        10    10    4.03    15.4 0.00104 0.00312 **          
## 3 2     len   OJ     VC        10    10   -0.0461  14.0 0.964   0.964   ns
# Box plots with p-values
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "supp")
bxp <- ggboxplot(df, x = "supp", y = "len", fill = "#00AFBB",
                 facet.by = "dose")
bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj") +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.10)))

Show p-values if significant otherwise show ns

This section describes how to display p-values when they are significant and show “ns” when the p-values are not significant.

# Add a custom label column
# showing adjusted p-values if significant otherwise "ns" 
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "supp")
stat.test$custom.label <- ifelse(stat.test$p.adj <= 0.05, stat.test$p.adj, "ns")

# Visualization
bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "custom.label") +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.10)))

Format p-values using the accuracy option

The p-values will be formatted using “<” and “>”.

stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "supp")
stat.test$p.format <- p_format(
  stat.test$p.adj, accuracy = 0.01,
  leading.zero = FALSE
  )
# Visualization
bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.format") +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.10)))

Format p-values into scientific notation format

# Format p-values into scientific format
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "supp")
stat.test$p.scient <- format(stat.test$p.adj, scientific = TRUE)
bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.scient") +
   scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.15)))

Compare paired samples

# Statistical test
stat.test <- df %>%
  t_test(len ~ supp, paired = TRUE) %>%
  add_significance()
stat.test
## # A tibble: 1 x 9
##   .y.   group1 group2    n1    n2 statistic    df       p p.signif
## * <chr> <chr>  <chr>  <int> <int>     <dbl> <dbl>   <dbl> <chr>   
## 1 len   OJ     VC        30    30      3.30    29 0.00255 **
# Box plots with p-values
bxp <-  ggpaired(df, x = "supp", y = "len", fill = "#E7B800",
                 line.color = "gray", line.size = 0.4)
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "supp")
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.signif")

# Show the p-value combined with the significance level
bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "{p}{p.signif}") +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0.05, 0.10)))

Pairwise comparisons

Create simple plots

# Box plots
bxp <- ggboxplot(df, x = "dose", y = "len", fill = "dose", 
                 palette = c("#00AFBB", "#E7B800", "#FC4E07"))
bxp
# Bar plots showing mean +/- SD
bp <- ggbarplot(df, x = "dose", y = "len", add = "mean_sd", fill = "dose", 
                palette = c("#00AFBB", "#E7B800", "#FC4E07"))
bp

Statistical test

In the following example, we’ll perform T-test using the function t_test() [rstatix package]. It’s also possible to use the function wilcox_test().

stat.test <- df %>% t_test(len ~ dose)
stat.test
## # A tibble: 3 x 10
##   .y.   group1 group2    n1    n2 statistic    df        p    p.adj p.adj.signif
## * <chr> <chr>  <chr>  <int> <int>     <dbl> <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl> <chr>       
## 1 len   0.5    1         20    20     -6.48  38.0 1.27e- 7 2.54e- 7 ****        
## 2 len   0.5    2         20    20    -11.8   36.9 4.40e-14 1.32e-13 ****        
## 3 len   1      2         20    20     -4.90  37.1 1.91e- 5 1.91e- 5 ****

Create plots with significance levels

# Box plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "dose")
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif", tip.length = 0.01)

# Bar plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(fun = "mean_sd", x = "dose")
bp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif", tip.length = 0.01)

Specify manually the y position of p-value labels and shorten the width of the brackets:

bxp + 
  stat_pvalue_manual(
    stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif", tip.length = 0.01,
    y.position = c(35, 40, 35), bracket.shorten = 0.05
    )

Comparisons against reference groups

# Statistical tests
stat.test <- df %>% t_test(len ~ dose, ref.group = "0.5") 
stat.test
## # A tibble: 2 x 10
##   .y.   group1 group2    n1    n2 statistic    df        p    p.adj p.adj.signif
## * <chr> <chr>  <chr>  <int> <int>     <dbl> <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl> <chr>       
## 1 len   0.5    1         20    20     -6.48  38.0 1.27e- 7 1.27e- 7 ****        
## 2 len   0.5    2         20    20    -11.8   36.9 4.40e-14 8.80e-14 ****
# Box plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "dose")
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif", tip.length = 0.01)

# Bar plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(fun = "mean_sd", x = "dose")
bp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif", tip.length = 0.01)

Comparisons against all (basemean)

Each group is compared to all groups combined.

# Statistical tests
stat.test <- df %>% t_test(len ~ dose, ref.group = "all") 
stat.test
## # A tibble: 3 x 10
##   .y.   group1 group2    n1    n2 statistic    df           p      p.adj p.adj.signif
## * <chr> <chr>  <chr>  <int> <int>     <dbl> <dbl>       <dbl>      <dbl> <chr>       
## 1 len   all    0.5       60    20     5.82   56.4 0.000000290 0.00000087 ****        
## 2 len   all    1         60    20    -0.660  57.5 0.512       0.512      ns          
## 3 len   all    2         60    20    -5.61   66.5 0.000000425 0.00000087 ****
# Box plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "dose") 
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif")

# Manually specify the y position
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif", y.position = 35)

# Bar plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(fun = "mean_sd", x = "dose")
bp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, label = "p.adj.signif")

Comparisons against null: one-sample test

The one-sample test is used to compare the mean of one sample to a known standard (or theoretical / hypothetical) mean (mu). The default value of mu is zero.

# Statistical tests
stat.test <- df %>% 
  group_by(dose) %>%
  t_test(len ~ 1) %>%
  adjust_pvalue() %>%
  add_significance("p.adj")
stat.test
## # A tibble: 3 x 10
##   dose  .y.   group1 group2         n statistic    df        p    p.adj p.adj.signif
## * <fct> <chr> <chr>  <chr>      <int>     <dbl> <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl> <chr>       
## 1 0.5   len   1      null model    20      10.5    19 2.24e- 9 2.24e- 9 ****        
## 2 1     len   1      null model    20      20.0    19 3.22e-14 6.44e-14 ****        
## 3 2     len   1      null model    20      30.9    19 1.03e-17 3.09e-17 ****
# Box plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(x = "dose") 
bxp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, x = "dose", label = "p.adj.signif")
 # bar plot
stat.test <- stat.test %>% add_xy_position(fun = "mean_sd", x = "dose")
bp + stat_pvalue_manual(stat.test, x = "dose", label = "p.adj.signif")

Conclusion

This article introduces how to easily compute and add p-values onto ggplot, such as box plots and bar plots. See other related frequently questions: ggpubr FAQ.



 
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Comments ( 10 )

  • Josue Curto Navarro
    28 Jun 2020

    Hi Dr. Kassambara,

    Inside the section Pairwise comparisons, subsection statistical tests, if you check the corrected p-values one them it’s the same one as the uncorrected one (p-value: 1.91e- 5 and corrected p-value: 1.91e- 5 in the group 1 -> 1 vs group 2 -> 2 comparison). How were this corrections calculated? Initially I thought it might be Bonferroni correction but the only one in the same example that seems to follow the correction is the group 1 -> 0.5 vs group 2 -> 2 comparison (p-value: 4.40e-14 ajdusted p-value: (4.40e-14 multiplied by 3 =)1.32e-13. But this is just one example. I’ve seen the same issue in other examples in this same page that p-value and adjusted p-value are the same. Am I missing something? How is the adjusted p-value calculated in all the above examples?

    Thanks a lot for you hard work. I am a big follower of your webpage. Please keep on doing this great work!

    Best,

    Josue

    Reply
    • Kassambara
      28 Jun 2020

      Thank you for your comment and the positive feedback. The default method used to adjust the p-values is the Holm method. P-values are adjusted using the standard R base function p.adjust(); for example:

      # Holm
p.adjust(c(1.27e-7, 4.40e-14, 1.91e-5), method = "holm")
#> [1] 2.54e-07 1.32e-13 1.91e-05
# Bonferroni
p.adjust(c(1.27e-7, 4.40e-14, 1.91e-5), method = "bonferroni")
#> [1] 3.81e-07 1.32e-13 5.73e-05

      You can specify the p-value adjustment method in the function t_test() [rstatix package] as follow:

      library(rstatix)
df <- ToothGrowth
df$dose <- as.factor(df$dose)
# Default p adjust method = holm
df %>% 
  t_test(len ~ dose, p.adjust.method = "holm") %>%
  select(group1, group2, p, p.adj)
#> # A tibble: 3 x 4
#>   group1 group2        p    p.adj
#>   <chr>  <chr>     <dbl>    <dbl>
#> 1 0.5    1      1.27e- 7 2.54e- 7
#> 2 0.5    2      4.40e-14 1.32e-13
#> 3 1      2      1.91e- 5 1.91e- 5

# Bonferroni adjustment method
df %>% t_test(len ~ dose, p.adjust.method = "bonferroni") %>%
  select(group1, group2, p, p.adj)
#> # A tibble: 3 x 4
#>   group1 group2        p    p.adj
#>   <chr>  <chr>     <dbl>    <dbl>
#> 1 0.5    1      1.27e- 7 3.81e- 7
#> 2 0.5    2      4.40e-14 1.32e-13
#> 3 1      2      1.91e- 5 5.73e- 5
      Reply
  • Raghunandan Alugubelli
    30 Jun 2020

    Hi Dr. Kassambara,

    I am a follower of your page. Kudos to you for all the great work.
    I am working with kruskal wallis test using ggpubr package for violin plots. I have a scientific p value of 6.4e-09, but i would like to show case a simplified p value in this case. Any idea how can i simplify the p value (ex: P<0.0001)?
    Thank you

    Reply
  • Berman
    29 Aug 2020

    Hi Dr. Kassambara,

    First, thanks for everything. This site is amazing for me.Very helpful and I recommend to all my friends.
    I have a problem with ANOVA values for ggplot.
    I want to use ” Within Subject” values for ggplot.. But I couldnt add this value.. Is there any way to add “Within subject value” for this plot?

    For adding this, I need to write 3rd row’s value (Region) for my plot..Also I tried to find another way to add this value, but “paired t test and others” gives me different values..(p =0.021)

    For example; when I extract the “between= (Group)” from anova_test()….it gives me totally different results ( DFn=1, DFd= 20, F= 6.306, p=0.021, ges=0.038)

    when I try to use: pairwise_t_test() which gives me (p=0,021) again; but in SPSS “pairwise comp” section is also shows “0,24” which is same in ANOVA table. Isnt it interesting for R ? (shows different value)

    Do you know why is this happening ? What can I do for this problem?
    I just thought that ANOVA is using F-tests, maybe it is happening because of F-test , I do not know.
    Could you help me?
    It would be great for me if you can help.

    #######################################

    ANOVA Table (type III tests)

    Effect DFn DFd SSn SSd F p p<.05 ges
    1 (Intercept) 1 19 12.157 0.726 318.292 0.000000000000251 * 0.936
    2 Group 1 19 0.028 0.726 0.735 0.402000000000000 0.033
    3 Region 1 19 0.033 0.104 5.975 0.024000000000000 * 0.038
    4 Group:Region 1 19 0.003 0.104 0.545 0.470000000000000 0.004
    ###################################################

    Reply
    • Kassambara
      30 Aug 2020

      Hi, thank you for the positive feedback, highly appreciated.

      Can you please clarify your ANOVA experimental design?

      Is it a one-way repeated measure ANOVA (one within-subjects variable)? If yes, then make sure you have read this: Repeated Measures ANOVA in R Is it a two-way mixed- ANOVA (one within-subjects + on-between subject variables)? If yes, then make sure you have read this: Mixed ANOVA in R

      If you still have the issue, please send to me a reproducible R code with a demo data, so that I can help efficiently.

      Reply
      • Berman
        30 Aug 2020
        library(rstatix)
# Demo data
hip <- data.frame(
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE,
                id = c(1L,2L,3L,4L,5L,6L,7L,8L,
                       9L,10L,11L,12L,13L,14L,15L,16L,17L,18L,19L,
                       20L,21L),
             Group = c("LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW",
                       "LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW","HIGH","HIGH",
                       "HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH",
                       "HIGH","HIGH"),
       Non_Fatigue = c(0.54,0.35,0.69,0.6,0.5,
                       0.56,0.72,0.3,0.56,0.63,0.4,0.46,0.35,0.7,0.54,
                       0.46,0.35,0.39,0.62,0.52,0.45),
           Fatigue = c(0.6,0.38,0.82,0.5,0.51,
                       0.68,0.73,0.38,0.7,0.54,0.62,0.37,0.32,0.85,0.73,
                       0.49,0.56,0.29,0.79,0.54,0.48)
)

####R

hip <- gather(key = "Condition", value = "Velocity", Non_Fatigue,Fatigue) %>%
  convert_as_factor(id, Condition)


###Skipped Calculations#####

bxp <- ggboxplot(hip, x = "Condition", y = "Velocity",
                 color = "Black", palette = "jco", add="point")

bxp         
###! Color= "Black", because I just wanna show "within subject" differences ("Condition" in my dataset) (just 2 coloums, because, dont have sig. p value in ANOVA)

####ANOVA###
res.aov <- anova_test (data = hip, dv = Velocity, wid = id, between = Group, within = Condition)

###Output####
#ANOVA Table (type III tests)

#Effect DFn DFd F p p%
pairwise_t_test(
Velocity ~ Condition, paired = TRUE,
p.adjust.method = “none”)

#####output(PAIRWISE T_TEST)######
Velocity Fatigue Non_Fatigue 21 21 2.51 20 Pvalue= 0.021 0.021 * (NOW condition p value p=0.021))! however, in ANOVA (p=0.024)!

#########VISIUAL REPORT######
pwc % add_xy_position(x = “Condition”)
bxp +
stat_pvalue_manual(pwc, tip.length = 0.02, hide.ns = F) +
labs(title = “Hip (Within_Subject)”,subtitle = get_test_label(res.aov, detailed = T, description = “Two-Way Mixed Anova”, p.col = “p.adj”, correction = “HF”)) +
theme(plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5, size = 10), plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 11))

        I tired your way “filter” but in my PWC test also shows p=0,021), it doesnt worked for me, but I want to show “Condition” section in ANOVA table as a “SUBTITLE” in visiual report((((F(1,19)= 5.975, p= 0.024 eta= 0.038.))In short I just want to show as a subtitle in report “Conditon ANova Values” but couldnt filter, I tried it too.

        Thank you very much in advance for your time

        Reply
        • Kassambara
          30 Aug 2020

          The following R code should work:

          library(rstatix)
library(ggpubr)

# Demo data
hip <- data.frame(
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE,
                id = c(1L,2L,3L,4L,5L,6L,7L,8L,
                       9L,10L,11L,12L,13L,14L,15L,16L,17L,18L,19L,
                       20L,21L),
             Group = c("LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW",
                       "LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW","LOW","HIGH","HIGH",
                       "HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH","HIGH",
                       "HIGH","HIGH"),
       Non_Fatigue = c(0.54,0.35,0.69,0.6,0.5,
                       0.56,0.72,0.3,0.56,0.63,0.4,0.46,0.35,0.7,0.54,
                       0.46,0.35,0.39,0.62,0.52,0.45),
           Fatigue = c(0.6,0.38,0.82,0.5,0.51,
                       0.68,0.73,0.38,0.7,0.54,0.62,0.37,0.32,0.85,0.73,
                       0.49,0.56,0.29,0.79,0.54,0.48)
)

# Transform data into long format
hip <- hip %>%
  gather(key = "Condition", value = "Velocity", Non_Fatigue, Fatigue) %>%
  convert_as_factor(id, Condition)

# Create boxplot and highlight paired data points
bxp <- ggpaired(
  hip, x = "Condition", y = "Velocity", id = "id",
  line.color = "gray", linetype = "dashed"
  )

# Compute ANOVA
res.aov <- anova_test (data = hip, dv = Velocity, wid = id, between = Group, within = Condition)
res.aov
          ## ANOVA Table (type III tests)
## 
##            Effect DFn DFd     F     p p<.05   ges
## 1           Group   1  19 0.735 0.402       0.033
## 2       Condition   1  19 5.975 0.024     * 0.038
## 3 Group:Condition   1  19 0.545 0.470       0.004
          # Visual report
# Show the report for the within-subject variable, here "Condition"
# Corresponding to the row number 2 in the ANOVA table output
bxp +
  labs(subtitle = get_test_label(res.aov, row = 2, detailed = TRUE))

          plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-1

          Reply
          • Berman
            30 Aug 2020

            labs(subtitle = get_test_label(res.aov, row = 2, detailed = TRUE))……so, row=2 huh :)))

            of course it works!
            Dashed is good idea by the way
            Thank you very much..

  • Berman
    30 Aug 2020

    labs(subtitle = get_test_label(res.aov, row = 2, detailed = TRUE))……so, row=2 huh :)))

    of course it works!
    Dashed is good idea by the way
    Thank you very much..

    Reply
  • Arkadiusz
    24 Aug 2021

    Dear Kassambara,
    Thanks for preparing such a great ggplot extension.
    I have a little problem with setting the p-value to display in a ggline plot.
    I would like to have control over the number of digits after the decimal point, but I have the impression that these values are displayed randomly, i.e. sometimes 2 digits appear, sometimes 3, sometimes 4 digits after the decimal point. Is there any way to control this?
    Below is my code:
    stat.test %
    group_by (SET)%>%
    tukey_hsd (speed_avg ~ Protocol)%>%
    adjust_pvalue (method = “bonferroni”)%>%
    add_significance (“p.adj”)
    stat.test % add_xy_position (x = “SET”, fun = “mean_ci”, dodge = 0.5)
    stat.test $ p.format <- p_format (stat.test $ p.adj, accuracy = 0.001)
    Thank you in advance for any help.

    Reply

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