diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 1ce588d1..00cd6cae 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ URL: https://github.com/amices/ggmice, https://amices.org/,
     https://amices.org/ggmice/
 BugReports: https://github.com/amices/ggmice
 Imports: 
+    broom,
     cli,
     dplyr,
     ggplot2,
diff --git a/R/plot_variance.R b/R/plot_variance.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f332944d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/plot_variance.R
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+#' Plot the scaled between imputation variance for every cell as a heatmap
+#'
+#' This function plots the cell-level between imputation variance. The function
+#' scales the variances column-wise, without centering cf. `base::scale(center = FALSE)`
+#' and plots the data image as a heatmap. Darker red cells indicate more variance,
+#' lighter cells indicate less variance. White cells represent observed cells or unobserved cells with zero between
+#' imputation variance.
+#'
+#' @param data A multiply imputed object of class [`mice::mids`] or [`mice::mira`].
+#' @param grid Logical indicating whether grid lines should be displayed.
+#'
+#' @return An object of class `ggplot`.
+#' @examples
+#' imp <- mice::mice(mice::nhanes, printFlag = FALSE)
+#' plot_variance(imp)
+#' @export
+plot_variance <- function(data, grid = TRUE) {
+  if (mice::is.mids(data)) {
+    if (data$m < 2) {
+      stop("The between inmputation variance cannot be computed if there are fewer than two imputations (m < 2).")
+    }} else if (mice::is.mira(data)) {
+      if(length(data$analyses) < 2) {
+        stop("The between inmputation variance cannot be computed if there are fewer than two imputations (m < 2).")
+      }} else {
+        if (!is.list(data)) stop("Argument 'data' not a list", call. = FALSE)
+        data <- mice::as.mira(data)
+        # stop(
+        #   "Input is not a Multiply Imputed Data Set of class `mids`/ `mira`. \n
+        #  Perhaps function mice::as.mids() can be of use?")
+      }
+  if (grid) {
+    gridcol <- "black"
+  } else {
+    gridcol <- NA
+  }
+
+  if (mice::is.mids(data)) {
+    long <- mice::complete(data, "long")  %>%
+      dplyr::mutate(dplyr::across(where(is.factor), as.numeric)) %>%
+      dplyr::select(-.imp) %>%
+      dplyr::group_by(.id) %>%
+      dplyr::summarise(dplyr::across(dplyr::everything(),  stats::var)) %>%
+      dplyr::ungroup() %>%
+      dplyr::mutate(dplyr::across(.cols = -.id, ~ scale_above_zero(.))) %>%
+      tidyr::pivot_longer(cols = -.id)
+
+    legend <- "Imputation variability*\n "
+    caption <- "*scaled cell-level between imputation variance"
+
+    gg <-
+      ggplot2::ggplot(long, ggplot2::aes(name, .id, fill = value)) +
+      ggplot2::geom_tile(color = gridcol) +
+      ggplot2::scale_fill_gradient(low = "white", high = mice::mdc(2)) +
+      ggplot2::labs(
+        x = "Column name",
+        y = "Row number",
+        fill = legend,
+        caption = caption
+      ) +
+      ggplot2::scale_x_discrete(position = "top", expand = c(0, 0)) +
+      ggplot2::scale_y_continuous(trans = "reverse", expand = c(0, 0)) +
+      theme_minimice()
+  }
+
+  if (mice::is.mira(data)) {
+    dv <- data[["analyses"]][[1]][["terms"]][[2]]
+    long <- purrr::map_dfr(1:length(data$analyses), ~ {
+      broom::augment(data$analyses[[.x]])
+    }, .id="m") %>%
+      ### extract row numbers :/ :/ :/
+      dplyr::mutate(row = rep(1:(nrow(.)/dplyr::n_distinct(m)),
+                              dplyr::n_distinct(m))) %>%
+      tidyr::pivot_wider(id_cols = row, names_from = m,
+                         values_from = c(dv, .fitted, .resid)) %>%
+      dplyr::rowwise() %>%
+      dplyr::summarize(
+        ### extract observed dat :/ :/ :/
+        observed = ifelse(dplyr::n_distinct(dplyr::c_across(
+          dplyr::starts_with(rlang::as_string(dv))))==1, get(paste0(dv,"_1")), NA),
+        avg = mean(dplyr::c_across(dplyr::starts_with(".fitted"))),
+        vrn = stats::var(dplyr::c_across(dplyr::starts_with(".fitted")))
+      )
+
+    legend <- "Imputation variability*\n "
+    caption <-
+      "*absolute prediction-level between imputation variance"
+    gg <- ggplot2::ggplot(long, ggplot2::aes(x = avg, y = observed, fill = vrn, size = vrn)) +
+      ggplot2::geom_point(color = gridcol, shape = 21) +
+      ggplot2::scale_fill_gradient(low = "white", high = mice::mdc(2), guide = "legend") +
+      ggplot2::labs(
+        x = paste("Average predicted", dv),
+        y = paste("Observed", dv),
+        fill = legend,
+        caption = caption
+      ) +
+      ggplot2::guides(size = FALSE, fill = "colorbar") +
+      theme_minimice()
+  }
+
+  gg <-
+    gg + ggplot2::theme(panel.border = ggplot2::element_rect(fill = NA))
+
+
+  # return the ggplot object
+  return(gg)
+}
+
+# function to scale only non-zero values without centering
+scale_above_zero <- function(x) {
+  x <- as.matrix(x)
+  x[x != 0] <- scale(x[x != 0], center = FALSE)
+  return(x)
+}
+
diff --git a/man/plot_variance.Rd b/man/plot_variance.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1f245fca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/plot_variance.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/plot_variance.R
+\name{plot_variance}
+\alias{plot_variance}
+\title{Plot the scaled between imputation variance for every cell as a heatmap}
+\usage{
+plot_variance(data, grid = TRUE)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{data}{A multiply imputed object of class \code{\link[mice:mids-class]{mice::mids}} or \code{\link[mice:mira-class]{mice::mira}}.}
+
+\item{grid}{Logical indicating whether grid lines should be displayed.}
+}
+\value{
+An object of class \code{ggplot}.
+}
+\description{
+This function plots the cell-level between imputation variance. The function
+scales the variances column-wise, without centering cf. \code{base::scale(center = FALSE)}
+and plots the data image as a heatmap. Darker red cells indicate more variance,
+lighter cells indicate less variance. White cells represent observed cells or unobserved cells with zero between
+imputation variance.
+}
+\examples{
+imp <- mice::mice(mice::nhanes, printFlag = FALSE)
+plot_variance(imp)
+}