Characteristics of a Good Scientific Poster

Dr. Gail P. Taylor

University of Texas at San Antonio

Rev 8/2004

AcknowledgementsABRCMS poster Guidelines. http://www.abrcms.org/posterguidelines.aspColin Purrington: Advice for designing scientific posters. http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htmKnowledge Management in Health Services; HSERV 590A: Creating a Poster Using MS PowerPoint – University of Washington http://courses.washington.edu/~hs590a/weblinks/poster.htmlCreating Effective Poster Presentations – Hess and Liegel. http://www4.ncsu.edu/~grhess/posters/University of Buffalo- Designing effective poster presentations http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/bio/posters.htmlUniversity of Kansas- Jeff Radel http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Poster_Presentations/PstrStart.html

Why a Poster?

Great for scientific meetings/sessions

Quick display of your research

Promotes communication– Longer timeframe than talk– More interactive than talk

A poster is designed to:

Provide a brief overview of your work 

Engage/initiate discussion 

Attract attention 

Reach as many people as possible.

Serve as visual aids as you speak 

stand alone when you're not there to provide an explanation 

let people know of your particular expertise

Who is Your Audience?

People in your field– Will read even if bad

People in related fields– Easily persuaded to view

Previously uninterested passers by– Can be attracted by a good poster

Making Your Poster

Follow rules of conference

Visually inviting

Simply and tightly written

Follow Rules of Conference

http://www.abrcms.org/posterguidelines.asp

Size Max (board size) vs Size Requirement

Abstract number

Abstract in or out

Contact Information

Section headings

Font size

Should be Visually Appealing

Divide onto 4 (range 3-5) columns

Make text large enough to read ~5 ft away

Understand reader “gravity”

Have an obvious flow- Use headings and number as needed

Use white space to organize

Carry your information with colorful images and figures

Neutral backgrounds (not too dark)

Visually Appealing II

Balance your text and images

Use very large font for title (1-2” high)

Use at least 24 pt text for body text (including in figures!)

Don’t use “all caps”

Some recommend “sentence case” in titles

Format text to prevent sub- or superscripts from altering spacing

Simply and tightly written

Minimize writing and maximize visuals

Avoid long sentences and paragraphs

Put closely related text and images near one another– Can use Figure legends/headings as text

Can use handouts to supplement

*** Your Mentor is Always Right ***

SoftwareActual layout:– Powerpoint (one big slide)– Pagemaker– Canvas– Illustrator– Quark

Print directly or convert to pdfImages– Photoshop– MS Photo editor

Tables/Graphs– Directly from Office (Excel or Word)

Getting Started:

Create a storyboard– Rough paper sketch of your poster– Choose headings desired– Select figures/tables– Can use bulleted or numbered lists– Top left to bottom right

Abstract

May not be required

Preferably that turned in for abstract book

Will provide redundant information

Preferably 150 words (up to 250)

Purpose

Or…Objective, Aim, Goal

Why are you doing?

Introduction

Or Background

Get viewers interested!

Reason you chose to study

Foundation for your work

Make very brief

Equivalent to 1 double spaced 12 pt page

Materials/Methods

Can include a flow chart to summarize

Make sure to include subjects, experimental design, statistical methods, drugs and equipment used

Hypothesis

Can include in Intro section

Could also be associated with Purpose

Results

Experiments- what you saw.

Indicate at beginning if it worked

Make Image-based; use few words

Can have 1-2 paragraphs to go along with images

Can use figure legends/captions as words

Largest section

Conclusions

Or discussion, or summary (can be divided)

Tie back to real world problem (from intro)

Very few words

Bullets good

Bigger font if needed

References

Required

Standard format

Can make smaller if needed

Acknowledgements

Should be included

Thank people for technical assistance, etc.

Must contain one of the following:– Supported by NIGMS MBRS-RISE GM 60655– Supported by NIGMS MARC-U*STAR GM

07717

Supplemental Materials

Mini-poster printed out

Single-sheet handout– Text – Graphics– highlight the major findings/implications– Include your name, phone, address, and e-

mail.

Some Example Posters

UTSA Template: – http://www.utsa.edu/mbrs/resources.htm

More Posters:– http://www4.ncsu.edu/~grhess/posters/

Free templates: http://www.megaprint.com/medical.html

http://miu.med.unsw.edu.au/downloads.htm

http://ibscore.dbs.umt.edu/toolkit.htm

Additional References

http://ibscore.dbs.umt.edu/makeposter.pdf

Go there for Review!