Tools and Settings
Content
Questions and Tasks
(Brigham Young University-Idaho, Pryor, 2024)
Researchers will often present their findings at a research conference or forum. One of the methods to present findings is in the form of a professional poster. A professional poster is an illustrated version of your paper. It may not include all of your findings but will describe a few major points. The objective of the poster is to make the reader want to find out more about your research.
There are seven main elements of a professional poster:
This section is usually located at the top of your poster (see Figure 1). It is in a large font and is in bold typeface, not all capital letters.
Figure 1.
Under the title is located the names of the authors (and their affiliations) that worked on the research project.
A good poster is not all text. You need to add figures and/or pictures to break up that text. If you are struggling to add figures or pictures, make good use of bullet points or headings to break up the text. Make sure to include a description of the figure or picture.
Your blocks of text should not overpower your poster. Use a serif font (such as Arial) in your text section. The headings should be a sans serif font (such as Times New Roman). Use the same fonts throughout the poster. Text should be left aligned and not justified or centered. Feel free to use some color, but don’t go overboard.
A good guideline for minimum font sizes:
Title: 72 point
Authors: 48 point
Headings: 48 point
Sub-headings: 36 point
Body text: 32 point
Captions: 24 point
Your poster should contain white space. White space leaves blank areas in your poster so it doesn’t feel overly busy.
Posters are read from top to bottom, left to right. Do not use busy backgrounds or text that is too small (see Figure 2).
Figure 2.
Your references should be included at the end of your poster. You can include your references as text or as a QR code that directs the reader to a document with your paper and references.
When you present your research poster at a scientific conference, you will stand next to your printed poster and answer any questions from those attending the conference. In this course, you will not be presenting your poster, but instead you will be sending your poster to your peers for review. However, here are some good tips in case you ever need to present a research poster at a conference.
You should stand next to your poster for the entire poster session. This allows for interaction with attendees at the conference. Smile and say hello to those who pass by your poster.
Be enthusiastic about your poster. Point to relevant parts of the poster when you are answering questions or giving an overview of your research.
Create an elevator pitch for your poster. This is a 1–2 minute overview of your research that includes your research topic, what you found, and why it is important. Remember that there are many posters in the session and not all attendees have time to visit each one.
Be prepared to answer questions. Be familiar with all aspects of your research project so you can answer any questions. If you can’t answer a question, ask for the attendee's email address so you can get back to them at a later time.
You will be asked to peer review one of your classmate’s posters. A peer review is an evaluation of another person’s work. It helps the poster creator improve their poster. Your comments to your peers shouldn’t focus just on grammar or punctuation, but positive ways that the poster can be improved based on the criteria published above. The following tips can help you give excellent feedback to your peers:
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References
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