poster research report

How to Create a Research Poster

• Poster Basics
• Design Tips
• Logos & Images

What is a Research Poster?

Posters are widely used in the academic community, and most conferences include poster presentations in their program.  Research posters summarize information or research concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. 

The poster is usually a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats. At a conference, the researcher stands by the poster display while other participants can come and view the presentation and interact with the author.

What Makes a Good Poster?

• Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away
• Title is short and draws interest
• Word count of about 300 to 800 words
• Text is clear and to the point
• Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines make it easy to read
• Effective use of graphics, color and fonts
• Consistent and clean layout
• Includes acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation

A Sample of a Well Designed Poster

View this poster example in a web browser .  

Image credit: Poster Session Tips by [email protected], via Penn State

Where do I begin?

Answer these three questions:.

• What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding from my research project?
• How can I visually share my research with conference attendees? Should I use charts, graphs, photos, images?
• What kind of information can I convey during my talk that will complement my poster?

What software can I use to make a poster?

A popular, easy-to-use option. It is part of Microsoft Office package and is available on the library computers in rooms LC337 and LC336. ( Advice for creating a poster with PowerPoint ).

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

Feature-rich professional software that is good for posters including lots of high-resolution images, but they are more complex and expensive.  NYU Faculty, Staff, and Students can access and download the Adobe Creative Suite .

Open Source Alternatives 

• OpenOffice is the free alternative to MS Office (Impress is its PowerPoint alternative).
• Inkscape and Gimp are alternatives to Adobe products.
• For charts and diagrams try Gliffy or Lovely Charts .
• A complete list of free graphics software .

A Sample of a Poorly Designed Poster

View this bad poster example in a browser.

Image Credit: Critique by Better Posters

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Scientific Posters

Characteristics of a scientific poster.

• Organized, clean, simple design.  
• Focused on one specific research topic that can be explained in 5-15 minutes.
• Contains a Title, Authors, Abstract, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, Discussion, References and Acknowledgements.
• Has four to ten high-resolution figures and/or tables that describe the research in detail.
• Contains minimal text, with figures and tables being the main focus.

Scientific Poster

A scientific poster ( Fig.1 ) is an illustrated summary of research that scientists and engineers use to present their scientific discoveries to larger audiences.   A typical poster is printed on paper with dimensions of 36-inches (height) by 48-inches (width).    

Figure 1. Scientific Poster

Posters are displayed at events such as symposiums, conferences and meetings to show new discoveries, new results and new information to scientists and engineers from different fields.   A large event can have hundreds of posters on display at one time with scientists and engineers standing beside their individual posters to showcase their research. A typical interaction between a poster presenter and an audience member will last 5-15 minutes.

Scientific posters are organized systematically into the following parts (or sections): Title, Authors, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments and References ( Table 1 and Fig. 2 ).   Organizing a poster in this manner allows the reader to quickly comprehend the major points of the research and to understand the significance of the work.  

Table 1. Characteristics of a Scientific Poster

The most important parts of a scientific poster will likely be its figures and/or tables because these are what an audience will naturally focus their attention on.   The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” is certainly true for scientific posters, and so it is very important for the poster’s author(s) to create informative figures that a reader can understand.   The “ideal” figure can be challenging to create.   Providing too much information in a figure will only serve to confuse the reader (or audience).   Provide too little information and the reader will be left with an incomplete understanding of the research.   Both situations should be avoided because they prevent a scientist from effectively communicating with their audience.  

Authors use different sizes of font for their poster text ( Table 2 ).   The general rule is to use a font size that can be read from a distance of 3-feet (1 meter), which is the approximate distance that a person will stand when viewing a poster.   The largest fonts (e.g., 40-120 point font) will be used for the title, author list and institutions.   Section headings will use 30-40 point font.   Section text, table captions, figure captions and references will typically use 20-30 point font.   Font sizes smaller than about 20-points can be difficult for an audience to read and should only be used for the References and Acknowledgements sections ( Table 2 ).  

Table 2. Poster Font Size and Style

A poster abstract contains all text (no figures, no tables) and appears at the beginning of the poster ( Fig. 2 ).   An abstract is one paragraph containing 200-300 words in length.   The Introduction section ( Fig. 2 ) appears after the abstract and typically contains 100-200 words of text, a figure(s) and/or table(s) and a caption for each figure and table consisting of 25-100 words for each caption.   The Material and Methods sections ( Fig. 2 ) appears third and consists of 100-200 words of text, a figure(s) and/or table(s) and a caption for each figure and table consisting of 25-100 words for each caption.   This is followed by the Results section and Discussion section ( Fig. 2 ).   Each of these sections contain 100-200 words of text, a figure(s) and/or table(s) and a caption for each figure and table consisting of 25-100 words for each caption. Sometimes these two parts of a poster are combined into one large section titled Results and Discussion.   Some posters contain a Conclusion section, which follows the Discussion section. The example shown is Figure 2 does not contain a Conclusion section.   The final parts of a poster are the References and Acknowledgements sections ( Fig. 2 ).  

Figure 2. Parts of a Scientific Poster

An audience will focus most of their attention on the poster title, abstract, figures and tables.   Therefore, it is important to pay particular attention to these parts of a poster.   A general rule is that less text is best and a figure is worth a thousand words.   The text contained within a poster should be reserved for the most important information that a presenter wants to convey to their audience.   The rest of the information will be communicated to the audience verbally by the scientist during their presentation.  

Its very important for a scientist to thoroughly understand all the data and information contained within their poster so that they can effectively communicate the research to an audience both verbally (i.e., during their presentation) and visually (i.e., using the figures and tables contained within the poster).   It is also important that the References section of a poster contains a thorough summary of all publications pertinent to the research presented in the poster.   This way, if an audience member wants more information on a particular topic (e.g., instrument, technique, method, study site) the presenter can direct the audience to the publication(s) where more information can be found.              

Scientific Posters: A Learner's Guide Copyright © 2020 by Ella Weaver; Kylienne A. Shaul; Henry Griffy; and Brian H. Lower is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Creating a Research Poster

• Creating your poster step by step
• Getting Started
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Preparing your poster

There are three components to your poster session:

• Your poster

All three components should complement one another, not repeat each other.

Poster: Your poster should be an outline of your research with interesting commentary about what you learned along the way.

You: You should prepare a 10-30 second elevator pitch and a 1-2 minute lightning talk about your research. This should be a unique experience or insight you had about your research that adds depth of understanding to what the attendee can read on your poster.

Handout: Best practices for handouts - Your handout should be double-sided. The first side of the paper should include a picture of your poster (this can be in black and white or color). The second side of the handout should include your literature review, cited references, further information about your topic and your contact information.

Creating your poster by answering 3 questions:

• What is the most important and/or interesting finding from my research project?
• How can I visually share my research with conference attendees? Should I use charts, graphs, images, or a wordcloud?
• What kind of information do I need to share during my lightning talk that will complement my poster?
• *Title (at least 72 pt font).
• Research question or hypothesis (all text should be at least 24 pt font).
• Methodology. What is the research process that you used? Explain how you did your research.
• Your interview questions.
• Observations. What did you see? Why is this important?
• *Findings. What did you learn? Summarize your conclusions.
• Pull out themes in the literature and list in bullet points.
• Consider a brief narrative of what you learned - what was the most interesting/surprising part of your project?
• Interesting quotes from your research.
• Turn your data into charts or tables.
• Use images (visit the "Images" tab in the guide for more information). Take your own or legally use others.
• Recommendations and/or next steps for future research.
• You can include your list of citations on your poster or in your handout.
• *Make sure your name, and Cal Poly Humboldt University is on your poster.

*Required. Everything else is optional - you decide what is important to put on your poster. These are just suggestions. Use the tabs in this guide for more tips on how to create your poster. 

Poster Sizes

You can create your poster from scratch by using PowerPoint or a similar design program.

Resize the slide to fit your needs before you begin adding any content. Standard poster sizes range from 40" by 30" and 48" by 36" but you should check with the conference organizers. If you don't resize your design at the beginning, when it is printed the image quality will be poor and pixelated if it is sized up to poster dimensions. 

The standard poster sizes for ideaFest are 36" x 48" and 24" by 36".

To resize in PowerPoint, go to "File" then "Page Setup..." and enter your dimensions in the boxes for "width" and "height". Make sure to select "OK" to save your changes.

To resize in Google Slides, go to "File" then "Page setup" and select the "Custom" option in the drop down menu.  Enter the dimensions for your poster size and then select "Apply" to save your changes.

Step Four: Final checklist

Final checklist for submitting your poster for printing:.

• Proofread your poster for spelling and grammar mistakes. Ask a peer to read your poster, they will catch the mistakes that you miss. Print your poster on an 8 1/2" by 11" sheet of paper - it is easier to read for mistakes and to judge your design. 
• Make sure you followed Step 3 and resized your PPT slide correctly.
• Does your poster have flow? Did you "chunk" information into easily read pieces of information?
• Do your visualizations (e.g. charts, graphs, tag clouds, etc.) tell a story? Are they properly labeled and readable?
• Make sure that your images we not resized in PPT. You should use the original size of the image or try an image editor (e.g. Photoshop). Did you cite your image?
• Is your name, department, and affiliation on your poster?
• Did you want to include acknowlegments on your poster? This may be appropriate if your advisor and a graduate student provided leadership during the research process. 
• Most importantly- Save your PPT slide to PDF before you send to the printer in order to avoid any printing mishaps. You should also double-check the properties to make sure it is still sized correctly in PDF.
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Preparing and Presenting Effective Research Posters

Associated data.

APPENDIX A.2. Comparison of Research Papers, Presentations, and Posters—Contents.

Posters are a common way to present results of a statistical analysis, program evaluation, or other project at professional conferences. Often, researchers fail to recognize the unique nature of the format, which is a hybrid of a published paper and an oral presentation. This methods note demonstrates how to design research posters to convey study objectives, methods, findings, and implications effectively to varied professional audiences.

A review of existing literature on research communication and poster design is used to identify and demonstrate important considerations for poster content and layout. Guidelines on how to write about statistical methods, results, and statistical significance are illustrated with samples of ineffective writing annotated to point out weaknesses, accompanied by concrete examples and explanations of improved presentation. A comparison of the content and format of papers, speeches, and posters is also provided.

Each component of a research poster about a quantitative analysis should be adapted to the audience and format, with complex statistical results translated into simplified charts, tables, and bulleted text to convey findings as part of a clear, focused story line.

Conclusions

Effective research posters should be designed around two or three key findings with accompanying handouts and narrative description to supply additional technical detail and encourage dialog with poster viewers.

An assortment of posters is a common way to present research results to viewers at a professional conference. Too often, however, researchers treat posters as poor cousins to oral presentations or published papers, failing to recognize the opportunity to convey their findings while interacting with individual viewers. By neglecting to adapt detailed paragraphs and statistical tables into text bullets and charts, they make it harder for their audience to quickly grasp the key points of the poster. By simply posting pages from the paper, they risk having people merely skim their work while standing in the conference hall. By failing to devise narrative descriptions of their poster, they overlook the chance to learn from conversations with their audience.

Even researchers who adapt their paper into a well-designed poster often forget to address the range of substantive and statistical training of their viewers. This step is essential for those presenting to nonresearchers but also pertains when addressing interdisciplinary research audiences. Studies of policymakers ( DiFranza and the Staff of the Advocacy Institute 1996 ; Sorian and Baugh 2002 ) have demonstrated the importance of making it readily apparent how research findings apply to real-world issues rather than imposing on readers to translate statistical findings themselves.

This methods note is intended to help researchers avoid such pitfalls as they create posters for professional conferences. The first section describes objectives of research posters. The second shows how to describe statistical results to viewers with varied levels of statistical training, and the third provides guidelines on the contents and organization of the poster. Later sections address how to prepare a narrative and handouts to accompany a research poster. Because researchers often present the same results as published research papers, spoken conference presentations, and posters, Appendix A compares similarities and differences in the content, format, and audience interaction of these three modes of presenting research results. Although the focus of this note is on presentation of quantitative research results, many of the guidelines about how to prepare and present posters apply equally well to qualitative studies.

WHAT IS A RESEARCH POSTER?

Preparing a poster involves not only creating pages to be mounted in a conference hall, but also writing an associated narrative and handouts, and anticipating the questions you are likely to encounter during the session. Each of these elements should be adapted to the audience, which may include people with different levels of familiarity with your topic and methods ( Nelson et al. 2002 ; Beilenson 2004 ). For example, the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association draws academics who conduct complex statistical analyses along with practitioners, program planners, policymakers, and journalists who typically do not.

Posters are a hybrid form—more detailed than a speech but less than a paper, more interactive than either ( Appendix A ). In a speech, you (the presenter) determine the focus of the presentation, but in a poster session, the viewers drive that focus. Different people will ask about different facets of your research. Some might do policy work or research on a similar topic or with related data or methods. Others will have ideas about how to apply or extend your work, raising new questions or suggesting different contrasts, ways of classifying data, or presenting results. Beilenson (2004) describes the experience of giving a poster as a dialogue between you and your viewers.

By the end of an active poster session, you may have learned as much from your viewers as they have from you, especially if the topic, methods, or audience are new to you. For instance, at David Snowdon's first poster presentation on educational attainment and longevity using data from The Nun Study, another researcher returned several times to talk with Snowdon, eventually suggesting that he extend his research to focus on Alzheimer's disease, which led to an important new direction in his research ( Snowdon 2001 ). In addition, presenting a poster provides excellent practice in explaining quickly and clearly why your project is important and what your findings mean—a useful skill to apply when revising a speech or paper on the same topic.

WRITING FOR A VARIED PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCE

Audiences at professional conferences vary considerably in their substantive and methodological backgrounds. Some will be experts on your topic but not your methods, some will be experts on your methods but not your topic, and most will fall somewhere in between. In addition, advances in research methods imply that even researchers who received cutting-edge methodological training 10 or 20 years ago might not be conversant with the latest approaches. As you design your poster, provide enough background on both the topic and the methods to convey the purpose, findings, and implications of your research to the expected range of readers.

Telling a Simple, Clear Story

Write so your audience can understand why your work is of interest to them, providing them with a clear take-home message that they can grasp in the few minutes they will spend at your poster. Experts in communications and poster design recommend planning your poster around two to three key points that you want your audience to walk away with, then designing the title, charts, and text to emphasize those points ( Briscoe 1996 ; Nelson et al. 2002 ; Beilenson 2004 ). Start by introducing the two or three key questions you have decided will be the focus of your poster, and then provide a brief overview of data and methods before presenting the evidence to answer those questions. Close with a summary of your findings and their implications for research and policy.

A 2001 survey of government policymakers showed that they prefer summaries of research to be written so they can immediately see how the findings relate to issues currently facing their constituencies, without wading through a formal research paper ( Sorian and Baugh 2002 ). Complaints that surfaced about many research reports included that they were “too long, dense, or detailed,” or “too theoretical, technical, or jargony.” On average, respondents said they read only about a quarter of the research material they receive for detail, skim about half of it, and never get to the rest.

To ensure that your poster is one viewers will read, understand, and remember, present your analyses to match the issues and questions of concern to them, rather than making readers translate your statistical results to fit their interests ( DiFranza and the Staff of the Advocacy Institute 1996 ; Nelson et al. 2002 ). Often, their questions will affect how you code your data, specify your model, or design your intervention and evaluation, so plan ahead by familiarizing yourself with your audience's interests and likely applications of your study findings. In an academic journal article, you might report parameter estimates and standard errors for each independent variable in your regression model. In the poster version, emphasize findings for specific program design features, demographic, or geographic groups, using straightforward means of presenting effect size and statistical significance; see “Describing Numeric Patterns and Contrasts” and “Presenting Statistical Test Results” below.

The following sections offer guidelines on how to present statistical findings on posters, accompanied by examples of “poor” and “better” descriptions—samples of ineffective writing annotated to point out weaknesses, accompanied by concrete examples and explanations of improved presentation. These ideas are illustrated with results from a multilevel analysis of disenrollment from the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP; Phillips et al. 2004 ). I chose that paper to show how to prepare a poster about a sophisticated quantitative analysis of a topic of interest to HSR readers, and because I was a collaborator in that study, which was presented in the three formats compared here—as a paper, a speech, and a poster.

Explaining Statistical Methods

Beilenson (2004) and Briscoe (1996) suggest keeping your description of data and methods brief, providing enough information for viewers to follow the story line and evaluate your approach. Avoid cluttering the poster with too much technical detail or obscuring key findings with excessive jargon. For readers interested in additional methodological information, provide a handout and a citation to the pertinent research paper.

As you write about statistical methods or other technical issues, relate them to the specific concepts you study. Provide synonyms for technical and statistical terminology, remembering that many conferences of interest to policy researchers draw people from a range of disciplines. Even with a quantitatively sophisticated audience, don't assume that people will know the equivalent vocabulary used in other fields. A few years ago, the journal Medical Care published an article whose sole purpose was to compare statistical terminology across various disciplines involved in health services research so that people could understand one another ( Maciejewski et al. 2002 ). After you define the term you plan to use, mention the synonyms from the various fields represented in your audience.

Consider whether acronyms are necessary on your poster. Avoid them if they are not familiar to the field or would be used only once or twice on your poster. If you use acronyms, spell them out at first usage, even those that are common in health services research such as “HEDIS®”(Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set) or “HLM”(hierarchical linear model).

Poor: “We use logistic regression and a discrete-time hazards specification to assess relative hazards of SCHIP disenrollment, with plan level as our key independent variable.” Comment: Terms like “discrete-time hazards specification” may be confusing to readers without training in those methods, which are relatively new on the scene. Also the meaning of “SCHIP” or “plan level” may be unfamiliar to some readers unless defined earlier on the poster.

Better: “Chances of disenrollment from the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) vary by amount of time enrolled, so we used hazards models (also known as event history analysis or survival analysis) to correct for those differences when estimating disenrollment patterns for SCHIP plans for different income levels.” Comment: This version clarifies the terms and concepts, naming the statistical method and its synonyms, and providing a sense of why this type of analysis is needed.

To explain a statistical method or assumption, paraphrase technical terms and illustrate how the analytic approach applies to your particular research question and data:

Poor : “The data structure can be formulated as a two-level hierarchical linear model, with families (the level-1 unit of analysis) nested within counties (the level-2 unit of analysis).” Comment: Although this description would be fine for readers used to working with this type of statistical model, those who aren't conversant with those methods may be confused by terminology such as “level-1” and “unit of analysis.”

Better: “The data have a hierarchical (or multilevel) structure, with families clustered within counties.” Comment: By replacing “nested” with the more familiar “clustered,” identifying the specific concepts for the two levels of analysis, and mentioning that “hierarchical” and “multilevel” refer to the same type of analytic structure, this description relates the generic class of statistical model to this particular study.

Presenting Results with Charts

Charts are often the preferred way to convey numeric patterns, quickly revealing the relative sizes of groups, comparative levels of some outcome, or directions of trends ( Briscoe 1996 ; Tufte 2001 ; Nelson et al. 2002 ). As Beilenson puts it, “let your figures do the talking,” reducing the need for long text descriptions or complex tables with lots of tiny numbers. For example, create a pie chart to present sample composition, use a simple bar chart to show how the dependent variable varies across subgroups, or use line charts or clustered bar charts to illustrate the net effects of nonlinear specifications or interactions among independent variables ( Miller 2005 ). Charts that include confidence intervals around point estimates are a quick and effective way to present effect size, direction, and statistical significance. For multivariate analyses, consider presenting only the results for the main variables of interest, listing the other variables in the model in a footnote and including complex statistical tables in a handout.

Provide each chart with a title (in large type) that explains the topic of that chart. A rhetorical question or summary of the main finding can be very effective. Accompany each chart with a few annotations that succinctly describe the patterns in that chart. Although each chart page should be self-explanatory, be judicious: Tufte (2001) cautions against encumbering your charts with too much “nondata ink”—excessive labeling or superfluous features such as arrows and labels on individual data points. Strive for a balance between guiding your readers through the findings and maintaining a clean, uncluttered poster. Use chart types that are familiar to your expected audience. Finally, remember that you can flesh out descriptions of charts and tables in your script rather than including all the details on the poster itself; see “Narrative to Accompany a Poster.”

Describing Numeric Patterns and Contrasts

As you describe patterns or numeric contrasts, whether from simple calculations or complex statistical models, explain both the direction and magnitude of the association. Incorporate the concepts under study and the units of measurement rather than simply reporting coefficients (β's) ( Friedman 1990 ; Miller 2005 ).

Poor: “Number of enrolled children in the family is correlated with disenrollment.” Comment: Neither the direction nor the size of the association is apparent.

Poor [version #2]: “The log-hazard of disenrollment for one-child families was 0.316.” Comment: Most readers find it easier to assess the size and direction from hazards ratios (a form of relative risk) instead of log-hazards (log-relative risks, the β's from a hazards model).

Better: “Families with only one child enrolled in the program were about 1.4 times as likely as larger families to disenroll.” Comment: This version explains the association between number of children and disenrollment without requiring viewers to exponentiate the log-hazard in their heads to assess the size and direction of that association. It also explicitly identifies the group against which one-child families are compared in the model.

Presenting Statistical Test Results

On your poster, use an approach to presenting statistical significance that keeps the focus on your results, not on the arithmetic needed to conduct inferential statistical tests. Replace standard errors or test statistics with confidence intervals, p- values, or symbols, or use formatting such as boldface, italics, or a contrasting color to denote statistically significant findings ( Davis 1997 ; Miller 2005 ). Include the detailed statistical results in handouts for later perusal.

To illustrate these recommendations, Figures 1 and ​ and2 2 demonstrate how to divide results from a complex, multilevel model across several poster pages, using charts and bullets in lieu of the detailed statistical table from the scientific paper ( Table 1 ; Phillips et al. 2004 ). Following experts' advice to focus on one or two key points, these charts emphasize the findings from the final model (Model 5) rather than also discussing each of the fixed- and random-effects specifications from the paper.

Presenting Complex Statistical Results Graphically

Text Summary of Additional Statistical Results

Multilevel Discrete-Time Hazards Models of Disenrollment from SCHIP, New Jersey, January 1998–April 2000

Source : Phillips et al. (2004) .

SCHIP, State Children's Health Insurance Program; LRH, log relative-hazard; SE, standard error.

Figure 1 uses a chart (also from the paper) to present the net effects of a complicated set of interactions between two family-level traits (race and SCHIP plan) and a cross-level interaction between race of the family and county physician racial composition. The title is a rhetorical question that identifies the issue addressed in the chart, and the annotations explain the pattern. The chart version substantially reduces the amount of time viewers need to understand the main take-home point, averting the need to mentally sum and exponentiate several coefficients from the table.

Figure 2 uses bulleted text to summarize other key results from the model, translating log-relative hazards into hazards ratios and interpreting them with minimal reliance on jargon. The results for family race, SCHIP plan, and county physician racial composition are not repeated in Figure 2 , averting the common problem of interpreting main effect coefficients and interaction coefficients without reference to one another.

Alternatively, replace the text summary shown in Figure 2 with Table 2 —a simplified version of Table 1 which presents only the results for Model 5, replaces log-relative hazards with hazards ratios, reports associated confidence intervals in lieu of standard errors, and uses boldface to denote statistical significance. (On a color slide, use a contrasting color in lieu of bold.)

Relative Risks of SCHIP Disenrollment for Other * Family and County Characteristics, New Jersey, January 1998–April 2000

Statistically significant associations are shown in bold.

Based on hierarchical linear model controlling for months enrolled, months-squared, race, SCHIP plan, county physician racial composition, and all variables shown here. Scaled deviance =30,895. Random effects estimate for between-county variance =0.005 (standard error =0.006). SCHIP, State Children's Health Insurance Program; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval.

CONTENTS AND ORGANIZATION OF A POSTER

Research posters are organized like scientific papers, with separate pages devoted to the objectives and background, data and methods, results, and conclusions ( Briscoe 1996 ). Readers view the posters at their own pace and at close range; thus you can include more detail than in slides for a speech (see Appendix A for a detailed comparison of content and format of papers, speeches, and posters). Don't simply post pages from the scientific paper, which are far too text-heavy for a poster. Adapt them, replacing long paragraphs and complex tables with bulleted text, charts, and simple tables ( Briscoe 1996 ; Beilenson 2004 ). Fink (1995) provides useful guidelines for writing text bullets to convey research results. Use presentation software such as PowerPoint to create your pages or adapt them from related slides, facilitating good page layout with generous type size, bullets, and page titles. Such software also makes it easy to create matching handouts (see “Handouts”).

The “W's” (who, what, when, where, why) are an effective way to organize the elements of a poster.

• In the introductory section, describe what you are studying, why it is important, and how your analysis will add to the existing literature in the field.
• In the data and methods section of a statistical analysis, list when, where, who, and how the data were collected, how many cases were involved, and how the data were analyzed. For other types of interventions or program evaluations, list who, when, where, and how many, along with how the project was implemented and assessed.
• In the results section, present what you found.
• In the conclusion, return to what you found and how it can be used to inform programs or policies related to the issue.

Number and Layout of Pages

To determine how many pages you have to work with, find out the dimensions of your assigned space. A 4′ × 8′ bulletin board accommodates the equivalent of about twenty 8.5″ × 11″ pages, but be selective—no poster can capture the full detail of a large series of multivariate models. A trifold presentation board (3′ high by 4′ wide) will hold roughly a dozen pages, organized into three panels ( Appendix B ). Breaking the arrangement into vertical sections allows viewers to read each section standing in one place while following the conventions of reading left-to-right and top-to-bottom ( Briscoe 1996 ).

• At the top of the poster, put an informative title in a large, readable type size. On a 4′ × 8′ bulletin board, there should also be room for an institutional logo.

Suggested Layout for a 4′ × 8′ poster.

• In the left-hand panel, set the stage for the research question, conveying why the topic is of policy interest, summarizing major empirical or theoretical work on related topics, and stating your hypotheses or project aims, and explaining how your work fills in gaps in previous analyses.
• In the middle panel, briefly describe your data source, variables, and methods, then present results in tables or charts accompanied by text annotations. Diagrams, maps, and photographs are very effective for conveying issues difficult to capture succinctly in words ( Miller 2005 ), and to help readers envision the context. A schematic diagram of relationships among variables can be useful for illustrating causal order. Likewise, a diagram can be a succinct way to convey timing of different components of a longitudinal study or the nested structure of a multilevel dataset.
• In the right-hand panel, summarize your findings and relate them back to the research question or project aims, discuss strengths and limitations of your approach, identify research, practice, or policy implications, and suggest directions for future research.

Figure 3 (adapted from Beilenson 2004 ) shows a suggested layout for a 4′ × 8′ bulletin board, designed to be created using software such as Pagemaker that generates a single-sheet presentation; Appendix C shows a complete poster version of the Phillips et al. (2004) multilevel analysis of SCHIP disenrollment. If hardware or budget constraints preclude making a single-sheet poster, a similar configuration can be created using standard 8.5″ × 11″ pages in place of the individual tables, charts, or blocks of text shown in Figure 3 .

Find out well in advance how the posters are to be mounted so you can bring the appropriate supplies. If the room is set up for table-top presentations, tri-fold poster boards are essential because you won't have anything to attach a flat poster board or pages to. If you have been assigned a bulletin board, bring push-pins or a staple gun.

Regardless of whether you will be mounting your poster at the conference or ahead of time, plan how the pages are to be arranged. Experiment with different page arrangements on a table marked with the dimensions of your overall poster. Once you have a final layout, number the backs of the pages or draw a rough sketch to work from as you arrange the pages on the board. If you must pin pages to a bulletin board at the conference venue, allow ample time to make them level and evenly spaced.

Other Design Considerations

A few other issues to keep in mind as you design your poster. Write a short, specific title that fits in large type size on the title banner of your poster. The title will be potential readers' first glimpse of your poster, so make it inviting and easy to read from a distance—at least 40-point type, ideally larger. Beilenson (2004) advises embedding your key finding in the title so viewers don't have to dig through the abstract or concluding page to understand the purpose and conclusions of your work. A caution: If you report a numeric finding in your title, keep in mind that readers may latch onto it as a “factoid” to summarize your conclusions, so select and phrase it carefully ( McDonough 2000 ).

Use at least 14-point type for the body of the poster text. As Briscoe (1996) points out, “many in your audience have reached the bifocal age” and all of them will read your poster while standing, hence long paragraphs in small type will not be appreciated! Make judicious use of color. Use a clear, white, or pastel for the background, with black or another dark color for most text, and a bright, contrasting shade to emphasize key points or to identify statistically significant results ( Davis 1997 ).

NARRATIVE TO ACCOMPANY A POSTER

Prepare a brief oral synopsis of the purpose, findings, and implications of your work to say to interested parties as they pause to read your poster. Keep it short—a few sentences that highlight what you are studying, a couple of key findings, and why they are important. Design your overview as a “sound byte” that captures your main points in a succinct and compelling fashion ( Beilenson 2004 ). After hearing your introduction, listeners will either nod and move along or comment on some aspect of your work that intrigues them. You can then tailor additional discussion to individual listeners, adjusting the focus and amount of detail to suit their interests. Gesture at the relevant pages as you make each point, stating the purpose of each chart or table and explaining its layout before describing the numeric findings; see Miller (2005) for guidelines on how to explain tables and charts to a live audience. Briscoe (1996) points out that these mini-scripts are opportunities for you to fill in details of your story line, allowing you to keep the pages themselves simple and uncluttered.

Prepare short answers to likely questions about various aspects of your work, such as why it is important from a policy or research perspective, or descriptions of data, methods, and specific results. Think of these as little modules from an overall speech—concise descriptions of particular elements of your study that you can choose among in response to questions that arise. Beilenson (2004) also recommends developing a few questions to ask your viewers, inquiring about their reactions to your findings, ideas for additional questions, or names of others working on the topic.

Practice your poster presentation in front of a test audience acquainted with the interests and statistical proficiency of your expected viewers. Ideally, your critic should not be too familiar with your work: A fresh set of eyes and ears is more likely to identify potential points of confusion than someone who is jaded from working closely with the material while writing the paper or drafting the poster ( Beilenson 2004 ). Ask your reviewer to identify elements that are unclear, flag jargon to be paraphrased or defined, and recommend changes to improve clarity ( Miller 2005 ). Have them critique your oral presentation as well as the contents and layout of the poster.

Prepare handouts to distribute to interested viewers. These can be produced from slides created in presentation software, printed several to a page along with a cover page containing the abstract and your contact information. Or package an executive summary or abstract with a few key tables or charts. Handouts provide access to the more detailed literature review, data and methods, full set of results, and citations without requiring viewers to read all of that information from the poster ( Beilenson 2004 ; Miller 2005 ). Although you also can bring copies of the complete paper, it is easier on both you and your viewers if you collect business cards or addresses and mail the paper later.

The quality and effectiveness of research posters at professional conferences is often compromised by authors' failure to take into account the unique nature of such presentations. One common error is posting numerous statistical tables and long paragraphs from a research paper—an approach that overwhelms viewers with too much detail for this type of format and presumes familiarity with advanced statistical techniques. Following recommendations from the literature on research communication and poster design, this paper shows how to focus each poster on a few key points, using charts and text bullets to convey results as part of a clear, straightforward story line, and supplementing with handouts and an oral overview.

Another frequent mistake is treating posters as a one-way means of communication. Unlike published papers, poster sessions are live presentations; unlike speeches, they allow for extended conversation with viewers. This note explains how to create an oral synopsis of the project, short modular descriptions of poster elements, and questions to encourage dialog. By following these guidelines, researchers can substantially improve their conference posters as vehicles to disseminate findings to varied research and policy audiences.

CHECKLIST FOR PREPARING AND PRESENTING AN EFFECTIVE RESEARCH POSTERS

• Design poster to focus on two or three key points.
• Adapt materials to suit expected viewers' knowledge of your topic and methods.
• Design questions to meet their interests and expected applications of your work.
• Paraphrase descriptions of complex statistical methods.
• Spell out acronyms if used.
• Replace large detailed tables with charts or small, simplified tables.
• Accompany tables or charts with bulleted annotations of major findings.
• Describe direction and magnitude of associations.
• Use confidence intervals, p -values, symbols, or formatting to denote statistical significance.

Layout and Format

• Organize the poster into background, data and methods, results, and study implications.
• Divide the material into vertical sections on the poster.
• Use at least 14-point type in the body of your poster, at least 40-point for the title.

Narrative Description

• Rehearse a three to four sentence overview of your research objectives and main findings.
• Summary of key studies and gaps in existing literature
• Data and methods
• Each table, chart, or set of bulleted results
• Research, policy, and practice implications
• Solicit their input on your findings
• Develop additional questions for later analysis
• Identify other researchers in the field
• Prepare handouts to distribute to interested viewers.
• Print slides from presentation software, several to a page.
• Or package an executive summary or abstract with a few key tables or charts.
• Include an abstract and contact information.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Ellen Idler, Julie Phillips, Deborah Carr, Diane (Deedee) Davis, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this work.

Supplementary Material

The following supplementary material for this article is available online:

APPENDIX A.1. Comparison of Research Papers, Presentations, and Posters—Materials and Audience Interaction.

Suggested Layout for a Tri-Fold Presentation Board.

Example Research Poster of Phillips et al. 2004 Study.

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• DiFranza JR. A Researcher's Guide to Effective Dissemination of Policy-Related Research. Princeton, NJ: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 1996. the Staff of the Advocacy Institute, with Assistance from the Center for Strategic Communications. [ Google Scholar ]
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Blog Data Visualization

8 Scientific Poster Examples [And How To Create One]

By Ivonna Cabrera , Jul 02, 2023

Do you remember walking down school halls and seeing the bulletin board right next to the science laboratory?

People had created posters to share what they were working on.

For example, one poster may have showcased a new chemistry presentation, while another mentioned an upcoming science fair.

Truth be told, scientific posters are effective at piquing interest. It’s incredible how graphics and presentation style can attract audiences.

Want to make a scientific poster but don’t know how? Well, you no longer need to be a design guru if you use Venngage’s Poster Maker .

You can speed up the process even more by using our scientific poster templates.

Before I dive right into scientific posters examples, let’s discuss what scientific posters are in the first place.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a scientific poster.

• What’s the purpose of a scientific or research poster?

6 scientific poster examples

What makes a good scientific poster.

• What you need to make a scientific poster

How to create a scientific poster

A scientific poster is a visual presentation of research findings or scientific information shared with audiences at conferences, symposiums, and academic events. Scientific posters generally provide information on topics their authors are currently discussing.

Many scientists, researchers and medical experts use scientific posters to explain their findings in a simple and easy-to-understand format.

What is the purpose of a scientific poster?

Academics are the only ones who can read and understand a technical scientific paper.

To a normal reader, a research paper’s language and syntax are challenging. Scientific papers don’t prioritize reading flow in their outlines or exposition of data, methods and results.

But with a well-made and creative poster , reading a technical paper becomes easier.

For example, effective scientific posters include images that explain complicated terms.

At the same time, the poster layout makes data and text easy to read. Lastly, scientific posters uses simple language that allows even young children to understand concepts.

Of course, text isn’t the best way to show how scientific posters work.

So, I’ll let these examples do the talking.

Academic scientific poster examples

An academic scientific poster presents complicated information in a visually appealing manner.

Choosing the right poster layout is important here. Generally, sections such as an introduction, use, process, and takeaways allow students to understand a process or concept in a step-by-step method.

Here’s a great example of a scientific poster that discusses distillation:

Just so you know, some of our scientific poster templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign up is always free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

Often, it’s also important to separate information into categories and develop data in a clear and concise manner.

Chemistry poster examples

Chemistry posters play a vital role in the scientific community by highlighting the importance of chemistry as a subject.

They also promote a deeper understanding of its principles and applications.

Here’s a great example:

A chemistry poster is usually organized in a logical and structured manner to effectively convey information.

Here are some common elements you can find in chemistry posters:

• Introduction

Here’s another example of a chemistry poster that displays only the abstract to hook the reader.

Lab poster examples

Lab posters are effective at sharing scientific knowledge, promoting discussion and collaboration, and disseminating research findings.

They provide a visual platform to showcase research efforts and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in various fields of study.

In the lab poster below, the impact of overeating and binge drinking on the health of college students is presented in a format that anyone can understand the takeaway in a single glance.

A good scientific poster is often an attractive and easy-to-read presentation of scientific research .

They may include images, diagrams, graphs and tables, and they often focus on one or two main points.

Combining data and design together makes it easy for readers to dissect information easily, thanks to an attention-grabbing layout, simplified language and easy-to-follow jargon explanations where necessary.

A lot of layouts allow you to prioritize information and separate it into circles or boxes, like in the template above.

This type of poster design allows the reader to consume less time when reading the full context of a situation.

What do you need to make a useful scientific poster?

This is the section you’ve been waiting for — the best way to make a scientific poster from scratch.

Read on to learn about the steps below, and they come with easy-to-follow examples, too.

Study good scientific or academic poster examples

Venngage has great scientific poster templates for your first scientific poster. You can customize these templates using Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor.

Let’s take a look at each of them below.

The sparse but surgically precise use of text here contrasts the lush use of plants to explain photosynthesis.

Short explanations can be accompanied by explainer text in corner resource boxes that discuss the other details of photosynthesis.

Good science poster examples are readable from 10 feet away

There are many reasons why posters should be readable from 10 feet away.

The main reason is to allow readers to fully understand the concept from where they stand or walk.

For example, in a school or office hall, bulletin boards are usually 5 to 10 feet away from potential viewers. A poster that can be viewed within this range entices the audience to come closer and read the details.

The second reason is to allow readers to quickly comprehend the poster.

People usually don’t have time to stop and read a poster. In a school or office, everyone’s walking to do something urgently.

Thus, you don’t want to take up too much of your time reading jargon and difficult concepts that even academic peers can take hours to read and interpret.

Being readable from 10 feet away makes it easy for readers to understand your research.

You can use varying font sizes to create great posters. For digital campaigns, make sure that your posters are suitable for modern browsers.

Venngage’s  My Brand Kit  feature allows you to create posters that help your audience understand valuable info.

This is a special tool for Business accounts that allows you to upload logos, choose fonts, and set color palettes to your scientific posters .

Use our real-time collaboration feature to invite team members and work together. You can also leave comments and get feedback instantly.

Alternatively, share your design online, on social media, or via email completely for free.

Make an attention-grabbing, short headline

Attention-grabbing headlines are easy for science articles and posters.

It’s always thrilling to find out about a new plant species or discoveries that debunk old theories.

It’s a good idea to use best practices in making attention-grabbing headlines, even if it is just casual scientific content for social media.

Titles that draw attention and engagement include:

• Trending topics Create headlines according to what is trending. For example, if your study discusses climate change , align your headline to this topic to engage readers.
• Controversial developments An old textbook fact being false is a controversial and surprising topic which you can easily sum up in a headline.
• Issues that address curiosity Humans are naturally curious, so tickling the audience’s curiosity is a great way to create a compelling and attention-grabbing headline.

Use bullets and numbering to make a list easier to read

Bullets, lists and clear language are all tools that improve readability.

Even without fancy graphics and poster backgrounds , a short-sentence, simple-worded post with bullets and lists make it easy to understand any topic.

Bulleted lists make each subtopic of your scientific poster easy to read. Plus, it allows readers to jump from one subtopic to another without feeling like they missed information along the way.

Designers of scientific posters find it easier to design bulleted and list content because they can place every bullet in different sections, making the poster easy to read.

If you used bullets instead of boxes to explain each subtopic in this poster, you could still read it easily — just not from 10 feet away.

Ensure layout consistency

Layout consistency is the uniform appearance of elements within a design.

It is achieved by employing the same layout, color and typography throughout an entire design.

For example, if a web page uses a consistent layout, each page will be uniform in appearance but not necessarily in content.

Layout consistency is achieved by employing the same pattern, color and typography throughout an entire design. This uniform appearance helps readers navigate for better organization. 

Creating layout consistency is of crucial importance in scientific poster design because coherence creates a familiar mood and attachment for readers.

This template uses the same fonts and uses complementary colors that give the scientific poster its own coherent, attention-grabbing and informative personality

Related:  Stay ahead of graphic design trends that can help you with your scientific poster design!

Include acknowledgements, names and affiliations

Lastly, all scientific posters include their acknowledgements, researcher names and affiliations underneath the poster.

You can use a footnote to include these details or a resource box. Plus, if you used any links as references in your research, add them to this section.

If you were the researcher involved in this scientific poster , you could include all the information I’ve mentioned underneath the last paragraph using a line to indicate that they’re acknowledgements and author information.

Now that you know everything about scientific posters, it’s time to create your own.

Step 1 – Sign up for a free Venngage account

Start the process by  signing up  for Venngage with your email, Gmail or Facebook account.

Step 2 – Select a template from our library

Besides the examples above, you’ll find a sizeable collection of poster templates and specifically scientific posters to choose from.

There’s a template for every need, from a scientific poster for a case study review to templates focused on presenting complex data.

Step 3 – Edit your scientific poster with our editor

All our scientific poster templates can be edited using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Feel free to change the colors, text, icons, or illustrations to make the design your own or simply input your data to have an optimized scientific poster in minutes.

Step 4 – Bring your scientific poster to life with icons, illustrations and branding elements

Venngage offers 40,000 icons and illustrations to help you visualize and bring a scientific poster to life.

If you upgrade to a  Business  account, you can also enjoy  My Brand Kit  — the one-click branding kit that lets you upload your logo and apply brand colors and fonts to any design.

Step 5 – Share a link to your scientific poster or upgrade to download

Once you upgrade to a  Business  account, you can download your scientific poster as a PNG, PDF, or interactive PDF.

But you can always share your scientific poster online for free.

FAQ about scientific posters

I know you’re all set to make your own designs, but you might want to have these questions answered too.

What should a scientific poster include?

A scientific poster should include an easy-to-follow layout, graphics and color schemes that don’t take away from the reading experience. Successful scientific posters also use short sentences, simple language and bullet points.

How do you write a good scientific poster?

Researchers must focus on the evidence behind the research. Afterwards, they can concentrate on using simple language and short sentences to explain their point. Short text and simple words make it easier for graphic designers to create posters with an intuitive layout.

How do you write a scientific title for a poster?

Focus on aligning your title with human emotions and curiosity. Outside human emotions, you can align your titles toward controversial or trending issues. This article dedicates an entire section to writing a great scientific title for a poster, so you should head there to learn more!

Our  Poster Maker guarantees that you’ll make the most intuitive and well-designed scientific posters in a single session.

Make the best scientific posters within minutes today!

Now, you’re ready to make your own scientific posters for print or website use!

If you’re short on ideas, you can use Venngage’s scientific poster templates for inspiration. Besides access to scores of templates, you also get a free drag-and-drop web-based editor by signing up for a FREE Venngage account today. Register now!

University Libraries

• Ohio University Libraries
• Library Guides

Better Research Posters

• Creating Posters
• Introduction

Poster Size

Free resources, common poster sizes   .

OU Printing services also has information on poster size and pricing. 

Composition and layout are crucial in design as they determine how visual elements are arranged to create a harmonious and effective communication of information.

Rule of 3rds grid 

The rule of thirds is a design principle that involves dividing a visual space into a grid. In the context of designing a research poster, the rule of thirds is important for several reasons such as visual hierarchy, balance, organization, aesthetic appeal, and emphasis.

Font size  

When creating a large format posters, the minimum point size you should use depends on the size of the poster. 

18in x 24in: Title 35pt | Sub-heading 20pt | Body text 16pt 

36in x 48in: Title: 75pt | Sub-Heading 45pt | Body 35pt   

Information Overload   

One of the most common mistakes with research posters is including too much text. Many researchers fall into the trap of presenting their entire research paper on the poster, making it dense and overwhelming for viewers. A successful poster should convey key information succinctly, using concise text and visual elements to engage the audience. There should only be a few bullet points of text;  

• Introduction (3 sentences max).
• Your question or why your question is worth asking.
• Your methods.

Remember that you're presenting this so the text on your poster should only act as reference points for your pitch. 

Text Alignments 

Punchlines are great to use in the "better poster" design! If your punchline is more than 2 lines, don’t center it. Centered text is slower to read than left-aligned text.

• Poster Nerd:  Offers free Powerpoint templates to get you started. All templates work within the limitations of PowerPoint and have customizable colors.
• Bio Render:  A web-based tool designed for researchers to create professional scientific illustrations and figures. Free when you sign up. 
• Unsplash:  A website that provides royalty-free images for free. Users can download and use the images from Unsplash for various purposes, including personal and commercial projects, without the need for attribution.
• << Previous: Introduction
• Next: QR Codes >>

University of Missouri

• Bias Hotline: Report bias incidents

Undergraduate Research

How to design a research poster.

Presenting your scholarly work and research can take a number of different formats, all of which have pros and cons associated with them. While some fields use live performances or oral presentations to display their work, others use research journals or written manuscripts, while others still implement the use of research posters or gallery displays. Below is a comparison of some of the more common methods for displaying and presenting research and scholarly work.

Creating an effective research poster

We have provided a 6 step guide for you to follow. We also encourage you to attend one of our workshops “Presenting Your Research I: Story Design” and “Presenting Your Research II: Poster Design” for assistance. You may find the dates/times for these workshops (along with others) in MU Engage .

This short 5-minute video takes you through some pointers on how to create a research poster.

Consider the following questions before designing your poster. Depending on your event/audience, the poster content may be different. Presenting your work at a discipline specific conference means an audience who will have more understanding of the terminology and processes used in your work – meaning more use of discipline specific vocabulary. Whereas, presenting at an event with more laypeople (think the Spring Forum), means that most in the audience will not understand discipline specific vocabulary or graphics, so your poster content would be different as it would need to be understood by that audience.

Take time to brainstorm what you want the viewer to get from your poster (whether you are standing by it to present the information or not).

• What is your goal ?
• Who is your audience ?
• What is the most interesting/compelling part of your work?
• What will be interesting to others ?
• How can you make it interesting to others?

Before you can begin designing the poster, you have to consider a few things. And the first thing is:

Poster Size

Before you go plugging in data, text and images you need to decide on the overall size of YOUR poster. Some conferences/events have specific size limitations – VERIFY THIS FIRST! Otherwise, you may find yourself scrambling to redesign a poster last minute.

Here, however is some standard information for you to consider:

Mizzou’s Spring Forum – the boards and easels used are 2 sizes: 45in x 45in (square), or 36in x 60in (wide rectangle). Poster sizes vary, however we have found that 36in x 42in, or 42in x 48in are typical.

Poster Orientation

Your poster may be a rectangle in portrait orientation (‘hotdog’), or landscape orientation (‘hamburger’); OR, you may have a square poster. This is where you consider how to communicate your work and how it will best ‘flow’.

Mizzou poster templates

Mizzou has some poster templates (branded with Mizzou logos and colors), that you may download to use. You may find them at the Mizzou Branding & Licensing website here (scroll down to ‘Research Posters’ and please note that they are automatically sized to 56in x 36in – so you should resize them based upon what YOU want your poster size to be. You do NOT have to use these templates, but you may find them helpful. Check with your mentor .)

Now that you have determined what you want to communicate to your audience, and the poster size in which you will do this – you have to consider the content itself. How will the information be placed on the page to best flow and be understood by the viewer?

Consider the following items to include:

• Abstract, if appropriate
• Background/Introduction
• Research Question/Problem/Hypothesis
• Methodology (Materials & Methods)
• Conclusions, Future Studies
• Acknowledgements

Remember to:

• Make it easy for the reader to follow
• Anchor your information with something familiar
• Label figures and images
• Use sections, headlines
• What can be visual about your work?
• What needs to be explained ? ( And can it be explained more clearly using visuals? )
• What context do you need to provide?
• Biography/influences on your authors
• Lists, timelines
• Key quotations/text
• Cultural context
• Graphs, charts
• Illustrations
• Resist temptation to overuse color
• Use color for meaning and significance
• Use color to highlight important content
• Frames around poster components
• Bullet points
• Headlines of text, headings
• Check the University of Missouri Identity Standards website to download Mizzou logos and confirm your color of “Mizzou gold.”
• Determine title that is understandable to an audience outside of your field/major
• List authors of poster
• Consider font type, size, color, etc.
• Include the MU logo (and other logos depending on the nature of your work)

You should plan for your poster to take a minimum of 2-4 business days ( 48-72 hours ) to be printed. You must plan in advance for your poster pickup – we recommend that you consult the printer and ask for their timeline as you are not their only customer, and each printer will have different turnaround times.

Poster printing costs range depending on the size and type of material which you select for your poster – the average poster costs about $60.00.

BEFORE YOU PRINT! Check your poster for typos and grammatical errors. Has your mentor given you the ‘okay?’

• MU Print and Mail Services . Select ‘Posters’ from within the ‘Student Services’ drop-down.’
• FedEx has partnered with us to provide presenters a special price for printing posters. To get this special price you MUST use this online portal to submit your poster, in PDF format. You will required to provide your contact information and pay for your poster in advance by credit card.
• 36in x 48in poster (landscape or portrait layout) = $30.00
• 36in x 36in poster = $22.50
• Custom size poster, the price will be $2.50/sq foot
• Staples (115 Conley Road)
• UPS Store – 3 locations 503 E. Nifong, Ste H 2000 E. Broadway 2101 W. Broadway #103

We also recommend that you view past posters in your category to get a sense of what has been done. Click here to view the 2020 and 2021 online Spring Forum presentations.

Other resources.

• NYU Libraries How to Create a Research Poster
• Colin Purrington: tips for making posters
• UC Davis: How to Make and Effective Poster
• Science: How to prepare a scientific poster
• Fresh Spectrum: How to design a research poster using CANVA

University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Posters : Examples

• Elements of a poster
• Step by step
• Visualizations & images
• Illinois logo
• Archiving - Grad Students
• More Resources
• Oral Presentations
• 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium This link opens in a new window

WHAT MAKES A GREAT POSTER?

• Colin Purrington - Designing conference posters
• The poster sessions pool - Flickr
• F1000Research Open access repository for posters and slide presentations in biology and medicine.
• Better Posters - A Blog Academic conference posters are often ugly, with tiny text, confusing layouts, and dubious colour schemes. Better Posters is about making posters informative and beautiful.
• << Previous: Elements of a poster
• Next: Step by step >>
• Last Updated: Apr 9, 2024 12:09 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/poster

Home Blog Design How to Design a Winning Poster Presentation: Quick Guide with Examples & Templates

How to Design a Winning Poster Presentation: Quick Guide with Examples & Templates

How are research posters like High School science fair projects? Quite similar, in fact.

Both are visual representations of a research project shared with peers, colleagues and academic faculty. But there’s a big difference: it’s all in professionalism and attention to detail. You can be sure that the students that thrived in science fairs are now creating fantastic research posters, but what is that extra element most people miss when designing a poster presentation?

This guide will teach tips and tricks for creating poster presentations for conferences, symposia, and more. Learn in-depth poster structure and design techniques to help create academic posters that have a lasting impact.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

• What is a Research Poster?

Why are Poster Presentations important?

Overall dimensions and orientation, separation into columns and sections, scientific, academic, or something else, a handout with supplemental and contact information, cohesiveness, design and readability, storytelling.

• Font Characteristics
• Color Pairing
• Data Visualization Dimensions
• Alignment, Margins, and White Space

Scientific/Academic Conference Poster Presentation

Digital research poster presentations, slidemodel poster presentation templates, how to make a research poster presentation step-by-step, considerations for printing poster presentations, how to present a research poster presentation, final words, what is a research poster .

Research posters are visual overviews of the most relevant information extracted from a research paper or analysis.   They are essential communication formats for sharing findings with peers and interested people in the field. Research posters can also effectively present material for other areas besides the sciences and STEM—for example, business and law.

You’ll be creating research posters regularly as an academic researcher, scientist, or grad student. You’ll have to present them at numerous functions and events. For example:

• Conference presentations
• Informational events
• Community centers

The research poster presentation is a comprehensive way to share data, information, and research results. Before the pandemic, the majority of research events were in person. During lockdown and beyond, virtual conferences and summits became the norm. Many researchers now create poster presentations that work in printed and digital formats.

Let’s look at why it’s crucial to spend time creating poster presentations for your research projects, research, analysis, and study papers.

Research posters represent you and your sponsor’s research 

Research papers and accompanying poster presentations are potent tools for representation and communication in your field of study. Well-performing poster presentations help scientists, researchers, and analysts grow their careers through grants and sponsorships.

When presenting a poster presentation for a sponsored research project, you’re representing the company that sponsored you. Your professionalism, demeanor, and capacity for creating impactful poster presentations call attention to other interested sponsors, spreading your impact in the field.

Research posters demonstrate expertise and growth

Presenting research posters at conferences, summits, and graduate grading events shows your expertise and knowledge in your field of study. The way your poster presentation looks and delivers, plus your performance while presenting the work, is judged by your viewers regardless of whether it’s an officially judged panel.

Recurring visitors to research conferences and symposia will see you and your poster presentations evolve. Improve your impact by creating a great poster presentation every time by paying attention to detail in the poster design and in your oral presentation. Practice your public speaking skills alongside the design techniques for even more impact.

Poster presentations create and maintain collaborations

Every time you participate in a research poster conference, you create meaningful connections with people in your field, industry or community. Not only do research posters showcase information about current data in different areas, but they also bring people together with similar interests. Countless collaboration projects between different research teams started after discussing poster details during coffee breaks.

An effective research poster template deepens your peer’s understanding of a topic by highlighting research, data, and conclusions. This information can help other researchers and analysts with their work. As a research poster presenter, you’re given the opportunity for both teaching and learning while sharing ideas with peers and colleagues.

Anatomy of a Winning Poster Presentation

Do you want your research poster to perform well?  Following the standard layout and adding a few personal touches will help attendees know how to read your poster and get the most out of your information. 

The overall size of your research poster ultimately depends on the dimensions of the provided space at the conference or research poster gallery. The poster orientation can be horizontal or vertical, with horizontal being the most common.  In general, research posters measure 48 x 36 inches or are an A0 paper size.

A virtual poster can be the same proportions as the printed research poster, but you have more leeway regarding the dimensions. Virtual research posters should fit on a screen with no need to scroll, with 1080p resolution as a standard these days. A horizontal presentation size is ideal for that.

A research poster presentation has a standard layout of 2–5 columns with 2–3 sections each. Typical structures say to separate the content into four sections; 1. A horizontal header 2. Introduction column, 3. Research/Work/Data column, and 4. Conclusion column. Each unit includes topics that relate to your poster’s objective.  Here’s a generalized outline for a poster presentation:

• Condensed Abstract 
• Objectives/Purpose
• Methodology
• Recommendations
• Implications
• Acknowledgments
• Contact Information 

The overview content you include in the units depends on your poster presentations’ theme, topic, industry, or field of research. A scientific or academic poster will include sections like hypothesis, methodology, and materials. A marketing analysis poster will include performance metrics and competitor analysis results.

There’s no way a poster can hold all the information included in your research paper or analysis report. The poster is an overview that invites the audience to want to find out more. That’s where supplement material comes in. Create a printed PDF handout or card with a QR code (created using a QR code generator ). Send the audience to the best online location for reading or downloading the complete paper.

What Makes a Poster Presentation Good and Effective? 

For your poster presentation to be effective and well-received, it needs to cover all the bases and be inviting to find out more. Stick to the standard layout suggestions and give it a unique look and feel. We’ve put together some of the most critical research poster-creation tips in the list below. Your poster presentation will perform as long as you check all the boxes.

The information you choose to include in the sections of your poster presentation needs to be cohesive. Train your editing eye and do a few revisions before presenting. The best way to look at it is to think of The Big Picture. Don’t get stuck on the details; your attendees won’t always know the background behind your research topic or why it’s important.

Be cohesive in how you word the titles, the length of the sections, the highlighting of the most important data, and how your oral presentation complements the printed—or virtual—poster.

The most important characteristic of your poster presentation is its readability and clarity. You need a poster presentation with a balanced design that’s easy to read at a distance of 1.5 meters or 4 feet. The font size and spacing must be clear and neat. All the content must suggest a visual flow for the viewer to follow.

That said, you don’t need to be a designer to add something special to your poster presentation. Once you have the standard—and recognized—columns and sections, add your special touch. These can be anything from colorful boxes for the section titles to an interesting but subtle background, images that catch the eye, and charts that inspire a more extended look. 

Storytelling is a presenting technique involving writing techniques to make information flow. Firstly, storytelling helps give your poster presentation a great introduction and an impactful conclusion. 

Think of storytelling as the invitation to listen or read more, as the glue that connects sections, making them flow from one to another. Storytelling is using stories in the oral presentation, for example, what your lab partner said when you discovered something interesting. If it makes your audience smile and nod, you’ve hit the mark. Storytelling is like giving a research presentation a dose of your personality, and it can help turning your data into opening stories .

Design Tips For Creating an Effective Research Poster Presentation

The section above briefly mentioned how important design is to your poster presentation’s effectiveness. We’ll look deeper into what you need to know when designing a poster presentation.

1. Font Characteristics

The typeface and size you choose are of great importance. Not only does the text need to be readable from two meters away, but it also needs to look and sit well on the poster. Stay away from calligraphic script typefaces, novelty typefaces, or typefaces with uniquely shaped letters.

Stick to the classics like a sans serif Helvetica, Lato, Open Sans, or Verdana. Avoid serif typefaces as they can be difficult to read from far away. Here are some standard text sizes to have on hand.

• Title: 85 pt
• Authors: 65 pt
• Headings: 36 pt
• Body Text: 24 pt
• Captions: 18 pt

If you feel too prone to use serif typefaces, work with a font pairing tool that helps you find a suitable solution – and intend those serif fonts for heading sections only. As a rule, never use more than 3 different typefaces in your design. To make it more dynamic, you can work with the same font using light, bold, and italic weights to put emphasis on the required areas.

2. Color Pairing

Using colors in your poster presentation design is a great way to grab the viewer’s attention. A color’s purpose is to help the viewer follow the data flow in your presentation, not distract. Don’t let the color take more importance than the information on your poster.

Choose one main color for the title and headlines and a similar color for the data visualizations. If you want to use more than one color, don’t create too much contrast between them. Try different tonalities of the same color and keep things balanced visually. Your color palette should have at most one main color and two accent colors.

Black text over a white background is standard practice for printed poster presentations, but for virtual presentations, try a very light gray instead of white and a very dark gray instead of black. Additionally, use variations of light color backgrounds and dark color text. Make sure it’s easy to read from two meters away or on a screen, depending on the context. We recommend ditching full white or full black tone usage as it hurts eyesight in the long term due to its intense contrast difference with the light ambiance.

3. Data Visualization Dimensions

Just like the text, your charts, graphs, and data visualizations must be easy to read and understand. Generally, if a person is interested in your research and has already read some of the text from two meters away, they’ll come closer to look at the charts and graphs. 

Fit data visualizations inside columns or let them span over two columns. Remove any unnecessary borders, lines, or labels to make them easier to read at a glance. Use a flat design without shadows or 3D characteristics. The text in legends and captions should stay within the chart size and not overflow into the margins. Use a unified text size of 18px for all your data visualizations.

4. Alignment, Margins, and White Space

Finally, the last design tip for creating an impressive and memorable poster presentation is to be mindful of the layout’s alignment, margins, and white space. Create text boxes to help keep everything aligned. They allow you to resize, adapt, and align the content along a margin or grid.

Take advantage of the white space created by borders and margins between sections. Don’t crowd them with a busy background or unattractive color.

Calculate margins considering a print format. It is a good practice in case the poster presentation ends up becoming in physical format, as you won’t need to downscale your entire design (affecting text readability in the process) to preserve information.

There are different tools that you can use to make a poster presentation. Presenters who are familiar with Microsoft Office prefer to use PowerPoint. You can learn how to make a poster in PowerPoint here.

Poster Presentation Examples

Before you start creating a poster presentation, look at some examples of real research posters. Get inspired and get creative.

Research poster presentations printed and mounted on a board look like the one in the image below. The presenter stands to the side, ready to share the information with visitors as they walk up to the panels.

With more and more conferences staying virtual or hybrid, the digital poster presentation is here to stay. Take a look at examples from a poster session at the OHSU School of Medicine .

Use SlideModel templates to help you create a winning poster presentation with PowerPoint and Google Slides. These poster PPT templates will get you off on the right foot. Mix and match tables and data visualizations from other poster slide templates to create your ideal layout according to the standard guidelines.

If you need a quick method to create a presentation deck to talk about your research poster at conferences, check out our Slides AI presentation maker. A tool in which you add the topic, curate the outline, select a design, and let AI do the work for you.

1. One-pager Scientific Poster Template for PowerPoint

A PowerPoint template tailored to make your poster presentations an easy-to-craft process. Meet our One-Pager Scientific Poster Slide Template, entirely editable to your preferences and with ample room to accommodate graphs, data charts, and much more.

Use This Template

2. Eisenhower Matrix Slides Template for PowerPoint

An Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful tool to represent priorities, classifying work according to urgency and importance. Presenters can use this 2×2 matrix in poster presentations to expose the effort required for the research process, as it also helps to communicate strategy planning.

3. OSMG Framework PowerPoint Template

Finally, we recommend presenters check our OSMG Framework PowerPoint template, as it is an ideal tool for representing a business plan: its goals, strategies, and measures for success. Expose complex processes in a simplified manner by adding this template to your poster presentation.

Remember these three words when making your research poster presentation: develop, design, and present. These are the three main actions toward a successful poster presentation. 

The section below will take you on a step-by-step journey to create your next poster presentation.

Step 1: Define the purpose and audience of your poster presentation

Before making a poster presentation design, you’ll need to plan first. Here are some questions to answer at this point:

• Are they in your field? 
• Do they know about your research topic? 
• What can they get from your research?
• Will you print it?
• Is it for a virtual conference?

Step 2: Make an outline

With a clear purpose and strategy, it’s time to collect the most important information from your research paper, analysis, or documentation. Make a content dump and then select the most interesting information. Use the content to draft an outline.

Outlines help formulate the overall structure better than going straight into designing the poster. Mimic the standard poster structure in your outline using section headlines as separators. Go further and separate the content into the columns they’ll be placed in.

Step 3: Write the content

Write or rewrite the content for the sections in your poster presentation. Use the text in your research paper as a base, but summarize it to be more succinct in what you share. 

Don’t forget to write a catchy title that presents the problem and your findings in a clear way. Likewise, craft the headlines for the sections in a similar tone as the title, creating consistency in the message. Include subtle transitions between sections to help follow the flow of information in order.

Avoid copying/pasting entire sections of the research paper on which the poster is based. Opt for the storytelling approach, so the delivered message results are interesting for your audience. 

Step 4: Put it all together visually

This entire guide on how to design a research poster presentation is the perfect resource to help you with this step. Follow all the tips and guidelines and have an unforgettable poster presentation.

Moving on, here’s how to design a research poster presentation with PowerPoint Templates . Open a new project and size it to the standard 48 x 36 inches. Using the outline, map out the sections on the empty canvas. Add a text box for each title, headline, and body text. Piece by piece, add the content into their corresponding text box.

Transform the text information visually, make bullet points, and place the content in tables and timelines. Make your text visual to avoid chunky text blocks that no one will have time to read. Make sure all text sizes are coherent for all headings, body texts, image captions, etc. Double-check for spacing and text box formatting.

Next, add or create data visualizations, images, or diagrams. Align everything into columns and sections, making sure there’s no overflow. Add captions and legends to the visualizations, and check the color contrast with colleagues and friends. Ask for feedback and progress to the last step.

Step 5: Last touches

Time to check the final touches on your poster presentation design. Here’s a checklist to help finalize your research poster before sending it to printers or the virtual summit rep.

• Check the resolution of all visual elements in your poster design. Zoom to 100 or 200% to see if the images pixelate. Avoid this problem by using vector design elements and high-resolution images.
• Ensure that charts and graphs are easy to read and don’t look crowded.
• Analyze the visual hierarchy. Is there a visual flow through the title, introduction, data, and conclusion?
• Take a step back and check if it’s legible from a distance. Is there enough white space for the content to breathe?
• Does the design look inviting and interesting?

An often neglected topic arises when we need to print our designs for any exhibition purpose. Since A0 is a hard-to-manage format for most printers, these poster presentations result in heftier charges for the user. Instead, you can opt to work your design in two A1 sheets, which also becomes more manageable for transportation. Create seamless borders for the section on which the poster sheets should meet, or work with a white background.

Paper weight options should be over 200 gsm to avoid unwanted damage during the printing process due to heavy ink usage. If possible, laminate your print or stick it to photographic paper – this shall protect your work from spills.

Finally, always run a test print. Gray tints may not be printed as clearly as you see them on screen (this is due to the RGB to CMYK conversion process). Other differences can be appreciated when working with ink jet plotters vs. laser printers. Give yourself enough room to maneuver last-minute design changes.

Presenting a research poster is a big step in the poster presentation cycle. Your poster presentation might or might not be judged by faculty or peers. But knowing what judges look for will help you prepare for the design and oral presentation, regardless of whether you receive a grade for your work or if it’s business related. Likewise, the same principles apply when presenting at an in-person or virtual summit.

The opening statement

Part of presenting a research poster is welcoming the viewer to your small personal area in the sea of poster presentations. You’ll need an opening statement to pitch your research poster and get the viewers’ attention.

Draft a 2 to 3-sentence pitch that covers the most important points:

• What the research is
• Why was it conducted
• What the results say

From that opening statement, you’re ready to continue with the oral presentation for the benefit of your attendees.

The oral presentation

During the oral presentation, share the information on the poster while conversing with the interested public. Practice many times before the event. Structure the oral presentation as conversation points, and use the poster’s visual flow as support. Make eye contact with your audience as you speak, but don’t make them uncomfortable.

Pro Tip: In a conference or summit, if people show up to your poster area after you’ve started presenting it to another group, finish and then address the new visitors.

QA Sessions 

When you’ve finished the oral presentation, offer the audience a chance to ask questions. You can tell them before starting the presentation that you’ll be holding a QA session at the end. Doing so will prevent interruptions as you’re speaking.

If presenting to one or two people, be flexible and answer questions as you review all the sections on your poster.

Supplemental Material

If your audience is interested in learning more, you can offer another content type, further imprinting the information in their minds. Some ideas include; printed copies of your research paper, links to a website, a digital experience of your poster, a thesis PDF, or data spreadsheets.

Your audience will want to contact you for further conversations; include contact details in your supplemental material. If you don’t offer anything else, at least have business cards.

Even though conferences have changed, the research poster’s importance hasn’t diminished. Now, instead of simply creating a printed poster presentation, you can also make it for digital platforms. The final output will depend on the conference and its requirements.

This guide covered all the essential information you need to know for creating impactful poster presentations, from design, structure and layout tips to oral presentation techniques to engage your audience better . 

Before your next poster session, bookmark and review this guide to help you design a winning poster presentation every time. 

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Five reasons to print your poster with us >, professionally designed research poster templates.

QUICK FIND POSTER TEMPLATES American standard poster sizes (inches) 
 30x40 | 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual International common poster sizes (centimeters)
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Free powerpoint poster templates for research poster presentations.

Poster template design: Aragon Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold  | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design: Beaumont Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold  | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Newfield Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold |  Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Winchester Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Lockwood Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Kensington Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Stone A new, simplified concept for better poster design Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download A0 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Marquee Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Winston Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download A0 ► View Samples    ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Chamberlain Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Forrest Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

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Ready to use out of the box. Great solution for tabletop 36x48 Trifold poster presentations. Price includes printing, mounting and free Ground FedEx shipping.

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Links to university corporate identity (Logo) pages

List of corporate identity pages where you can download university logos to use with your poster presentation. Help your fellow researchers. Good quality logos for use in printed research posters  are difficult to find online. If you have a link to the identity page of your university, email it to us and we will add it to our list for others to use.

UC Berkeley Texas A&M UCLA Columbia Medical Center Stanford University

Adelphi University Duke University UPENN Bradley University ENMU

UNC Chapel Hill Northwestern University Magnet recognition Seal  Howard University University of Houston

Drexel University Carlow University UNLV UNR UFL

TUFTS George Mason U. St. Scholastica College Mount Royal University Penn State

Yale University University of Wisconsin SD School of Mines USC GATECH

STARTER POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATES

Standard size research poster templates in inches use these starter poster templates as a starting point for your own poster designs, thumbnails of posters are shown in proportion to each others’ sizes based on a 48 inch (height) x 96 inch (width) display area, 36” tall x 48” wide
.

STARTER 36x48 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE The 36x48 scientific poster template size is one of the smaller sizes and also one of the most common. It is very suitable for scientific posters with low to moderate amount of text and graphics. The 36x48 research poster template can also be printed at the following sizes without distortion or any necessary adjustments: 36x48 (Standard), 42x56, 48x64, 30x40

Trifold (tabletop)

STARTER    TRIFOLD POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE These free PowerPoint poster templates are designed for a standard 3x4 foot poster presentation to be mounted on a standard Trifold poster board. This research poster template should be printed only at the following size: 36x48 (Standard Trifold) This poster template is for a standard Trifold board presentation. You can use it with poster boards available at office-supply stores or our professional ready-to-use Trifold poster presentation product. Are you looking for a larger MonsterBoard template? Use this PowerPoint MonsterBoard template.

36” Tall x 56” Wide

STARTER    36x56 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x4.5 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 36x56 (Standard), 42x65.3, 48x74.6

36” Tall x 60” Wide

STARTER 36x60 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x5 foot poster presentation. This is also one of the standard sizes. It is used mostly when the height of the presentation board is only three feet and there is more content to present that can fit in a 48x36 poster.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 36x60 (Standard), 42x70, 48x80

36” Tall x 72” Wide


STARTER    36x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x6 foot poster presentation. The same as the above scientific poster template, only wider by a foot. Again, it depends on how much content you need to present.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 36x72 (Standard), 42x84, 48x96

36” Tall x 96” Wide

STARTER    36x96 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x8 foot poster presentation. 
It’s the widest one you can use on a three foot tall presentation board. It has five columns.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 96x36 (Standard), 24x64

42” Tall x 60” Wide

STARTER    42x60 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.5x5 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 42x60 (Standard), 36x51.42, 48x68.57

42” Tall x 72” Wide

STARTER    42x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.5x6 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 42x72 (Standard), 36x61.70, 48x82.28

42” Tall x 90” Wide

STARTER 42x90 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.5x7.5 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a large size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
42x90 (Standard), 36x77.14, 44x94.28

44” Tall x 44” Wide

STARTER 44x44 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.7 x 3.7 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium size poster. It is suitable for many poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate amounts of content.
 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 44x44 (Standard), 36x36, 42x42, 48x48

48” Tall x 72” Wide

STARTER 48x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 4x6 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium/large size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content. 
This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 48x72 (Standard), 24x36, 42x63

48” Tall x 48” Wide

STARTER    48x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 4x4 foot poster presentation. This scientific poster template is a good size for limited available spaces without compromising room for content.

 This research poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 48x48 (Standard), 36x36, 24x24, 42x42

48” Tall x 96” Wide

STARTER    48x96 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 4x8 foot poster presentation. This poster template is for the largest size poster usually allowed in conferences.

It can accommodate a lot of content. You can use this template if you also have a large number of photos, tables, charts, and text.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 48x96 (Standard), 24x48, 42x84, 36x72

40” Tall x 30” Wide

STARTER    40x30 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 40x30 inch poster presentation. This vertical poster template can accommodate a moderate amount of content. It can accommodate several photos, tables, charts, and a decent amount of text. This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 40x30 (Standard), 48x36, 56x42

Free PowerPoint poster templates in metric sizes (cm) for international poster conferences

Thumbnails of posters are shown in proportion to each others’ sizes based on a 200 cm (height) x 100 cm (width) display area, 91 wide x 122 tall.

STARTER    91cmX122cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 91 cm by 122 cm scientific poster presentation for international poster sessions. This PowerPoint poster template is essentially a vertical version of a standard 48x36 inch poster presentation. 

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 91 cm x122 cm (Standard 36x48 inches), 76x102 cm

70 Wide x 100 Tall

STARTER 70cmX100cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 70 cm by 100 cm scientific poster presentation for international poster sessions. This PowerPoint poster template is for a small size poster poster presentation commonly used at international conferences.

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 70 cm x100 cm (Standard 27.5x39.37 inches), 100x143 cm

100 Wide x 140 Tall

STARTER    100cmX140cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 100 cm by 140 cm scientific poster presentation for international poster sessions. This PowerPoint poster template is for a small size poster poster presentation commonly used at international conferences.

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 100 cm x140 cm (Standard 39.37x55.12 inches)

1 Meter x 1 Meter

STARTER    100cmX100cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 1 meter by 1 meter scientific poster presentation for international or domestic poster sessions. This template is commonly required at the Keystone Symposia research poster conferences.

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 100 cm x 100 cm (Standard 39 x 39 inches). Any square size up to 121 x 121 cm

100 Wide x 200 Tall

STARTER    100cmX200cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 1 meter by 2 meter scientific poster presentation for international or domestic poster sessions.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 100 cm x 200 cm (Standard 39 x 78 inches)

STARTER A0 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric A0 scientific poster presentation at a 841mm x 1189mm size for international or domestic poster sessions. This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 46.81 inches x 33.11 inches

STARTER    A1 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric A1 scientific poster presentation at a 594mm x 841mm poster size for international or domestic poster sessions. This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 23.39 inches x 33.11 inches

VIRTUAL POSTER PRESENTATION

STARTER    POSTER TEMPLATES These free PowerPoint poster templates are designed for screen presentations at virtual meetings Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio)

Virtual poster sessions for conferences and meetings of all sizes

If you are a meeting organizer we can help you set up a virtual poster session, free yourself from managing poster submissions and provide your meeting's attendees with a versatile presentation platform that will meet all your requirements.

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Science Editor

• A Publication of the Council of Science Editors

Turning Your Research into an Article/Poster

MODERATOR: Mary Warner American Pharmacists Association Washington, DC

PRESENTERS: Alethea Gerding American College of Prosthodontists Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Barbara Gastel Texas A&M University College Station, Texas

Liz Haberkorn American Pharmacists Association Washington, DC

REPORTER: Judy Connors Owner, Do It Write Editorial, LLC Thornton, Pennsylvania

Being in the midst of a research project I hope to turn into an article and/or poster, I found this presentation to be comprehensive, concise, and extremely helpful for a first-time poster presenter. Moderator Mary Warner of the American Pharmacists Association opened the session by reminding the audience that the essence of scientific discovery is in research and the sharing and implementation of those findings; conferences like CSE and International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) where articles and posters are abundant is one way of information sharing.

Remembering that a poster is a visual art form and, specifically in the scientific publishing arena, a visual abstract of sorts, will inform the main components of your poster so that it is easily readable, quickly understood, and attracts attention. The three presenters discussed different aspects of poster/article presentation and, by the conclusion of the session, attendees were well equipped to prepare either.

Alethea Gerding of the Journal of Prosthodontics opened the discussion with brainstorming ideas for a poster topic: Do you have an innovative solution to a common problem? Is there an uncommon issue you have dealt with and, if so, how was it resolved and what did you learn along the way? Are there any existing tools that can be applied to a new problem?

Once the poster topic has been decided upon, there are five considerations for developing your data:

• Describe the problem you are solving.
• Provide detailed step-by-step actions you took; screen shots work well as visuals.
• Share failures and successes, e.g., what worked and what did not.
• Analyze your results. What did you discover, solve, resolve?
• Ensure your project and subject are applicable across the board to other journals.

Building on Gerding’s excellent opener, Barbara Gastel, Professor of Integrative Biosciences and Medical Humanities at Texas A&M University, offered detailed guidelines and resources for turning research into either a poster or article. The first step, which is obvious but often overlooked is to obtain the Author Instructions or Guidelines and follow them! This will give you a much better chance of an acceptance for your article or poster than if the publication and/or meeting team needs to go back and forth with you on formatting and reporting requirements. See the Figure for other considerations for the design of your poster and its content.

Be sure to include your contact information (full name, degrees, affiliations, email and best phone contact number) so that you are easily reachable for inquiries.   Doing a poster without these details is like purchasing an ad without your phone number!

Also important is considering “spinning” your content into different formats: a poster can then become a PowerPoint presentation, the PowerPoint can become an article, an article turns into a blog or a book chapter, etc. This takes a little while but it is a good investment and will save you research time down the road when your content is picked up for another use and your memory may not be as detailed as you would like when it comes to the specifics of your poster or presentation.

Many of the same components are critical when writing a journal article and Gastel advises to identify your first-choice journal early on so you can customize your writing style and formatting to their guidelines. Once again, obtaining and following the guidelines offered to authors for that publication are seminal to your article preparation as is familiarizing yourself with articles previously published in past issues of the journal. This not only enables you easily to see the formatting but also gives you the sense of the writing voice the journal is accustomed to. More on voice later.

The usual structure for journal articles is IMRAD style:

I ntroduction: What are the questions?

M ethods: How did you try to answer them?

R esults: What did you find?

D iscussion: What does it mean?

When writing, draft sections in whatever order makes most sense to you and revise, revise, revise. Then, get feedback and revise more. Remember, peer reviewers and journal editors are your allies—they want good, solid science to publish so give it to them.

The final presenter, Liz Haberkorn, discussed writing with style and finding your research voice. Good writing is concise, clear, comprehensive, and can also be consistent and creative. Best practices include

• Avoiding clichés: You know what you want to say; use YOUR words to say it.
• Start strong: A great intro paragraph pulls in readers.
• Emphasize your main points.
• Organize your paper so it flows sensibly, this is as important in short as in long articles.
• Take risks with your writing style but never compromise your credibility for creativity.
• Ending stronger: Your intro pulls the readers in; your outro makes them think and will help you make an impression.

Resources are central to preparing a poster or journal article and the presenters provided a list of recommended ones for the audience.

Article Writing Sources:

• How to Write, Publish, and Present in the Health Sciences by Thomas A. Lang (American College of Physicians, 2009)
• How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 8th edition, by Barbara Gastel and Robert A. Day (Greenwood Press, 2016)
• “Preparing the Four Main Parts of a Scientific Paper: Concise Advice” by Barbara Gastel ( http://www.authoraid.info/en/resources/details/1322/ )
• Selected other items in the AuthorAID resource library ( http://www.authoraid.info/en/resources/ )

Poster Sources:

• Designing Conference Posters ( https://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design )
• “I Have the Abstract: How Do I Make It into a Poster?” by Michelle E. Stofa ( https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.amwa.org/resource/resmgr/Conference/2017/SessionRoundtableHandouts/AbstractToPoster.pdf )
• “Creating Effective Poster Presentations: The Editor’s Role” by Devora Mitrany ( Science Editor 28(4), 2005; https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/wp-content/uploads/v28n4p114-116.pdf )

Himmelfarb Library News

Resources, tools & health news from GW Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Research Showcase: Poster Tips!

The GW Research Showcase is just around the corner! The School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) Research Showcase is at the University Student Center on April 25, 2024. This year’s Keynote Speaker, Omaida C. Velazquez, MD. will present “Gene-Modified MSCs and Direct Gene Therapy as Novel Strategies for Vascular Regeneration and Wound Healing.” The medical student poster session will be held from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

While the deadline for submitting abstracts has passed, you may still be working on putting your poster together. Himmelfarb Library can help! Our GW Research Day Resources Guide has helpful resources and tips that can help make your poster stand out. The Creating Effective Posters page has poster templates, official GW logos, and the official GW Color palette to help you stay consistent with GW’s brand. If you are creating your poster using PowerPoint, the video below on Designing an Effective Poster Using PowerPoint has useful tips on size, color selection, font choices, and including graphs, charts, and photographs in your poster.

The Poster Design and Layout page also has great tips on selecting the right font, resizing images, and getting posters printed. When choosing fonts, it’s best to keep things simple and use familiar fonts like Times New Roman or Arial. Images should be 300 dpi JPEG files or full-size PDF files. If you need to resize an image, make sure that you keep the proper proportions so the image doesn’t appear distorted and “squishy” looking on your poster. 

Once your poster is ready, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll impress the judges. Here are some great videos that can help you prepare for giving your poster presentation:

• How to Present Your Poster and Wow the Judges (access is restricted to members of the GW community)
• Giving Effective Poster Presentations
• Poster Presentation Practice and Feedback

The GW School of Public Health (GWSPH) Research Day was yesterday, April 9, 2024. If you participated in the GWSPH Research Day, don’t forget to submit your poster to Himmelfarb’s institutional repository, the Health Sciences Research Commons (HSRC). Archiving your poster in the HSRC is a great way to ensure that your poster is available to the global community of scholars! Archiving your work in the HSRC has several advantages:

• Your poster will have a unique URL that you can include in your CV and use to promote your research. This unique URL will remain active even after you graduate from GW.
• The HSRC is indexed in Google Scholar, which allows other researchers to find your work through Google Scholar searches. 

Submitting your poster to the Health Sciences Research Commons is easy! Simply email [email protected] to submit your poster directly or to ask for more information.

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