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Abstracts > Preparing your poster
For posters:
Please first submit an abstract here, using the same simple template for both posters and oral presentations.
The posterboards will best allow for ISO A0 vertical format, but can accommodate up to 90 cm wide and 120 cm tall. Posters will be attached to a wire mesh support back-to-back.
Tips on preparing an effective presentation, both visually and orally to accompany your printed support.
From "How to make a scientific poster" BMJ 2013; 346:f297 by Dr. F. Tasker:
Your abstract should state why your work is important, the specific objective or objectives, a brief but clear explanation of the methods, a summary of the main results, and the conclusions. [...] a poster is already a succinct description of your work; use [the abstract] as an outline for your poster.
Your poster should be well laid out, with a visual representation preferable to large chunks of text. Diagrams, tables, and photographs aid readability and attract people.
Guide the viewers’s eyes from one frame to another in a logical fashion from beginning to end. Set up this pattern via a columnar format, so the viewer reads vertically first, from top to bottom, moving across the columns from left to right.
Use plain language and write in the active voice (“We did this,” rather than, “This was done.”)
Avoid jargon and acronyms. Use simple language and short sentences. Edit ruthlessly. If it’s not relevant to your message, remove it.
Layout
Label all the sections with titles: introduction, methods, results, conclusions, references, and acknowledgements (logos and conflict-of-interest statements often go here).
Introduction
Write a few brief sentences to identify what is known about the topic, why you did the research, and the aim or aims of your work. This section can also include your hypotheses, which usually go at the end of the introduction.
Methods
Explain what you did. For a study involving people, you should explicitly state whether the study was retrospective or prospective, and whether there was randomisation. Your data analysis and statistics used should also be described, including what P value you chose to indicate significant differences.
Results
Select the most important results that support your message. Images and graphs say more than words. Tables and figures should be used to illustrate your study’s results, and they should be clear, self explanatory, and uncomplicated. They should be numbered, and referred to by number in the text—for example, “see figure 1”). Make sure figures have a title and a legend. Keep text to a minimum. Graphs and charts should have an appropriate scale and labelled axes. Orient text for graphs horizontally, including labels for vertical axes.
Conclusion(s)
Write short, clear statements explaining the main outcomes of the study and why your results are interesting or important. You can also suggest future directions for research that build on your current study.
References
References should be limited to five, and the font size should be smaller than the poster text.
Text
Avoid using uppercase text [as] difficult to read. Whenever possible, use bulleted text rather than blocks of sentences. Leave blank space around the text and throughout the poster.
Use colour to attract attention, organise, and emphasise, but don’t overdo it. Use a maximum of two or three colours and consider people who have problems differentiating colours.
Use sans serif fonts such as Arial, Calibri or Helvetica, or fonts such as Times New Roman, which are generally considered to help legibility for posters. The font should be consistent throughout the poster and text should be legible at 2 m away.
[Ideally, you will use at least 85 point text for a title of 9-12 words], 56 point for the authors’ names, 36-44 point for subheadings, 24-34 point for text in the main body, and 18 point for captions.
Other questions? Be in touch.
