University of Alabama School of Medicine:

Dale J. Benos Medical Student Research Day

Creating Your Poster

Size of Poster:

The size of your poster should not exceed 40” high x 60” wide. This corresponds to a 36” x 56” PowerPoint template. Note: PowerPoint poster templates are available free online at sites such as:

Suggestions on Font Styles and Sizes:

The use of a sans-serif font (e.g. Helvetica, Arial) for the title, sub-title and headings and a serif font (e.g. Times, Palatino) for the body is recommended by a number of sources (serif fonts are easier to read at smaller font sizes). However, many authors choose to use a sans-serif font for both the title and body of the poster. You may have your own preference for the font style and you are free to use your favorite font.

Title: The title should be in sentence case and bolded, not title case or all caps, to facilitate ease of reading. For Title, use 72-120 point font. The title should be readable at a distance of 15 feet.

Sub-titles: Authors and affiliations should be in the form of a sub-title, directly below the Title. Use 40-80 point, bolded font, same style and case as used for the Title.

Headings: Use 36-42 point bolded font, same style and case as used for the Title and Sub-titles.

Text: Use 24-36 point font. Left-justify or full-justify depending upon your preference.

Organization of the Poster:

One common mistake is to include too much text and/or figures and to provide too much detail. Remember that a poster is not a manuscript mounted on a wall. The ideal length for the text of a poster is approximately 800 words, Introduction through to Acknowledgements. It is important to maximize white space and not overcrowd the poster. It is equally important to arrange the sections of the poster so that the order in which they are read is logical. Examples of posters can be found at ; and

Introduction: In this section state the overall goal/aim of the work (this may differ from the specific question or hypothesis being addressed in the poster). Provide a brief background to put the goal/aim of the work in context. Include citations. Clearly state the question or hypothesis that has been addressed by the data presented in the Results Section. Aim for a maximum of 125 words.

Materials and Methods: Present a brief overview of the methods used. Do not include the detail that you would for the Material and Methods section of a manuscript. Whenever possible, use diagrams to summarize the experimental methods. Ideally, the Materials and Methods should not exceed 150 words.

Results: This section summarizes the most important data from your study. When possible use graphs, charts or figures rather than text to present the results. Spend time designing your graphics. Each graph, chart, or figure should be clearly labeled with a “headline” title that conveys the main point. Graphs, charts, and figures should include labels that indicate exactly where to look to see the result(s). Avoid legends and remove unneeded grid lines, unneeded labels, etc., from graphs and charts. Follow Edward Tufte’s rule of eliminating chart junk and maximizing the % of ink that shows the data. However, do not eliminate the positive and negative controls. An ideal word count for this section is approximately 250 words.

Conclusions: Summarize the data presented and the significance of the data. You can also include a statement(s) on future directions. This can be done in the form of a bulleted list. Try to limit this section to 150 words.

Literature Cited: Follow a standard format. Limit the number of citations to approximately 5.

Acknowledgements: Acknowledge funding source(s) and those who have helped with the study.

Additional Suggestions:

Restrict text blocks to 10 sentences or less. Whenever possible opt for lists, rather than blocks of text. The width of text blocks should be approximately 40 characters. Lines that are shorter or longer are more difficult to quickly read.

Take into consideration that approximately 8% of males and 0.5% of females have some form of color-vision impairment when choosing the colors to use on your poster.

Avoid the use of dark backgrounds for your poster. It is difficult to make images stand out against a dark background. Remember that you want the data on the poster to be easily seen by your audience. See the Better Posters blog ( for informative posts on the use of color.

When you are creating images on the computer, change the mode from RGB to CYMK to allow your images to be printed as you see them on the screen. RGB mode images will differ in color from the CYMK inks used in printing color posters.

Avoid importing images or logos from the web. Due to the lower dpi, these images tend to be of very poor quality when they are enlarged during printing of the poster. The Better Posters blog has an interesting post (May 19, 2011) on the use and placement of logos on posters

( ). If you are considering using a UASOM or UAB logo on your poster, you should read this post first.

To avoid potential problems that can occur during printing, create a PDF file of your poster for printing. Information on converting PowerPoint files to PDF can be found at

Remember to proofread your poster. Check and Double-check!

Do not leave preparation and printing of your poster to the last minute. Printing can be done commercially or on campus through the Office of Graduate Biomedical Sciences

( in the Shelby Building or UAB Printing Services

(However,allow sufficient time for printing if it is to be done on campus. Contact the Office of Graduate Biomedical Sciences (Randy Seay: )or UAB Printing Services ()for the current turn around time as it can vary throughout the year.

References:

Alley, M. 2007. The Craft of Scientific Presentations. Springer.

American Physiological Society. Professional Skills Training, Making Scientific Presentations:Critical First Skills.

Faulkes, Z. Better Posters. (a highly informative blog, emphasizes design principles and effective presentation of scientific data)

Purrington, C.B. Advice on designing scientific posters.

(an excellent source of information on designing scientific presentations)

Tufte, Edward. 2001. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd edition. Graphics Press.

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Office of the Scholarly Activity 2012