Poster Instructions

Your posters will be attached to a tri-fold poster board, which is 36” H x 48” W. Posters must be attached to the board with pushpins. Each poster will be assigned a number. The number corresponds to a specific location in the poster viewing area.

Tips to help with preparation of poster:

  1. At the top of the poster space, indicate the title of your paper, the author(s), and affiliation. The lettering for this section should not be smaller than 1” high (e.g., Arial or Times New Roman font size of 80). All other sections of the paper should use a font size that can be read easily from 3 feet away with a height of approximately 3/8" (e.g., Arial or Times New Roman font size of 36).
  2. Layout is critically important and should be logical. Information should be placed in columns so that the reader can read from top to bottom and left to right. Titles on sections help to facilitate this process.
  3. The poster should include an abstract, the rationale, hypotheses, method employed, findings, and interpretation of your study.
  4. The poster should be self-explanatory. You are there to answer additional questions, not to add information that should have been included in the poster. However, do not overwhelm the reader with too much detail.
  5. Figures should be kept as simple as possible. Make sure that you include captions to help readers understand the figure. Clearly label the x- and y-axes.
  6. Remember that your poster should be pleasing to the eye as well as informative. However, you do not want to overwhelm your ideas with an overly ornate presentation. Use color, but don’t overdo it. Color backing and/or lettering provides a finished and professional look. Do not simply tack up a set of typed pages in small font.

Suggestions adapted from:
Goodwin, J. C. (2002). Research in psychology: Methods and design. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Langston, W. (2002). Research methods laboratory manual for psychology. Pacific Grove, CA: Wadsworth.

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