Posters · Glossary
What is a research poster?
A research poster is a single large printed board that presents one study so a reader can take it in while standing in front of it. It follows the shape of a paper, from question to conclusion, but in roughly 800 to 1,200 words, with the findings carried by figures and key numbers rather than by paragraphs.
A poster is not a paper printed large. It is read in a few minutes by someone deciding whether to stop and talk to you, and every choice on the board serves that decision.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
5 min read · Published · Updated
| Block | What it carries | Rough length |
|---|---|---|
| Title band | The finding or the question, the authors, their affiliations and a logo | One line of title, two of authors |
| Abstract or introduction | Why the question matters and what was asked | About 200 words |
| Methods | Design, participants or materials, measures and analysis, ideally as labelled lines | About 200 words |
| Results | The main number with its interval, then two to four numbered figures | The largest block, about 200 words plus captions |
| Conclusions | What the result means and what it does not show | About 200 words |
| References and acknowledgements | A few chosen citations, funding and a printed link to the full paper | Short, set small |
Where research posters are used
Posters are the standard format for presenting work at scientific and academic conferences, alongside talks. At a poster session the boards hang in rows, often for an hour or a whole day, and the presenting author stands beside theirs to answer questions. Students present them at undergraduate research days and thesis events, and many hospitals and universities keep them on corridor walls after the conference. Erren and Bourne's Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation tell presenters to sell the work in ten seconds and treat the title as the thing most attendees see first, which is why so much of the design effort goes into what a passer by takes in at a glance.
What goes on the board
Almost every board carries the same set: a title band with authors and affiliations, an abstract or introduction, methods, results, conclusions and a short reference list. The layouts that work add three things a paper lacks: key numbers set large enough to read from a distance, numbered figures whose captions make sense without the body text, and a participant flow where the study design has one. Colin Purrington's guidance suggests roughly 200 words for each main section, with results as the largest block because it holds the figures, and recommends figures over tables whenever the data allows.
Size and reading distance
Most conferences publish the board size they accept, commonly A0 in Europe and Australia or a 36 by 48 inch board in North America, in portrait or landscape. Check the call for posters before designing, because a board made for the wrong orientation cannot be fixed with scaling. Readers stand one to two metres away, so the title must read from across an aisle and the body text from arm's length. SPIE, for example, publishes its own poster PDF guidelines covering size and file format for its conferences, and each society has its own version.
Reading order is a design decision
A reader arrives at the title, then looks for the finding. Layouts that put the headline number near the top, straight after the question, get read; layouts that bury the result in the last column do not. Columns should read top to bottom before left to right, and figure numbers should follow the same path so nobody has to guess. A title that states the result, rather than the topic, does more work than any other line on the board, because it is the only line every passer by reads.
A worked example: the clinical trial poster
The clinical trial poster example on this site is a full A0 portrait board for a cluster randomised trial of text message reminders for childhood vaccination. Its abstract states the question and the design in four sentences, the methods are set as labelled lines (design, participants, intervention, comparator, outcome) rather than a paragraph, and a participant flow shows counts that reconcile from enrolment to analysis. The primary outcome is printed with its confidence interval, and two numbered charts and a comparison bar block carry the results. It is a good model for any randomised study.
Making one in the poster builder
The poster builder offers 40 layouts, 20 for A0 portrait (1656 by 2340 on the working canvas) and 20 for A0 landscape. Every layout carries a logo, a title, an author block, text sections and a figure block; most add a labelled protocol block, and 26 carry large key number blocks, 10 a participant flow and 3 a table. Chart figures offer 10 chart kinds. None of the 40 layouts has a QR slot, so print the link to the paper as short text. An A0 portrait export is 3312 by 4680 pixels, an RGB image with no bleed or crop marks, so ask your print shop whether that suits their press.
Questions people ask
How is a research poster different from a journal paper?
A paper is read sitting down, in full, by someone who chose to read it. A poster is scanned standing up by people deciding whether to stop. So a poster keeps only the question, the design in outline, the main result with its uncertainty and what it means. Everything else, such as the full methods, secondary analyses and the complete reference list, belongs in the paper the board links to.
How long does a visitor spend reading a poster?
Most visitors give a board a few seconds to decide, and those who stop read for a few minutes. Colin Purrington estimates that a poster kept to 800 to 1,200 words can be read in full in five to ten minutes. That is why the title and the headline number carry so much weight: for most passers by, they are the whole poster.
Which section of a research poster should be the largest?
Results. It holds the main number, its interval and most of the figures, so it usually takes more space than any other block. Methods can shrink to labelled lines, and the introduction to a short paragraph that sets up the question. If the introduction is bigger than the results, the board is telling the reader about the field rather than about your study.
How much of the methods belongs on a research poster?
Enough for a reader to judge whether the result can be trusted: the design, who or what was studied, the main measure and the analysis. Setting these as short labelled lines is faster to read than a paragraph. Leave out reagent lists, full inclusion criteria and secondary analyses, and point to the paper or protocol for anyone who wants the detail.
What does the presenter do at a poster session?
Stand beside the board during the assigned session and talk to whoever stops. A one minute spoken summary that starts with the finding works better than walking a visitor through every block. Bring a few printed handouts or a card with the link to the paper, and note the questions people ask, because they often show which part of the board is unclear.
Can one research poster be reused at a second conference?
Often, but check the second meeting's size and orientation first, since a portrait A0 board may not fit a landscape 48 by 36 inch space. Update the abstract number or session code, any results that have changed since, and the acknowledgements if new funding arrived. Some meetings also require that work presented has not been shown elsewhere, so read the submission rules.
Make one with posters
The button opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own.
Create a poster with OneCraftRelated questions
- What is a CONSORT flow diagram?A CONSORT flow diagram tracks every participant from screening to analysis. What each box holds, why the arithmetic must reconcile, and how it fits a poster.
- A0 against 36x48: poster sizes comparedA0 is 841 by 1189 mm and the international standard. 36 by 48 inches is the North American board. They are close but not interchangeable.
- What DPI does a poster need?A poster is read from a metre away, so about 100 pixels per inch at full size is enough. Why 300 DPI is a photographic habit that does not apply.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .