GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF POSTERS

(Adapted from the AERA Annual Meeting poster instructions)

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Plan to set up your display beginning at 8 a.m. on the day of the conference. Your name will be posted at the assigned location where you will hang your poster.  Plan to bring fasteners and any other materials needed to properly display your work.

Your material may be mounted on tri-fold poster board or cardboard. If it seems appropriate, it can be helpful to mount conceptually related portions of your display on backgrounds of the same color, as this will help viewers scan the display efficiently.

The poster should be as self-explanatory as possible. The poster format provides a mechanism for in depth discussion of your research, but this is possible only if the display includes enough information.

Keep in mind that all your text and illustrations will be viewed from a distance, so make your lettering sufficiently large that it can be seen. Figures and tables should be kept as simple as possible, so that viewers can readily take away the main message. A brief large type heading of no more than one or two lines should be provided above each illustration, with more detailed information added in smaller type beneath the illustration.

Deadlines: Poster Registration – Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Arrangement of Materials

Prepare a sign containing the paper title and the authors’ names and affiliations. This information should appear at the top of the poster.

A copy of your Abstract of Introduction (200 words or less) should be placed in the upper left portion of the poster, with a conclusion in the lower right hand corner. Although there is considerable room for flexibility, it is often useful to have panels indicating the Aims of the Research, the theoretical background, and the Methods and Subjects involved. Another panel might highlight the important Results, with a few panels being used to present the main points in tables or Figures.

When working on the arrangement of your display on the poster, be aware that it is preferable to align materials in columns rather than rows. Audience members who are scanning posters have a much easier task if they can proceed from the left to right rather than having to skip around in the display