Title: Scientific posters should have a descriptive title that conveys the to audience the research topic that will be presented. Scientists will read poster titles to help them decide whether to visit a poster at a conference so you want the title to convey the main concept of your research. Names of contributors to the research should be listed under the title and the affiliations (institution where they work and the address) for each researcher should also be included. Contact information such as email address for the presenter can also be included.

Introduction: Poster introductions or backgrounds serve to 1. gain the interest of the reader, 2. provide needed background information, and 3. introduce the research question and approach. Introductions should first introduce the general research area and its importance. Current knowledge in the area needed to understand the research should be described with minimal technical jargon so as to be accessible to as large an audience as possible. Once current understanding has been described, this provides the space for the author to identify the need for their research question (will it extend current knowledge, fill in a gap of knowledge, dispute current understanding, etc.).

Objectives: Posters often include a list of specific research objectives for the work presented. Objectives can be in paragraph format but are more commonly bulleted lists.

Materials/Methods: Methods sections in posters can be in paragraph, bulleted list, or visual format. These sections need to convey the general experimental approach for the work but do not need to include enough detail for replication of experiments.

Results: Usually the largest section of a scientific poster results sections include graphical representations of the data along with textual description of the findings. Figures should include captions such that readers can understand a figure without having to refer back to the main text. The main text should lead readers from the scientific questions posed to the actual results. Interpretations of results should be reserved for the conclusion section. Main text should reference figures and figures should thus be numbered for easy reference.

Conclusions: Clearly state the main findings of your work and place those findings in the larger scientific context to help readers understand the importance/interest of the work. Future directions of the research is sometimes included in posters as posters often present ongoing research projects.

Literature cited: Full reference information (such as authors, title, journal, publication date, etc.) must be included here for any works cited in the poster. Follow format conventions for your research area or the conference where the poster will be presented.

Acknowledgements: Thank individuals who have contributed to your work (such as by providing advice, technical expertise, or lent equipment) but are not authors on the poster. Be sure to thank funding sources!