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BASICS << Top ten tips for conference posters
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Top ten tips for conference posters
Published 8 July 2009, written by Jane Fraser
Posters prepared for medical conferences are an important part of any publications plan. An effective poster can:
generate interest in study results (or in an ongoing study)
attract potential new investigators
draw attention to linked publications and studies
help build a public profile for rising young researchers
contribute to fulfilling a publishing agreement between a pharmaceutical company and a researcher
project a professional and ethical image for a pharmaceutical company.
Here are ten top tips for writers of pharmaceutical company-sponsored posters, adapted from ‘Creating Effective Conference Abstracts and Posters: 500 tips for success’ by Jane Fraser, Louise Fuller and Georgina Hutber (Radcliffe Publishing, 2009).
Follow the rules
Clinical congresses are increasingly asking poster presenters to follow the guidelines of the CONSORT statement for conference abstracts. (www.consort-statement.org). This includes headings such as background, objectives, design, setting, patients, interventions, outcomes, results and conclusions. A conflict of interest statement should also be included, and the sponsorship of the study should be made explicit.
Remember that you are writing a poster, not a paper
One of the commonest problems with pharma-sponsored posters is that writers (and their clients) are so anxious to include all the key information that it ends up more like a paper than a poster. Try to think of the poster as a ‘stretched abstract’ rather than a ‘mini-paper’. Even though the poster will be broadly following the CONSORT model, there are some important differences between a poster and a paper:
Omit the abstract (unless the client or organisers require it). Inclusion of an abstract takes up space and can lead to conflicts between data submitted for the abstract book six months previously and the up-to-date data on the poster.
Reduce the introduction/background. Keep it brief unless the poster is mainly about the rationale for a study. The objectives are essential, however.
Reduce or omit the discussion. A poster can stand alone without reference to numerous other studies. However, some posters now include heading for ‘Limitations’ to fit in with CONSORT.
Limit the number of references. References to other papers on the study drug can be useful, but three or four should be enough. Consider putting the references in small type across the bottom of the poster. Otherwise they tend to dominate the bottom right-hand corner of the poster, where readers would normally expect to find the conclusion.
Meet the needs of ‘skimmers’
Many delegates will ‘skim read’ a poster in about 30 seconds before deciding to invest time and effort in reading it fully. Write the poster to meet the needs of these ‘skimmers’.
Have a clearly signalled objective and conclusion
Make sure the results dominate the poster (unless it is a poster about study design)
Make the primary outcome the focus of attention
Use colour, illustrations and typographical devices (e.g. headings) to attract readers’ attention to key points.
Use declarative titles where possible
To get the key message across quickly, try to use declarative titles – ones that state the main conclusion. However, this may be impossible if the key finding is not known at the time of submitting the abstract. The poster and abstract titles should match, as is confusing for readers to see a poster with a title that is different from the one printed in the abstract book. Even if you cannot use a declarative title for the whole poster, you may still be able to use declarative subtitles or figure titles.
Put most of the text in bullet points
Bullets introduce space onto the page, making the poster more visually attractive. You’d be right in thinking that breaking up the text with bullets occupies more space than if the same text was written in paragraphs. But the point is that it won’t be the same text – bullet point text can be much more concise, and a few words can substitute for several sentences.
Make the objectives stand out
Objectives can normally be covered in just one or two bullets, and should stand out clearly through the use of colour, type or a tint box. They should match closely with the conclusion – were the objectives of the study achieved?
Keep the methods brief (unless you have no results)
For a typical clinical study, you will need subheads for:
Patients – one or two bullets should cover it
Study design – just a couple of bullets, maybe a figure
Outcomes – distinguish primary and secondary outcomes and subgroup and post-hc analyses – three or four bullets are often enough
Safety analyses – a couple of bullets should cover it
Statistics – perhaps one bullet for the power calculation and another for the statistical tests.
Let the results dominate
The Results (if you have them) will typically take up at least half the space on a poster, maybe more. Use figures as much as possible. Typically, you will need subheads for:
Patients – sum up with one or two bullets, a table of baseline characteristics, and maybe a patient flowchart
Primary outcome – should normally the most noticeable figure, supported by two or three bullets
Secondary outcomes/subgroup analyses – illustrate the most clinically relevant ones and support with one or two bullets
Safety and tolerability analyses – a couple of bullets and a table of adverse events are enough, unless you need to draw attention to important safety issues.
Remember that 'Conclusions' are the most important piece of text on the poster...
Many delegates will look first at the conclusions to determine whether they will bother to read the rest of the poster. Only draw conclusions based on the data in the poster. Highlight the conclusions with devices such as bold, larger type, coloured text or a coloured tint background. Link the conclusions to the objective through the use of colour, type or a tint box. Try to keep the conclusions to three or four main bullet points (150–200 words).
...But figures will be the first thing that some readers look at
Many people are visual learners who will look first at the figures, hoping that they will tell them the most important results. So the figures have to make a good first impression. Try to keep figures simple – they should be more like figures on slides than those in a paper. Key figures should be placed in a prominent position – the top right hand corner is the ‘hottest’ spot.
About the author:
Jane is a former Editorial Director whose company Jane Fraser Associates Ltd provides training in scientific writing and editing skills to medical communications agencies, pharmaceutical companies and universities worldwide. (E: jane@janefraser.com)
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Feedback: Do you have any comments about this article? Contact the Publisher, Peter Llewellyn.
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