Poster tips

Poster Submission deadline is on the 4th of September

Here are some tips to help poster authors create engaging, informative posters. These are not requirements of the SMA Research Day and authors are not obliged to follow this guidance.

A poster is a highly visual medium for communicating scientific findings. With some careful preparation, your poster can be a creative, impactful way to disseminate your message.

• Present your data and interpretations in a way that is easy to understand
• Use bullet points to keep the text brief and easy to read
• Include only the most relevant information; simpler is better!
• Use language and explanations appropriate to the audience of the SMA Research Day; the delegates include physicians and researchers in neuromuscular diseases
• Graphs should be self-explanatory — the reader should not need to refer to the text; include axis labels, measurement units, a legend, etc.
• Include figure/table numbers and captions for all figures and tables

• Recommended formats (landscape):
  • Small poster: A1 (84.1 x 59.4 cm; 33.1 x 23.4 inch)
  • Large poster: A0 (118.9 x 84.1 cm; 46.8 x 33.1 inch)
• Use PowerPoint to develop your poster
  • Make sure to set the slide size and orientation in Design >>> Slide size to the corresponding size of the printed poster
• Use a sufficiently large font size so that the poster can be read comfortably from a distance of 1 m. As a guide, use the following font sizes:
  

  – Main heading (title): 100–140 pt

  – Subheadings: 40–50 pt

  – Body: 24–38 pt

• Use a simple and legible font, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman
• Use a line spacing of 1.5 or 2.0 between lines of text to increase legibility
• Avoid using all upper-case text, including in headings
• Ensure that the poster layout follows a logical pattern; top to bottom and left to right
• Use columns to divide the poster into sections
• Use a simple, attractive but not distracting colour scheme. Use colour to provide emphasis, but try not to overwhelm the reader
• Use high-resolution graphics that will display nicely when enlarged

• Edit carefully for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes
• Do not depend on your word processor’s spell-check function; read the text carefully yourself
• Check that all references to tables and figures in the text are correct
• Ensure that all abbreviations and acronyms are spelled out the first time they are used
• Check that all symbols appear correctly (e.g. α and β)

• Send your poster file to stefano.carta@biogen.com not later than 4 September 2019
• Event organizers will take care of printing of your poster and delivering it to the venue
• Alternatively, you may choose to bring a printed poster with you and hand it over to event organizers on 16 September 2019

There will be a poster presentation session where you will be able to explain the content of your poster to meeting delegates in person. To prepare for this opportunity, consider the following points:

• Prepare a 2–3 minute summary of your poster’s content
• Highlight the most interesting points and guide the listener through your data; do not read the content of your poster

We look forward to seeing your poster at the 2019 SMA Research Day.