Research Poster Template and Guide: Size, Layout and Examples

What is a research poster? ¶

A research poster (also called a scientific or academic poster) is a large printed summary of a study, displayed at a conference poster session. It presents the question, methods, key results and conclusion in a visual layout that a passer-by can grasp in a few minutes, and it serves as the backdrop for a conversation with the author.

A poster is closer to an advertisement for your work than to a paper pinned to a wall. Readers stand, often in a crowded hall, and decide within seconds whether to stop. That shapes every choice below: fewer words, larger type, one main message and figures that explain themselves.

Poster sessions suit work in progress, pilot studies, student projects and results that are not yet ready for a full manuscript. Many posters later become papers, so it pays to plan the poster with your eventual journal article in mind.

Research poster size: standard dimensions ¶

Landscape or portrait matters as much as size. A portrait A0 poster will not fit a landscape-only board.

There is no universal scientific poster size. The conference sets a maximum, and your poster must fit the board you are given. Always read the presenter instructions first. These are the dimensions you will meet most often:

Set the slide or canvas to the exact final size before you add content. In PowerPoint, use Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size. PowerPoint caps a slide at 56 inches per side, so for anything larger, design at half scale (for example, 36 × 24 in for a 72 × 48 in poster) and ask the printer to enlarge it to 200%. If you work at half scale, halve the font sizes in the table further down as well.

Research poster layout and columns ¶

Readers scan a poster in columns: down the first column, then up to the top of the next. Build your layout around that habit.

• Landscape 48 × 36 in: three or four columns. Three columns give wider figures; four suit text-heavy fields.
• Portrait A0: two columns, sometimes three narrow ones. A single full-width figure can span the middle.
• Title banner: a band across the top, about 10 to 15% of the height, with title, authors, affiliations and logos.
• Central results panel: in a three-column layout, give the middle column (or a merged middle area) to your main figure.

A widely used guide from UC Davis suggests a rough balance of 20% text, 40% figures and 40% white space. Use a grid, align every box to it and keep equal gutters between columns. Number your sections or use arrows only if the reading order is not obvious.

An alternative format, popularized by Mike Morrison's "better poster" design, places the main finding in large plain-language text in the center, with the supporting details in narrower side panels. Check whether your conference or supervisor expects the traditional layout before you adopt it.

Sections of a scientific poster ¶

Most scientific posters follow a shortened version of the IMRaD structure used in journal articles. Keep each section brief.

1. Title: short, specific and ideally a statement of the finding. Aim for under 15 words.
2. Authors and affiliations: presenting author underlined or marked, institutions numbered.
3. Introduction or background: 2 to 4 sentences on the gap your study fills.
4. Objective or hypothesis: one sentence, often set apart in a box.
5. Methods: design, participants or samples, measures and analysis. A flowchart often replaces paragraphs.
6. Results: two or three figures or tables, each with a one-line takeaway heading.
7. Conclusions: 3 to 5 bullet points and the implication for the field.
8. References: 3 to 6 key citations in small type.
9. Acknowledgments and funding: grant numbers and contributors.
10. Contact and QR code: email, ORCID and a link to the abstract, preprint or slides.

Most poster guides advise leaving out a full abstract, since the poster already summarizes the work. Include one only if the conference requires it. For tables, simplified versions of APA table format rules work well: clear titles, no vertical lines and units in the headers.

Font sizes and design rules ¶

Zoom to 100% in your software before printing. Pixelated figures are much easier to catch on screen than on the board.

Legibility from a distance is the first design rule. Print a section at full size and read it from 6 feet away before you commit.

Design rules that make posters readable

• Use one or two fonts. A sans-serif font (Arial, Helvetica, Calibri, Verdana) for headings and body is safest.
• Left-align body text. Justified text creates uneven gaps at large sizes.
• Avoid all caps except for very short labels, and avoid drop shadows.
• Limit the palette to two or three colors plus neutrals, with dark text on a light background.
• Choose colorblind-safe palettes for graphs (avoid red-green contrasts) and label lines directly instead of relying on a legend.
• Use images at 150 to 300 ppi at the final printed size. Web images copied at 72 ppi will print blurry.
• Keep lines of text to about 40 to 60 characters, and replace paragraphs with bullets where you can.

TITLE BANNER (full width, top 12% of height)
Title: [State the main finding in under 15 words, 80-100 pt]
Authors: [First A. Author1, Second B. Author2] (presenting author underlined, 40-48 pt)
Affiliations: 1[Department, University, City, Country]; 2[...] (28-32 pt)
Logos: [institution and funder logos, right side]

COLUMN 1 (left)
INTRODUCTION [60-90 words]
- What is known: [one sentence]
- What is missing: [one sentence]
- Why it matters: [one sentence]

OBJECTIVE / HYPOTHESIS [20-30 words, boxed]
[We tested whether X predicts Y in Z population.]

METHODS [100-150 words or a flowchart]
- Design: [e.g., cross-sectional survey; randomized trial]
- Participants or samples: [N, recruitment, inclusion criteria]
- Measures: [instruments, variables]
- Analysis: [test, software, alpha level]

COLUMN 2 (center)
RESULTS [2-3 figures, 30-60 words of text]
Figure 1 heading: [One-line takeaway, e.g., 'Group A improved more than Group B']
[Figure 1]
Figure 2 heading: [One-line takeaway]
[Figure 2]
Key statistic: [e.g., t(84) = 3.12, p = .002, d = 0.68]

COLUMN 3 (right)
CONCLUSIONS [3-5 bullets, 50-80 words]
- [Main finding in plain language]
- [How it fits or challenges previous work]
- [Practical or theoretical implication]

LIMITATIONS AND NEXT STEPS [30-50 words]
- [Main limitation]
- [Planned follow-up study]

REFERENCES [3-6 key sources, 16-18 pt]
1. [Author, A. A. (Year). Title. Journal, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/...]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS [funding body, grant number, contributors]

CONTACT [email | ORCID | QR code linking to PDF, preprint or abstract]

Research poster examples: weak vs strong ¶

The quickest improvement to most academic posters is in the title and the results headings. Compare these two versions of the same poster elements.

The strong version states the finding, so a reader walking past learns something even if they do not stop. Each figure heading also tells the reader what to see. If you are unsure how to report the statistics briefly and correctly, our statistics consulting can check your output with you before you print.

How to create a research poster step by step ¶

1. Read the conference rules. Note the maximum size, orientation, board type, printing deadline and whether you must also upload a PDF or e-poster.
2. Write your main message. Finish this sentence: "The one thing I want people to remember is..." Build everything around it.
3. Sketch on paper. Draw the columns and boxes, mark where the main figure goes and estimate word counts per section.
4. Set up the file. Create the canvas at final size in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Adobe Illustrator or InDesign, Canva, or LaTeX (the beamerposter and tikzposter packages).
5. Make the figures first. Export graphs at high resolution with large axis labels. Re-plot rather than screenshot.
6. Add text, then cut it. Draft each section, then remove a third of the words.
7. Proofread and get feedback. Ask a colleague to read it in 60 seconds and tell you the main finding. Check author names, affiliations and funding wording carefully.
8. Export and print. Save as a high-quality PDF with fonts embedded. Order printing at least three to five working days before you travel. Paper is cheapest; fabric posters fold into a suitcase.

Giving a poster presentation ¶

The poster presentation is a series of short conversations. Visitors may give you 30 seconds or 10 minutes, so prepare three versions of your talk.

• The 30-second version: the question, the main finding and why it matters.
• The 2-minute walkthrough: gap, method, the main figure and the conclusion, pointing to each part of the poster.
• The 5-minute discussion: limitations, next steps and questions you would like feedback on.

Practical tips for the poster session

• Stand beside the poster, never in front of it, and greet people who pause.
• Ask visitors about their own work. It turns a pitch into a discussion and often surfaces useful advice.
• Bring pins or Velcro tabs, a few printed A4 or letter copies, and business cards or a QR code linking to a PDF.
• Prepare answers to likely questions: sample size, confounders, why you chose this method and what you would do differently.
• Keep a notebook for names and suggestions. Reviewers' later comments on the paper often echo poster-session questions.

When the session ends, the next step for many presenters is a full manuscript. Our guide on how to publish a research paper walks through choosing a journal, and our journal submission support can help you prepare the manuscript, cover letter and formatting once your poster becomes a paper.

Research poster template outline ¶

The copy-ready template below gives a three-column landscape layout for a 48 × 36 in poster, with target word counts for each section. Paste it into your design software as placeholder text, replace each line with your own content, and delete the guidance in brackets. For an A0 portrait poster, stack the same sections in two columns.

Word targets keep the total near 500 to 700 words, which suits most research posters. If your field expects more detail (some humanities and social science posters do), add it to the methods and discussion and keep the results visual. Before you print, a careful academic proofreading pass on the poster text catches the errors that are hardest to fix once the poster is on the board.