Scientific Poster Presentation Guidelines & Grading Rubric
The goal of your scientific poster is to have an organized and attractive presentation of your
research findings. Posters should be self-explanatory and readable within about five minutes. In
addition, when fabricating your poster, you must comply with the following guidelines.
Guidelines
Title: At the top of your poster you should have a title that is both short and very descriptive
of your project. As a rule, the title should be easily readable at a distance of about 4 – 5 feet
away (words are approximately 1.5 – 2.5 cm in height).
Name: Directly under the title, you should place your name. The name is usually about 2030% smaller than the title.
The body of the poster:
Introduction and Guiding Questions: In this section you should describe list the guiding
questions that you explored, and what question you finally decided to explore in the
context of current knowledge about the topic.
Results: The purpose of this section is to present the answers you found to your guiding
question. No analysis should occur. Just the facts/data you found. In this section include
any table, graph, or figure with an appropriate subtitle or legend.
Discussion: In this section you should interpret the meaning of your results with respect
to the original question. You should interpret your results without repeating them. The
discussion must include your conclusions about the answer to the question that motivated
your research that you described in the introduction. If appropriate, mention explanations
for unexpected results.
Literature Cited: Include only those papers cited on the poster. Do not cite a paper
unless you have read it completely. Print each paper used as a source and turn in to Mrs.
Stearns in a marked manila folder for review.
Graphics, Tables, Photos and Others
Illustrations, tables, figures, photographs, and diagrams may enhance your poster. Make
sure you are citing them correctly.
Layouts
There are an endless number of ways to put a poster together. Remember try to create a
strong visual but, avoid making the poster look crowded. It is important to provide some
indication of the flow of the poster (top to bottom, left to right). Some posters have
numbered sections (units) to indicate the reading order.
Specific Guidelines:
One entire poster should take up a space no larger than 80cm by 120cm in either portrait
or landscape format. All posters will be affixed to and displayed on a vertical surface.
You should determine how to secure your poster to such a surface and bring whatever
materials you will need to do this. You may build your poster upon a single piece of
poster-board or it may be made up of several individual components that can be secured
to the display surface.
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Rubric for a Scientific Poster Presentation
Presentation: Size,
Content &
Organization
Level of Proficiency
1: Pre-Novice
(or: Unacceptable)
2: Beginning (or: Minimum
acceptable)
3: Developing
(or: Good)
4: Accomplished
(or: Excellent)
Size
___ Size is completely
inappropriate (too small
to read or larger than the
maximum allowable size)
___ Does not adhere to poster size
guidelines, but otherwise may be
sufficient for the content and layout
Title & Name
___ No title or name
___ Title and name present but
incomplete, unclear or otherwise
minimally acceptable (e.g.,
misplaced, too small, or hard to read
text used)
___ Adheres to poster size
guidelines, but size may not
be completely appropriate
for amount of content and
layout
___ Title and name present
and complete but not
prepared according to all
guidelines
Introduction and
Guiding Question
___ No introduction
___ Introduction present but
incomplete, unclear or otherwise
minimally acceptable (e.g., does not
present the question being explored,
statement of the hypothesis, is
unconvincing in terms of the
significance of the study, is
excessively lengthy and detailed
lacking important points and
relevance of the work)
___ No larger than 80 cm by 120
cm in either portrait or landscape
form
___ Size is neither excessive nor
minimal for the content and layout
___ Title is at top of the poster,
short, descriptive of the project and
easily readable at a distance of
about 4-5 feet (words about 1.5-2.5
cm tall)
___ Name in a section about 2030% smaller than the title
___ Presents question being
explored placed in the context of
current knowledge
___ Includes precise statement of
the question of hypothesis being
addressed by the study
___ Convinces the reader of the
significance of the study
___ Is brief but includes important
points indicating the relevance of
the work
Criteria
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___ Introduction present and
relatively complete but does
not address all points
indicated in the poster
guidelines
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Results
___ No results
___ Results present but incomplete,
unclear or otherwise minimally
acceptable (e.g., incomplete summary
of data, poor explanation of graphics,
etc.)
___ Results present and
relatively complete but does
not address all points
indicated in the poster
guidelines
Discussion
___ No discussion
___ Discussion present but
incomplete, unclear or otherwise
minimally acceptable (e.g., no
interpretation of results with respect
to the original question, unnecessary
repetition of results, no conclusions
about answers to the questions that
motivated the research as indicated in
the introduction, etc.)
___ Discussion present and
relatively complete but does
not address all points
indicated in the poster
guidelines
Literature Cited
___ No literature cited
(appropriate only if no
citations used in the text)
___ Literature cited present
and relatively complete but
does not address all points
indicated in the poster
guidelines
Graphics, Tables,
Photos and Other
Images (and layout)
___ No graphics, tables,
photos or other images
(the poster should include
at least some images)
___ Literature cited present but
incomplete, unclear or otherwise
minimally acceptable (e.g., lacking
sources cited in the text, including
superfluous entries, not prepared
according to approved style
guidelines, etc.
___ Graphics present but incomplete,
unclear or otherwise minimally
acceptable (e.g., lacking explanation,
units, keys, misplaced or excessively
large, inappropriate or confusing, etc.)
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___ Graphics present and
relatively complete but do
not address all points
indicated in the poster
guidelines
___ Includes summary of the data
___ All results presented, whether
positive or negative
___ If present, table or figure
subtitles for written summary and
includes legend to explain the
graphic clearly
___ Includes interpretation of
results with respect to the original
question
___ Results interpreted without
being repeated
___ Includes conclusions about
answers to questions that
motivated the research as indicated
in the introduction
___ If appropriate, includes
explanations for unexpected results
___ Includes only sources cited in
the text
___ Includes only papers if you
read it yourself
___ Is prepared according the
Modern Language Association
(MLA) style guidelines
___ Illustrations, tables, figures,
photographs or diagrams have
unique identification numbers and
legends
___ Text includes references to
specific graphics or pictures
___ Legends include full
explanation and where appropriate,
color keys, scale, etc.
___ All images presented in
appropriate layout and size relative
to text
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