1. Scientific Poster Design
Step by step guide on how to write and design a scientific poster
UKDBT01890 August 2014

2. Company Confidential ©2014 Eli Lilly and Company
“Nurses working in diabetes have a lot to share about good clinical practice and care delivery. TREND-UK believes this tool is an excellent way of helping nurses to gain confidence in sharing best practice through the development of a poster presentation.”
Company Confidential ©2014 Eli Lilly and Company

3. Why don’t we write more posters?
Lack of time
Overworked
Not a priority
Don’t know where to start
Never done one before
What should I include?

4. Why should you consider writing a poster?
Provides a platform to document your work, develop and share good practice with your immediate peer group and wider circle.
Reflects your input into patient care and service development in line with environmental changes within the NHS. The current climate within the NHS encourages measurement and communication – poster presentation is an opportunity to address this need.
Positively contribute to the existing information available in your area of research.
Demonstrates your motivation within your field of work and raises your profile both internally and externally.
Generates an opportunity to present at meetings/conferences and encourages publications.

5. So where do you start?
Decide on which meeting you going to submit your poster (e.g. Diabetes UK, EASD, ADA) and ensure you are able to meet the requirements for the conference such as;
Submission dates
Programme topics
Planning ahead where possible
Review the guidelines and details required including;
Size of poster
Portrait style
Printing timelines etc ensuring you strictly adhere to the submission criteria

6. What is appropriate to share
What is appropriate to share? Information presented in a poster may be based on...
Original research
Evaluation of a new protocol or device
Case series: This can cover new methods of management or treatment
Audit results
All types are valid. These can be applied to the area of care which is being reviewed

7. Before you begin…
Before a poster is accepted for a conference you may be required to submit an abstract – ‘call for abstracts’.
An abstract in essence is the required summary of your poster and should accurately summarise what you have done. The abstract is used for inclusion within the conference ‘meeting brochure’. Check if there is an assigned conference template,
if not, then the following generic headings will provide a basic structure for you to follow.

8. Structure of a typical abstract
Title
Introduction/Background: This should be approx 5 lines
Aims/Purpose: One sentence should cover this
Methods and analysis: Briefly describe what you did, measurement tools used
Results: Clearly state the facts or outcome
Discussion: This covers your opinion of what you think the results mean What are the implications and any limitations?
*Do not include the abstract on your poster

9. Writing your poster
Preparing the poster will allow more in depth information to be shared with colleagues to the original abstract however the content structure remains the same.

10. Title Capture the focus of what you have done
Try to use a catchy title – one that is short, concise and easily understood
Always include the author(s) details underneath the title of your poster

11. Aims/Purpose
This clearly states what you are going to look at, for example: ‘The aims of this study was….’ or ‘The purpose of this project was…..’ to provide a brief overview to the audience.

12. Introduction/Background
This section defines the topic you are investigating and gives the background analysis as to why you are looking at this topic and why it is important - the rationale and significance.
In terms of layout, this section can consist of text or bullet points depending on your individual preference. Also within this section is where you may reference national documents/guidelines to support your rationale.

13. Methods & Analysis
This section should explain the design of what you did and should be clear so that your audience can quickly understand and evaluate your approach.
Due to space limitations there may or may not be enough details as to allow another person to replicate what you did, however it should provide enough information for an individual to decide if the method you used was valid.
This section should include the information on any subjects included –how they were selected, measurement tools used, protocols and other details which were important in undertaking your work.

14. Results
Clearly state the facts or outcome which you established from your work. This should include any findings along with statistical analysis of the data, figures and/or tables which document your results. All data should be clearly labelled. The results should be consistent with the aim/purpose of the study.
23%
60%
10% 7%

15. Conclusion
This can be a separate section or can be incorporate as the last paragraph of your discussion section. Any conclusions which are drawn from the data need to be supported by the findings. This should be the strongest part of the poster and is often the area which is focussed on first
Ensure all your details are added onto the poster
Author details-name, organisation and logo, contact details, date
References which you may have cited in the background section

16. How your poster is measured
Scale of 1-5
Scientific Validity
Relevance to Practice
Originality
Clarity of Writing
Clarity of Presentation
Overall Impression
It has to be over 21 to be accepted

17. Sample posters
This poster template is available on:
Above template is available on Lilly’s HCP portal
Facilitator to provide their own best practice examples…

18. Finally…
Finally, some questions to ask yourself as a Checklist Tick Box:
Submission dates and conference requirements
Have you checked for spelling mistakes and grammar?
Correct size for the conference-portrait or landscape
Is your poster clear and uncluttered-does it grab the reviewers attention?
Is your poster legible from a short distance?
Before sending for printing it is advisable to get an A3 copy produced to proof read for errors before committing to final print