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50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers

How to Find Psychology Research Topics for Your Student Paper

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

• Specific Branches of Psychology
• Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
• Human Cognition
• Human Development
• Critique of Publications
• Famous Experiments
• Historical Figures
• Specific Careers
• Case Studies
• Literature Reviews
• Your Own Study/Experiment

Are you searching for a great topic for your psychology paper ? Sometimes it seems like coming up with topics of psychology research is more challenging than the actual research and writing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places to find inspiration and the following list contains just a few ideas to help get you started.

Finding a solid topic is one of the most important steps when writing any type of paper. It can be particularly important when you are writing a psychology research paper or essay. Psychology is such a broad topic, so you want to find a topic that allows you to adequately cover the subject without becoming overwhelmed with information.

In some cases, such as in a general psychology class, you might have the option to select any topic from within psychology's broad reach. Other instances, such as in an  abnormal psychology  course, might require you to write your paper on a specific subject such as a psychological disorder.

As you begin your search for a topic for your psychology paper, it is first important to consider the guidelines established by your instructor.

Research Topics Within Specific Branches of Psychology

The key to selecting a good topic for your psychology paper is to select something that is narrow enough to allow you to really focus on the subject, but not so narrow that it is difficult to find sources or information to write about.

One approach is to narrow your focus down to a subject within a specific branch of psychology. For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write a paper on some sort of social psychology topic. Next, you might narrow your focus down to how persuasion can be used to influence behavior .

Other social psychology topics you might consider include:

• Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)
• Social cognition
• Person perception
• Social control and cults
• Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing
• Attraction, romance, and love
• Nonverbal communication
• Prosocial behavior

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

Exploring a psychological disorder or a specific treatment modality can also be a good topic for a psychology paper. Some potential abnormal psychology topics include specific psychological disorders or particular treatment modalities, including:

• Eating disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Profile a  type of therapy  (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, psychoanalytic therapy)

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition

Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include:

• False memories
• Speech disorders
• Problem-solving

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Development

In this area, you might opt to focus on issues pertinent to  early childhood  such as language development, social learning, or childhood attachment or you might instead opt to concentrate on issues that affect older adults such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Some other topics you might consider include:

• Language acquisition
• Media violence and children
• Learning disabilities
• Gender roles
• Child abuse
• Prenatal development
• Parenting styles
• Aspects of the aging process

Do a Critique of Publications Involving Psychology Research Topics

One option is to consider writing a critique paper of a published psychology book or academic journal article. For example, you might write a critical analysis of Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or you might evaluate a more recent book such as Philip Zimbardo's  The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil .

Professional and academic journals are also great places to find materials for a critique paper. Browse through the collection at your university library to find titles devoted to the subject that you are most interested in, then look through recent articles until you find one that grabs your attention.

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Famous Experiments

There have been many fascinating and groundbreaking experiments throughout the history of psychology, providing ample material for students looking for an interesting term paper topic. In your paper, you might choose to summarize the experiment, analyze the ethics of the research, or evaluate the implications of the study. Possible experiments that you might consider include:

• The Milgram Obedience Experiment
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Little Albert Experiment
• Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
• The Asch Conformity Experiment
• Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments

Topics of Psychology Research About Historical Figures

One of the simplest ways to find a great topic is to choose an interesting person in the  history of psychology  and write a paper about them. Your paper might focus on many different elements of the individual's life, such as their biography, professional history, theories, or influence on psychology.

While this type of paper may be historical in nature, there is no need for this assignment to be dry or boring. Psychology is full of fascinating figures rife with intriguing stories and anecdotes. Consider such famous individuals as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, or one of the many other  eminent psychologists .

Psychology Research Topics About a Specific Career

​Another possible topic, depending on the course in which you are enrolled, is to write about specific career paths within the  field of psychology . This type of paper is especially appropriate if you are exploring different subtopics or considering which area interests you the most.

In your paper, you might opt to explore the typical duties of a psychologist, how much people working in these fields typically earn, and the different employment options that are available.

Topics of Psychology Research Involving Case Studies

One potentially interesting idea is to write a  psychology case study  of a particular individual or group of people. In this type of paper, you will provide an in-depth analysis of your subject, including a thorough biography.

Generally, you will also assess the person, often using a major psychological theory such as  Piaget's stages of cognitive development  or  Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development . It is also important to note that your paper doesn't necessarily have to be about someone you know personally.

In fact, many professors encourage students to write case studies on historical figures or fictional characters from books, television programs, or films.

Psychology Research Topics Involving Literature Reviews

Another possibility that would work well for a number of psychology courses is to do a literature review of a specific topic within psychology. A literature review involves finding a variety of sources on a particular subject, then summarizing and reporting on what these sources have to say about the topic.

Literature reviews are generally found in the  introduction  of journal articles and other  psychology papers , but this type of analysis also works well for a full-scale psychology term paper.

Topics of Psychology Research Based on Your Own Study or Experiment

Many psychology courses require students to design an actual psychological study or perform some type of experiment. In some cases, students simply devise the study and then imagine the possible results that might occur. In other situations, you may actually have the opportunity to collect data, analyze your findings, and write up your results.

Finding a topic for your study can be difficult, but there are plenty of great ways to come up with intriguing ideas. Start by considering your own interests as well as subjects you have studied in the past.

Online sources, newspaper articles, books , journal articles, and even your own class textbook are all great places to start searching for topics for your experiments and psychology term papers. Before you begin, learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

What This Means For You

After looking at this brief list of possible topics for psychology papers, it is easy to see that psychology is a very broad and diverse subject. While this variety makes it possible to find a topic that really catches your interest, it can sometimes make it very difficult for some students to select a good topic.

If you are still stumped by your assignment, ask your instructor for suggestions and consider a few from this list for inspiration.

• Hockenbury, SE & Nolan, SA. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers; 2014.
• Santrock, JW. A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Open Access

Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

• Kristen M. Naegle

Published: December 2, 2021

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009554
• Reader Comments

Citation: Naegle KM (2021) Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides. PLoS Comput Biol 17(12): e1009554. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009554

Copyright: © 2021 Kristen M. Naegle. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: The author received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The author has declared no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The “presentation slide” is the building block of all academic presentations, whether they are journal clubs, thesis committee meetings, short conference talks, or hour-long seminars. A slide is a single page projected on a screen, usually built on the premise of a title, body, and figures or tables and includes both what is shown and what is spoken about that slide. Multiple slides are strung together to tell the larger story of the presentation. While there have been excellent 10 simple rules on giving entire presentations [ 1 , 2 ], there was an absence in the fine details of how to design a slide for optimal effect—such as the design elements that allow slides to convey meaningful information, to keep the audience engaged and informed, and to deliver the information intended and in the time frame allowed. As all research presentations seek to teach, effective slide design borrows from the same principles as effective teaching, including the consideration of cognitive processing your audience is relying on to organize, process, and retain information. This is written for anyone who needs to prepare slides from any length scale and for most purposes of conveying research to broad audiences. The rules are broken into 3 primary areas. Rules 1 to 5 are about optimizing the scope of each slide. Rules 6 to 8 are about principles around designing elements of the slide. Rules 9 to 10 are about preparing for your presentation, with the slides as the central focus of that preparation.

Rule 1: Include only one idea per slide

Each slide should have one central objective to deliver—the main idea or question [ 3 – 5 ]. Often, this means breaking complex ideas down into manageable pieces (see Fig 1 , where “background” information has been split into 2 key concepts). In another example, if you are presenting a complex computational approach in a large flow diagram, introduce it in smaller units, building it up until you finish with the entire diagram. The progressive buildup of complex information means that audiences are prepared to understand the whole picture, once you have dedicated time to each of the parts. You can accomplish the buildup of components in several ways—for example, using presentation software to cover/uncover information. Personally, I choose to create separate slides for each piece of information content I introduce—where the final slide has the entire diagram, and I use cropping or a cover on duplicated slides that come before to hide what I’m not yet ready to include. I use this method in order to ensure that each slide in my deck truly presents one specific idea (the new content) and the amount of the new information on that slide can be described in 1 minute (Rule 2), but it comes with the trade-off—a change to the format of one of the slides in the series often means changes to all slides.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

Top left: A background slide that describes the background material on a project from my lab. The slide was created using a PowerPoint Design Template, which had to be modified to increase default text sizes for this figure (i.e., the default text sizes are even worse than shown here). Bottom row: The 2 new slides that break up the content into 2 explicit ideas about the background, using a central graphic. In the first slide, the graphic is an explicit example of the SH2 domain of PI3-kinase interacting with a phosphorylation site (Y754) on the PDGFR to describe the important details of what an SH2 domain and phosphotyrosine ligand are and how they interact. I use that same graphic in the second slide to generalize all binding events and include redundant text to drive home the central message (a lot of possible interactions might occur in the human proteome, more than we can currently measure). Top right highlights which rules were used to move from the original slide to the new slide. Specific changes as highlighted by Rule 7 include increasing contrast by changing the background color, increasing font size, changing to sans serif fonts, and removing all capital text and underlining (using bold to draw attention). PDGFR, platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009554.g001

Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide

When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged. During practice, if you find yourself spending more than a minute on a slide, there’s too much for that one slide—it’s time to break up the content into multiple slides or even remove information that is not wholly central to the story you are trying to tell. Reduce, reduce, reduce, until you get to a single message, clearly described, which takes less than 1 minute to present.

Rule 3: Make use of your heading

When each slide conveys only one message, use the heading of that slide to write exactly the message you are trying to deliver. Instead of titling the slide “Results,” try “CTNND1 is central to metastasis” or “False-positive rates are highly sample specific.” Use this landmark signpost to ensure that all the content on that slide is related exactly to the heading and only the heading. Think of the slide heading as the introductory or concluding sentence of a paragraph and the slide content the rest of the paragraph that supports the main point of the paragraph. An audience member should be able to follow along with you in the “paragraph” and come to the same conclusion sentence as your header at the end of the slide.

Rule 4: Include only essential points

While you are speaking, audience members’ eyes and minds will be wandering over your slide. If you have a comment, detail, or figure on a slide, have a plan to explicitly identify and talk about it. If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, then don’t have it on your slide. This is especially important when faculty are present. I often tell students that thesis committee members are like cats: If you put a shiny bauble in front of them, they’ll go after it. Be sure to only put the shiny baubles on slides that you want them to focus on. Putting together a thesis meeting for only faculty is really an exercise in herding cats (if you have cats, you know this is no easy feat). Clear and concise slide design will go a long way in helping you corral those easily distracted faculty members.

Rule 5: Give credit, where credit is due

An exception to Rule 4 is to include proper citations or references to work on your slide. When adding citations, names of other researchers, or other types of credit, use a consistent style and method for adding this information to your slides. Your audience will then be able to easily partition this information from the other content. A common mistake people make is to think “I’ll add that reference later,” but I highly recommend you put the proper reference on the slide at the time you make it, before you forget where it came from. Finally, in certain kinds of presentations, credits can make it clear who did the work. For the faculty members heading labs, it is an effective way to connect your audience with the personnel in the lab who did the work, which is a great career booster for that person. For graduate students, it is an effective way to delineate your contribution to the work, especially in meetings where the goal is to establish your credentials for meeting the rigors of a PhD checkpoint.

Rule 6: Use graphics effectively

As a rule, you should almost never have slides that only contain text. Build your slides around good visualizations. It is a visual presentation after all, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, on the flip side, don’t muddy the point of the slide by putting too many complex graphics on a single slide. A multipanel figure that you might include in a manuscript should often be broken into 1 panel per slide (see Rule 1 ). One way to ensure that you use the graphics effectively is to make a point to introduce the figure and its elements to the audience verbally, especially for data figures. For example, you might say the following: “This graph here shows the measured false-positive rate for an experiment and each point is a replicate of the experiment, the graph demonstrates …” If you have put too much on one slide to present in 1 minute (see Rule 2 ), then the complexity or number of the visualizations is too much for just one slide.

Rule 7: Design to avoid cognitive overload

The type of slide elements, the number of them, and how you present them all impact the ability for the audience to intake, organize, and remember the content. For example, a frequent mistake in slide design is to include full sentences, but reading and verbal processing use the same cognitive channels—therefore, an audience member can either read the slide, listen to you, or do some part of both (each poorly), as a result of cognitive overload [ 4 ]. The visual channel is separate, allowing images/videos to be processed with auditory information without cognitive overload [ 6 ] (Rule 6). As presentations are an exercise in listening, and not reading, do what you can to optimize the ability of the audience to listen. Use words sparingly as “guide posts” to you and the audience about major points of the slide. In fact, you can add short text fragments, redundant with the verbal component of the presentation, which has been shown to improve retention [ 7 ] (see Fig 1 for an example of redundant text that avoids cognitive overload). Be careful in the selection of a slide template to minimize accidentally adding elements that the audience must process, but are unimportant. David JP Phillips argues (and effectively demonstrates in his TEDx talk [ 5 ]) that the human brain can easily interpret 6 elements and more than that requires a 500% increase in human cognition load—so keep the total number of elements on the slide to 6 or less. Finally, in addition to the use of short text, white space, and the effective use of graphics/images, you can improve ease of cognitive processing further by considering color choices and font type and size. Here are a few suggestions for improving the experience for your audience, highlighting the importance of these elements for some specific groups:

• Use high contrast colors and simple backgrounds with low to no color—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment.
• Use sans serif fonts and large font sizes (including figure legends), avoid italics, underlining (use bold font instead for emphasis), and all capital letters—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment [ 8 ].
• Use color combinations and palettes that can be understood by those with different forms of color blindness [ 9 ]. There are excellent tools available to identify colors to use and ways to simulate your presentation or figures as they might be seen by a person with color blindness (easily found by a web search).
• In this increasing world of virtual presentation tools, consider practicing your talk with a closed captioning system capture your words. Use this to identify how to improve your speaking pace, volume, and annunciation to improve understanding by all members of your audience, but especially those with a hearing impairment.

Rule 8: Design the slide so that a distracted person gets the main takeaway

It is very difficult to stay focused on a presentation, especially if it is long or if it is part of a longer series of talks at a conference. Audience members may get distracted by an important email, or they may start dreaming of lunch. So, it’s important to look at your slide and ask “If they heard nothing I said, will they understand the key concept of this slide?” The other rules are set up to help with this, including clarity of the single point of the slide (Rule 1), titling it with a major conclusion (Rule 3), and the use of figures (Rule 6) and short text redundant to your verbal description (Rule 7). However, with each slide, step back and ask whether its main conclusion is conveyed, even if someone didn’t hear your accompanying dialog. Importantly, ask if the information on the slide is at the right level of abstraction. For example, do you have too many details about the experiment, which hides the conclusion of the experiment (i.e., breaking Rule 1)? If you are worried about not having enough details, keep a slide at the end of your slide deck (after your conclusions and acknowledgments) with the more detailed information that you can refer to during a question and answer period.

Rule 9: Iteratively improve slide design through practice

Well-designed slides that follow the first 8 rules are intended to help you deliver the message you intend and in the amount of time you intend to deliver it in. The best way to ensure that you nailed slide design for your presentation is to practice, typically a lot. The most important aspects of practicing a new presentation, with an eye toward slide design, are the following 2 key points: (1) practice to ensure that you hit, each time through, the most important points (for example, the text guide posts you left yourself and the title of the slide); and (2) practice to ensure that as you conclude the end of one slide, it leads directly to the next slide. Slide transitions, what you say as you end one slide and begin the next, are important to keeping the flow of the “story.” Practice is when I discover that the order of my presentation is poor or that I left myself too few guideposts to remember what was coming next. Additionally, during practice, the most frequent things I have to improve relate to Rule 2 (the slide takes too long to present, usually because I broke Rule 1, and I’m delivering too much information for one slide), Rule 4 (I have a nonessential detail on the slide), and Rule 5 (I forgot to give a key reference). The very best type of practice is in front of an audience (for example, your lab or peers), where, with fresh perspectives, they can help you identify places for improving slide content, design, and connections across the entirety of your talk.

Rule 10: Design to mitigate the impact of technical disasters

The real presentation almost never goes as we planned in our heads or during our practice. Maybe the speaker before you went over time and now you need to adjust. Maybe the computer the organizer is having you use won’t show your video. Maybe your internet is poor on the day you are giving a virtual presentation at a conference. Technical problems are routinely part of the practice of sharing your work through presentations. Hence, you can design your slides to limit the impact certain kinds of technical disasters create and also prepare alternate approaches. Here are just a few examples of the preparation you can do that will take you a long way toward avoiding a complete fiasco:

• Save your presentation as a PDF—if the version of Keynote or PowerPoint on a host computer cause issues, you still have a functional copy that has a higher guarantee of compatibility.
• In using videos, create a backup slide with screen shots of key results. For example, if I have a video of cell migration, I’ll be sure to have a copy of the start and end of the video, in case the video doesn’t play. Even if the video worked, you can pause on this backup slide and take the time to highlight the key results in words if someone could not see or understand the video.
• Avoid animations, such as figures or text that flash/fly-in/etc. Surveys suggest that no one likes movement in presentations [ 3 , 4 ]. There is likely a cognitive underpinning to the almost universal distaste of pointless animations that relates to the idea proposed by Kosslyn and colleagues that animations are salient perceptual units that captures direct attention [ 4 ]. Although perceptual salience can be used to draw attention to and improve retention of specific points, if you use this approach for unnecessary/unimportant things (like animation of your bullet point text, fly-ins of figures, etc.), then you will distract your audience from the important content. Finally, animations cause additional processing burdens for people with visual impairments [ 10 ] and create opportunities for technical disasters if the software on the host system is not compatible with your planned animation.

Conclusions

These rules are just a start in creating more engaging presentations that increase audience retention of your material. However, there are wonderful resources on continuing on the journey of becoming an amazing public speaker, which includes understanding the psychology and neuroscience behind human perception and learning. For example, as highlighted in Rule 7, David JP Phillips has a wonderful TEDx talk on the subject [ 5 ], and “PowerPoint presentation flaws and failures: A psychological analysis,” by Kosslyn and colleagues is deeply detailed about a number of aspects of human cognition and presentation style [ 4 ]. There are many books on the topic, including the popular “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds [ 11 ]. Finally, although briefly touched on here, the visualization of data is an entire topic of its own that is worth perfecting for both written and oral presentations of work, with fantastic resources like Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” [ 12 ] or the article “Visualization of Biomedical Data” by O’Donoghue and colleagues [ 13 ].

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the countless presenters, colleagues, students, and mentors from which I have learned a great deal from on effective presentations. Also, a thank you to the wonderful resources published by organizations on how to increase inclusivity. A special thanks to Dr. Jason Papin and Dr. Michael Guertin on early feedback of this editorial.

• View Article
• PubMed/NCBI
• Google Scholar
• 3. Teaching VUC for Making Better PowerPoint Presentations. n.d. Available from: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/making-better-powerpoint-presentations/#baddeley .
• 8. Creating a dyslexia friendly workplace. Dyslexia friendly style guide. nd. Available from: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-friendly-workplace/dyslexia-friendly-style-guide .
• 9. Cravit R. How to Use Color Blind Friendly Palettes to Make Your Charts Accessible. 2019. Available from: https://venngage.com/blog/color-blind-friendly-palette/ .
• 10. Making your conference presentation more accessible to blind and partially sighted people. n.d. Available from: https://vocaleyes.co.uk/services/resources/guidelines-for-making-your-conference-presentation-more-accessible-to-blind-and-partially-sighted-people/ .
• 11. Reynolds G. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. 2nd ed. New Riders Pub; 2011.
• 12. Tufte ER. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd ed. Graphics Press; 2001.

Communicating Psychological Science: 5 Tips for Creating an Effective Poster Presentation

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The first time creating a scientific poster to present at psychological conferences can be confusing and nerve-racking for many, especially undergraduate students. If you are studying or working at a higher education institution, the university’s writing center or libraries will have a lot of resources on how to prepare a poster, including specific examples (e.g., New York University, 2022).  If you don’t have access to these resources, there is a multitude of cost-free online information that you can use. As an early-career student researcher and Emerging Scholar Award winner from the 2022 APS Convention, I will provide some personal experiences and advice to create an effective poster. 

Think of a poster as a creative visual outlet!  

When planning your poster, visualize the methods, designs, and results in figure forms like graphs, plots, or charts, rather than in text form like an essay or a manuscript. You should have fun, enjoy the process, and explore your artistic skills! Although some conferences may have specific requirements for font size, font color, or the number of figures/tables you can include, you can still express your unique taste through mapping the layout that fits your study. For instance, in experimental designs, if your results are not significant but the methods are thorough and thought-provoking, you can save more space to draw the flowcharts that explain the procedures or include the materials that you showed the participants. My first poster was presented at the 2022 Western Psychological Association Convention (Figure 1), and I believe the results were the most exciting part, so I placed them in the center. This poster is not my best draft (and you’re not expected to master anything in the first try!), but I think you can learn a lot from my shortcomings to improve your own presentation. 

View your poster from audience’s perspectives.  

Consider the potential audience when presenting your poster. Do you have an intriguing title that can capture their first impression? Is the poster readable with the appropriate font size and colors? You would not want to make a poster with 10 different colors or have walls of texts with a font size of 12 on a 36 x 48 poster (even size 20 is small, in my opinion). In addition, consider your audience’s levels of interest and information retention. Try to include only the main results and/or the key takeaway messages that people can easily remember after 2 to 5 minutes of listening to your presentation. It’s always tempting to put every detail into your poster, yet the goal is not to show how much you know, but to inform the audience about a phenomenon and foster discussions about the findings, future directions, or related studies.  

Present with simple words and relatable narratives.   

To make your study more memorable, try to use simple, plain English and avoid abbreviations when presenting your results, as not everyone in your audience may know the technical jargon. Even if you’re presenting to specialists in the field, it would be useful to explain the measures you used in your study. For example, if I were to present to a general audience, I would use ‘thinking processes’ instead of ‘cognition.’ Also prepare some narratives or personal comments and analogies to transform an abstract topic into a concrete image that the audience can remember. For instance, if you study motivation and goal engagement strategies, try to ask the audience about some of their academic, career, or health-related goals and habits to start the conversation.   

See all Communicating Psychological Science columns

Use social media to communicate your study.  

In addition to creating and presenting a poster, share your findings on social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and your personal blog! Practice open science as a movement, or in Hagger’s (2022) view, a ‘mindset’ to increase accessibility and future research contributions. To further communicate your own research publicly, you can also include a QR code in your poster that links to a digital copy of the poster, a short video presentation of your study, and your personal contacts. This practice can be especially helpful if you are a student or an early-career researcher, as you will increase your presence in the academic community and welcome potential feedback from senior researchers. And having your first conference poster presented already makes you a great example for other junior researchers. 

Stay confident and open-minded!   

Don’t be discouraged if you encounter nonsignificant results or harsh criticisms! Research is about nonstop revisions, so you always have opportunities to adjust your methods, designs, and analyses (Brock, 2019). People have different preferences over how psychological science research should be conducted and how posters should be presented, so don’t worry too much if your results are not broadly significant or if people have strong opinions about your study approach. Nonsignificant results are meaningful themselves! Be open-minded and learn about new topics, but also believe in yourself and your ability to do research.

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References  

Brock, J. (2019, September 16). 5 tips for dealing with non-significant results . Nature. https://www.nature.com/nature-index/news-blog/top-tips-for-dealing-with-non-significant-null-results  

Hagger, M. S. (2022). Developing an open science ‘mindset.’ Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine , 10 (1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2021.2012474  

New York University. (2022, July 20). How to create a research poster . https://guides.nyu.edu/posters   

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About the Author

Ha Bui is a BA candidate in Social and Behavioral Sciences (focused Psychology) at Soka University of America in California . A 2022 APS Emerging Scholar Award recipient, Ha’s research interests include lifespan development, academic and career readiness and success, low-income and first-generation students, and mixed methods in social sciences.    

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Presenting Your Research

50 Other Presentation Formats

Learning objectives.

• List several ways that researchers in psychology can present their research and the situations in which they might use them.
• Describe how final manuscripts differ from copy manuscripts in American Psychological Association (APA) style.
• Describe the purpose of talks and posters at professional conferences.
• Prepare a short conference-style talk and simple poster presentation.

Writing an empirical research report in American Psychological Association (APA) style is only one way to present new research in psychology. In this section, we look at several other important ways.

Other Types of Manuscripts

The previous section focused on writing empirical research reports to be submitted for publication in a professional journal. However, there are other kinds of manuscripts that are written in APA style, many of which will not be submitted for publication elsewhere. Here we look at a few of them.

Review and Theoretical Articles

Recall that  review articles  summarize research on a particular topic without presenting new empirical results. When these articles present a new theory, they are often called  theoretical articles . Review and theoretical articles are structured much like empirical research reports, with a title page, an abstract, references, appendixes, tables, and figures, and they are written in the same high-level and low-level style. Because they do not report the results of new empirical research, however, there is no method or results section. Of course, the body of the manuscript should still have a logical organization and include an opening that identifies the topic and explains its importance, a literature review that organizes previous research (identifying important relationships among concepts or gaps in the literature), and a closing or conclusion that summarizes the main conclusions and suggests directions for further research or discusses theoretical and practical implications. In a theoretical article, of course, much of the body of the manuscript is devoted to presenting the new theory. Theoretical and review articles are usually divided into sections, each with a heading that is appropriate to that section. The sections and headings can vary considerably from article to article (unlike in an empirical research report). But whatever they are, they should help organize the manuscript and make the argument clear.

Final Manuscripts

Until now, we have focused on the formatting of manuscripts that will be submitted to a professional journal for publication. In contrast, other types of manuscripts are prepared by the author in their final form with no intention of submitting them for publication elsewhere. These are called  final manuscripts and include dissertations, theses, and other student papers. These manuscripts may look different from strictly APA style manuscripts in ways that make them easier to read, such as putting tables and figures close to where they are discussed so that the reader does not have to flip to the back of the manuscript to see them. If you read a dissertation or thesis, for example, you might notice it does not adhere strictly to APA style formatting. For student papers, it is important to check with the course instructor about formatting specifics. In a research methods course, papers are usually required to be written as though they were manuscripts being submitted for publication.

Conference Presentations

One of the ways that researchers in psychology share their research with each other is by presenting it at  professional conferences . (Although some professional conferences in psychology are devoted mainly to issues of clinical practice, we are concerned here with those that focus on research.) Professional conferences can range from small-scale events involving a dozen researchers who get together for an afternoon to large-scale events involving thousands of researchers who meet for several days. Although researchers attending a professional conference are likely to discuss their work with each other informally, there are two more formal types of presentation: oral presentations (“talks”) and posters. Presenting a talk or poster at a conference usually requires submitting an abstract of the research to the conference organizers in advance and having it accepted for presentation—although the peer review process is typically not as rigorous as it is for manuscripts submitted to a professional journal.

Oral Presentations

In an  oral presentation , or “talk,” the presenter stands in front of an audience of other researchers and tells them about their research—usually with the help of a slide show. Talks usually last from 10 to 20 minutes, with the last few minutes reserved for questions from the audience. At larger conferences, talks are typically grouped into sessions lasting an hour or two in which all the talks are on the same general topic.

In preparing a talk, presenters should keep several general principles in mind. The first is that the number of slides should be no more than about one per minute of the talk. The second is that talks are generally structured like an APA-style research report. There is a slide with the title and authors, a few slides to help provide the background, a few more to help describe the method, a few for the results, and a few for the conclusions. The third is that the presenter should look at the audience members and speak to them in a conversational tone that is less formal than APA-style writing but more formal than a conversation with a friend. The slides should not be the focus of the presentation; they should act as visual aids. As such, they should present the main points in bulleted lists or simple tables and figures.

Another way to present research at a conference is in the form of a  poster . A poster is typically presented during a one- to two-hour  poster session  that takes place in a large room at the conference site. Presenters set up their posters on bulletin boards arranged around the room and stand near them. Other researchers then circulate through the room, read the posters, and talk to the presenters. In essence, poster sessions are a grown-up version of the school science fair. But there is nothing childish about them. Posters are used by professional researchers in all scientific disciplines and they are becoming increasingly common. At a recent American Psychological Association Conference, nearly 2,000 posters were presented across 16 separate poster sessions. Among the reasons posters are so popular is that they encourage meaningful interaction among researchers.

Posters are typically a large size, maybe four feet wide and three feet high. The poster’s information is organized into distinct sections, including a title, author names and affiliations, an introduction, a method section, a results section, a discussion or conclusions section, references, and acknowledgments. Although posters can include an abstract, this may not be necessary because the poster itself is already a brief summary of the research. Figure 11.6 shows two different ways that the information on a poster might be organized.

Given the conditions under which posters are often presented—for example, in crowded ballrooms where people are also eating, drinking, and socializing—they should be constructed so that they present the main ideas behind the research in as simple and clear a way as possible. The font sizes on a poster should be large—perhaps 72 points for the title and authors’ names and 28 points for the main text. The information should be organized into sections with clear headings, and text should be blocked into sentences or bulleted points rather than paragraphs. It is also better for it to be organized in columns and flow from top to bottom rather than to be organized in rows that flow across the poster. This makes it easier for multiple people to read at the same time without bumping into each other. Posters often include elements that add visual interest. Figures can be more colorful than those in an APA-style manuscript. Posters can also include copies of visual stimuli, photographs of the apparatus, or a simulation of participants being tested. They can also include purely decorative elements, although it is best not to overdo these.

Again, a primary reason that posters are becoming such a popular way to present research is that they facilitate interaction among researchers. Many presenters immediately offer to describe their research to visitors and use the poster as a visual aid. At the very least, it is important for presenters to stand by their posters, greet visitors, offer to answer questions, and be prepared for questions and even the occasional critical comment. It is generally a good idea to have a more detailed write-up of the research available for visitors who want more information, to offer to send them a detailed write-up, or to provide contact information so that they can request more information later.

For more information on preparing and presenting both talks and posters, see the website of the Undergraduate Advising and Research Office at Dartmouth College:  http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ugar/undergrad/posterinstructions.html

Professional Conferences

Following are links to the websites for several large national conferences in North America and also for several conferences that feature the work of undergraduate students. For a comprehensive list of psychology conferences worldwide, see the following website.

http://www.conferencealerts.com/psychology.htm

Large Conferences

Canadian Psychological Association Convention: http://www.cpa.ca/convention

American Psychological Association Convention: http://www.apa.org/convention

Association for Psychological Science Conference: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/convention

Canadian Society for Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science Annual Meeting: https://www.csbbcs.org/meetings

Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference: http://meeting.spsp.org/

Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting: http://www.psychonomic.org/annual-meeting

U.S. Regional conferences where undergraduate researchers frequently present

Eastern Psychological Association (EPA): http://www.easternpsychological.org

Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA): http://www.midwesternpsych.org/

New England Psychological Association (NEPA): http://www.newenglandpsychological.org/

Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA): http://www.rockymountainpsych.com/

Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA): http://www.sepaonline.com/

Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA): http://www.swpsych.org/

Western Psychological Association (WPA): http://westernpsych.org/

Canadian Undergraduate Conferences

Connecting Minds Undergraduate Research Conference: http://www.connectingminds.ca

Science Atlantic Psychology Conference: https://scienceatlantic.ca/conferences/

Image Description

Figure 11.6 image description:  Two graphics depicting ways to organize the information on a poster.

In the first graphic, the abstract and the title and authors appear along the top of the poster. Below the abstract and title are four columns. From top to bottom, left to right, the columns contain the introduction and method; Table 1 and a figure; Table 2 and the results; and the conclusions and reference section.

In the second graphic, the title and authors appear along the top of the poster. Below the title are three columns. From top to bottom, left to right, the columns contain the introduction and method; a figure and acknowledgments; and the conclusions and references.  [Return to Figure 11.6]

Articles that summarize previously published research on a topic and usually present new ways to organize or explain the results.

Manuscripts that are prepared by the author in their final form and submitted for publication.

A conference that ranges from small- to large-scale events where researchers in psychology share their research with each other through presentations.

The presenter stands in front of an audience of other researchers and tells them about their research—usually with the help of a slide show.

Another way to present research at a conference by using a large size board which demonstrates and summarizes the researchers study.

A one- to two-hour session that takes place in a large room at an professional conference site where dozens of research posters are presented.

Research Methods in Psychology Copyright © 2019 by Rajiv S. Jhangiani, I-Chant A. Chiang, Carrie Cuttler, & Dana C. Leighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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PowerPoints

A full set of PowerPoint decks is provided for download below. All decks are tightly aligned to the modules in this course. Since they are openly licensed, you are welcome to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute as desired.

These PowerPoint files are accessible. If you do revise them, make sure to follow these  guidelines for creating accessible PowerPoints .

Use this link to download  all PowerPoint decks in a single .zip file (40 MB). or the following links for individual modules.

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• Sensation and Perception
• Thinking and Intelligence
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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation of Your Research Paper

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A research paper presentation is often used at conferences and in other settings where you have an opportunity to share your research, and get feedback from your colleagues. Although it may seem as simple as summarizing your research and sharing your knowledge, successful research paper PowerPoint presentation examples show us that there’s a little bit more than that involved.

In this article, we’ll highlight how to make a PowerPoint presentation from a research paper, and what to include (as well as what NOT to include). We’ll also touch on how to present a research paper at a conference.

Purpose of a Research Paper Presentation

The purpose of presenting your paper at a conference or forum is different from the purpose of conducting your research and writing up your paper. In this setting, you want to highlight your work instead of including every detail of your research. Likewise, a presentation is an excellent opportunity to get direct feedback from your colleagues in the field. But, perhaps the main reason for presenting your research is to spark interest in your work, and entice the audience to read your research paper.

So, yes, your presentation should summarize your work, but it needs to do so in a way that encourages your audience to seek out your work, and share their interest in your work with others. It’s not enough just to present your research dryly, to get information out there. More important is to encourage engagement with you, your research, and your work.

Tips for Creating Your Research Paper Presentation

In addition to basic PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, think about the following when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Know your audience : First and foremost, who are you presenting to? Students? Experts in your field? Potential funders? Non-experts? The truth is that your audience will probably have a bit of a mix of all of the above. So, make sure you keep that in mind as you prepare your presentation.

Know more about: Discover the Target Audience .

• Your audience is human : In other words, they may be tired, they might be wondering why they’re there, and they will, at some point, be tuning out. So, take steps to help them stay interested in your presentation. You can do that by utilizing effective visuals, summarize your conclusions early, and keep your research easy to understand.
• Running outline : It’s not IF your audience will drift off, or get lost…it’s WHEN. Keep a running outline, either within the presentation or via a handout. Use visual and verbal clues to highlight where you are in the presentation.
• Where does your research fit in? You should know of work related to your research, but you don’t have to cite every example. In addition, keep references in your presentation to the end, or in the handout. Your audience is there to hear about your work.
• Plan B : Anticipate possible questions for your presentation, and prepare slides that answer those specific questions in more detail, but have them at the END of your presentation. You can then jump to them, IF needed.

What Makes a PowerPoint Presentation Effective?

You’ve probably attended a presentation where the presenter reads off of their PowerPoint outline, word for word. Or where the presentation is busy, disorganized, or includes too much information. Here are some simple tips for creating an effective PowerPoint Presentation.

• Less is more: You want to give enough information to make your audience want to read your paper. So include details, but not too many, and avoid too many formulas and technical jargon.
• Clean and professional : Avoid excessive colors, distracting backgrounds, font changes, animations, and too many words. Instead of whole paragraphs, bullet points with just a few words to summarize and highlight are best.
• Know your real-estate : Each slide has a limited amount of space. Use it wisely. Typically one, no more than two points per slide. Balance each slide visually. Utilize illustrations when needed; not extraneously.
• Keep things visual : Remember, a PowerPoint presentation is a powerful tool to present things visually. Use visual graphs over tables and scientific illustrations over long text. Keep your visuals clean and professional, just like any text you include in your presentation.

Know more about our Scientific Illustrations Services .

Another key to an effective presentation is to practice, practice, and then practice some more. When you’re done with your PowerPoint, go through it with friends and colleagues to see if you need to add (or delete excessive) information. Double and triple check for typos and errors. Know the presentation inside and out, so when you’re in front of your audience, you’ll feel confident and comfortable.

How to Present a Research Paper

If your PowerPoint presentation is solid, and you’ve practiced your presentation, that’s half the battle. Follow the basic advice to keep your audience engaged and interested by making eye contact, encouraging questions, and presenting your information with enthusiasm.

We encourage you to read our articles on how to present a scientific journal article and tips on giving good scientific presentations .

Language Editing Plus

Improve the flow and writing of your research paper with Language Editing Plus. This service includes unlimited editing, manuscript formatting for the journal of your choice, reference check and even a customized cover letter. Learn more here , and get started today!

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Preparing and presenting effective abstracts and posters in psychiatry

Manpreet k. singh.

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

Presenting an abstract and a poster gives scientists from all fields, including psychiatry, an important opportunity to introduce their research to others. Researchers and mental health professionals at all levels of career development can use several media resources to assist them with the technical aspects of preparing an abstract or a poster. This article will focus on major principles associated with preparing and presenting an abstract and a poster at a scientific meeting. A literature search using NIH PubMed was conducted to identify peer and non-peer-reviewed articles that provide methods for effective abstract and poster presentation for the period of 1966 to June 2014. First, we review the purpose and relative importance of abstracts and posters in academic settings. Next, we describe the qualities of an effective abstract and poster and common pitfalls that may occur. Finally, we present a systematic approach to preparing and presenting an abstract and a poster in a scientific setting. Several sources consistently suggest that readability, organization, and succinctness are qualities that make an effective and successful abstract and poster. Mental health professionals in all stages of their career development may benefit from following these guidelines in presenting their scientific work.

INTRODUCTION

Poster presentations convey scientific knowledge through visual representation at academic meetings across a variety of scientific subspecialties ( 1 ). They are effective vehicles for introducing new and soon to be published scientific data. The impact of posters on conveying academic knowledge is generally well accepted, with the visual appeal combined with effective author presentation of academic content being among the more influential factors on successful impact ( 2 ). Some fields dispute this impact with concerns that data from poster presentations are sometimes too preliminary to survive the rigor of academic peer review ( 3 – 5 ). In addition, some have observed that poster sessions serve limited function, benefiting mostly young investigators and poster chairpersons, compared to other components of an academic program ( 6 ). Nevertheless, most agree that poster presentations offer an ideal opportunity to disseminate research findings ( 7 ) and can be an important catalyst for manuscript preparation ( 8 ). Successful academicians have long known that posters can facilitate promotion in academic positions and can even create new job opportunities. They also help fellows and early career faculty to think critically, to develop a national reputation, and to network and develop collaborations ( 8 ). For anyone considering an academic career, these benefits become apparent fairly early in academic tenure when individuals share their scientific results in a nonthreatening and collegial atmosphere.

There are surprisingly few resources available to guide mental health professionals on how to effectively present their research in the form of a poster. This is of great concern given the widespread engagement in research activities in academic psychiatry departments ( 9 ). Indeed, among key determinants for longer academic survival full-time researchers are research training and affiliation with a major psychiatric research institution ( 10 ), underscoring the critical roles of training and environment in shaping an academic career in psychiatry. Moreover, the feasibility of introducing research training during psychiatry residency training is well established ( 11 ). This is an excellent developmental stage to acquire skills in research presentation using multiple platforms. This article aims to provide trainees in psychiatry and other mental health professions across all stages of career development the tools needed to design and effectively present a poster at a scientific meeting. These skills may also apply to other forms of scientific presentation. In fact, some experienced researchers have found that mastering skills in poster presentation can enhance presentation skills more generally. First, we will discuss the merits of an effective poster and common pitfalls associated with an unsuccessful poster.

There are several qualities that make a good poster. Many sources consistently suggest that readability, organization, and succinctness make an effective and successful poster ( 12 - 13 ). Researchers can achieve these qualities if they determine the main message or thesis of the poster and then assemble components to provide supporting evidence and illustration of their message, which can be communicated fairly succinctly to anyone viewing the poster. Indeed, first impressions count ( 14 ), and posters that ranked as among the best were reliably identified based on factors such as presentation, message, and star-quality. In contrast, facts, originality, and the science presented in a poster were less reliable indicators of top-ranked posters. All of these factors have been used as guidelines to score posters. Some academic meetings will post high-scoring posters during or after the meeting, or give out prizes for top-ranking posters, yielding even greater exposure to the research that was presented. Table 1 provides advice on how to optimize your poster experience to lead to further opportunities.

How to make your poster experience rewarding [adapted from The Academic Medicine Handbook. ( 24 )]

Problems with posters most frequently arise when they are given less importance than oral presentations or published papers ( 15 ). Miller et al. ( 13 ) outline several important pitfalls associated with unsuccessful or ineffective posters. First, presenters may fail to appreciate the opportunity offered by a poster to convey their findings while interacting with individual viewers. Second, they may neglect to adapt detailed narratives and statistical tables into readable text, bullets, and charts. These missteps render the poster difficult to read and readers have a hard time quickly grasping its key points. Third, by simply posting pages from a paper, presenters risk having viewers skim their work while standing in a large conference hall. Brief narrative descriptions summarizing one's work can serve to both initiate a conversation with colleagues about the key message being conveyed, which may then lead to more detailed feedback or collaboration. Finally, presenters may forget the range of specialties and training backgrounds to which they are presenting. It is essential to know one's audience for effective and respectful scientific communication. Presenters do not want to leave those visiting their posters with the onerous task of interpreting their findings, particularly if they are complex or difficult to understand. In most contemporary scientific settings, it is helpful to be prepared for an interdisciplinary research audience and communicate a message that has real world application ( 16 ). Presenters who pay attention to the do's and the don'ts of poster layout, format, content, and presentation ( 17 ), are more likely to be successful in using this medium for scientific communication. We now review the literature for guidance on how to make an effective poster.

A literature search using NIH PubMed was conducted to identify peer and non-peer-reviewed articles that provide methods for effective poster presentation for the period of 1966 to December 2013. The following terms were included in the search: “poster” or “presentation” or with “academic,” and “meetings,” “psychiatry,” or “training,” followed by “career development.” References from identified articles were also reviewed to ensure that all relevant papers were included.

The nuts and bolts of how to make an effective poster are straightforward but may come with several challenges if steps are inadequately considered, missed, or left to complete with insufficient time. Figure 1 provides a flow chart summary of a stepwise approach to preparing a poster. The first step is to identify a topic of interest or scientific question. Topics suitable for a poster may be broad in scope and can report on any stage of a research project. For example, one may choose to report an original study (descriptive, observational, retrospective, or experimental), an evaluation of a method, device, or protocol, or present a case report or case series. Once a scientific question and the corresponding data have been identified, an abstract can be written (see section on how to prepare an abstract below). Abstracts are submitted to professional meetings based on the abstract topic or based on the theme of the academic meeting. Organizations hosting professional meetings will invite scientists to submit an abstract several months before the meeting, with specific guidelines for abstract submission. A committee of peers is tasked by the organization to compile a scientific program for the meeting and critically reviews the abstracts. There is no guarantee that an abstract submitted for a poster presentation is accepted. There are several factors that lead to the acceptance of an abstract: adherence to the submission guidelines (some organizations will plainly state that abstracts will automatically be rejected if they do not adhere to such guidelines), presentation of new and original data (versus previously presented or published data or a review of the literature), excellent scholarship with inclusion of references, innovation, indication of comparisons or control groups and standardized measures of assessment, and complete studies (versus incomplete studies that promise later results).

Steps to preparing and presenting a poster

How to prepare an abstract

An abstract serves the central purpose of introducing an audience to work that is summarized in a clear and succinct overview. Following three simple steps may aid in preparing a successful abstract that invites an audience to learn more about the research. The first step is to review and understand the requirements for writing the abstract, taking careful consideration of the target audience. Many abstracts follow structure and word limit requirements that are usually posted in a call for papers by a conference planning committee. For example, the structure may include subsections such as a background, methods, results, and conclusion. Thus, the second step while writing the abstract, is to identify the significance and purpose of the study (objectives), explain the approach (methods) and the findings (results), and summarize the implications of the study (conclusions). Third, the abstract should be formatted to ensure that it follows a logical order. Be sure to employ important words or phrases that are key to signaling the research and avoid using abbreviations or acronyms with ambiguous references or phrases that leave a reader hanging. The abstract is the part of the poster that is most frequently read by the audience, and is commonly accessible even to those who cannot view the poster in person through conference proceedings. Some organizations will publish their conference proceedings in their companion journal, enabling an author to count the abstract as a publication.

Once a well-prepared abstract is accepted, it can be used as the outline for the poster content. Before laying out the components of a poster, this is a good time to carefully read any instructions that may have been sent by meeting organizers regarding the poster presentation. Specifically, they will commonly send instructions about the size requirements of the poster and the date, time, and location presenters have been assigned to present their posters. It is important to review the size dimensions prior to constructing the poster, as it can be tedious to adjust the size once all of the content has been laid out. A poster may not be permitted for presentation or will stand out at the meeting in an undesirable way if it is not the right size. Presenters should aim to invite positive rather than negative attention to their work, so reviewing the criteria for poster display is a critical initial step.

As noted above, most abstracts follow a specific organizational format, which includes elements such as an introduction or background, methods, results, discussion and conclusion. These elements can then be broken down into separate sections of the poster. Figure 2 provides a sample template of a poster. Typically, the abstract will be the first element, and gives the audience a chance to review the cursory summary of your work. The abstract may be placed directly under the banner or title of the poster, which, in some instances is considered the most important part of the poster because it is the most eye-catching. Some meetings may require that the title in the banner and poster be a specific size and font so that it is easily readable to the audience from a typical distance of three feet ( 12 ). The title of the poster generally corresponds to the title of the abstract submitted and should be relatively short but informative about the nature of the study. Directly under the title are author names followed by institutional affiliations. Contributions to the work presented in the poster will vary from one individual to another, but this is an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of the entire research team. It is helpful to review with colleagues and mentors who to include as a co-author on the poster and in what order. In some instances, organizations will place identifiers on the banner of the poster to signal the audience if a poster has won an award or if the presenter is a new investigator or a mentor. It is also helpful if presenters do not typically carry a business card or handouts of the poster, to have contact information listed in the corner of the banner to invite people for future contact. The abstract that follows under the banner is typically written exactly as was submitted unless results have significantly changed after interim analyses. These changes or updates are more common than not, and can lead to discrepancies between abstracts submitted and those published in proceedings handbooks and the actual poster presentations. In fact, one study found that up to 76% of abstracts in a proceedings handbooks were discrepant from their corresponding poster presentations, suggesting that attending the poster was the best way to get the most up to date information about the research of interest ( 18 ). Certainly, the abstract should be consistent with the data being presented in the poster because the abstract and the banner will likely be the most frequently read portions of the poster. It will summarize the objectives of the study, the methodological approach employed, the results, and the major conclusions drawn from the results. These are then elaborated in subsequent elements of the poster.

General layout of a poster

The introduction section follows generally below the abstract, and provides a background context and purpose for conducting the study being presented. It is helpful here to expand on the importance of the study and why it might be particularly relevant to the audience. Then, the research question is proposed, followed by hypotheses about the outcome of the study. These predictions may be informed by prior literature that should be referenced, or may be based on predictions of work that has been previously presented. When presenting this section of the poster, it is helpful to get the background of the audience to facilitate their engagement with the poster presentation.

The next element summarizes the methods of the poster. Here, bulleted text is often preferred to provide succinct, clear statements about how the study was conducted. The information should be sufficient for another researcher to be able to replicate the presenter's approach ( 12 ), but since space is limited, this may be an area that is expanded on during a discussion with the audience, or in response to specific questions that are posed to the presenter. The methods should demonstrate a valid approach to answering the scientific question, providing sufficient information about the sample (from which population it was derived, selection criteria, group assignment), the materials or interventions used, and the statistical approach to analyzing primary and secondary outcome measures. It is easy to get bogged down in this section and provide too much detail that may not be within the scope of a poster presentation. One may be particularly vulnerable to losing the interest of his audience while presenting this component of the poster. The presenter should decide what is the most important aspect of the methods that need to be communicated and reassure herself that she will be able to provide additional detail to anyone requesting it while she presents her poster.

The results section is another component of the poster that will likely receive relatively more attention than other sections. Attendees at poster sessions are very interested in understanding how presenters answered their scientific questions and how the groups that were studied compared to one another on the major outcome measures. Graphical presentation of data is often necessary and helps to illustrate data in ways words cannot. It is important to make sure that any tables and figures used are clear and self-explanatory, with appropriate use of error bars to define variance around results and legends to define variables.

In the discussion section of the poster, presenters should take time to reflect on the significance of their findings in the context of the current study, as well as in the context of the broader field. It is useful to review the literature on related studies and offer some insights about how the study compares to those already published. It is very likely that the results presented will either support the extant literature on the topic or contradict them, warranting an explanation for differences in findings. Presenters should offer limitations of their current study and suggestions for future directions to address the scientific question proposed. This section requires some inferential thinking and may spark fruitful discussions at the poster session. Presenters often will derive more ideas from their audience about the interpretation of the results so it is important for presenters to be attuned to that. A concluding statement should relate the initial research question and predictions to the study results, tying the poster together.

Below the discussion and conclusions is a place to include references for any key literature that is related to the study. The format of the references should be consistent with the text. Including references is an important gesture that adds to the validity of the work presented and acknowledges how the research may be related to the larger field. It is quite possible that an author who has been cited in the poster will come to view the poster, at which point it will be important to have knowledge both of the work being presented as well as that of the author who was cited. If a presenter should strike such luck as to meet an author he has cited, he should take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about her work and the impact it has on the presenter's study.

Finally, many organizations are now requiring presenters to report on their poster all relevant funding sources for their study and disclosure of any potential conflicts of interests. This has become an essential component for most posters presented at psychiatric meetings and will certainly be required if the work is eventually published. The integrity of the research presented depends on disclosures of any potential distorting influences where they may exist, and the audience may then judge and determine the impact of bias on the information being presented. Investigators should not view this requirement as punitive or avoid engaging in research involving interventions or devices sponsored by industry. This is just a part of being a scientist in era of open disclosure.

Once the elements have been developed and assembled, the poster is ready to be constructed. After reworking initial drafts, presenters should seek feedback from their mentors. Presenters will likely have several months between the time the poster's abstract is accepted to the actual date of presentation. Researchers should not procrastinate and leave their preparation until the last minute ( 19 ). Mentors will appreciate the advanced notice and the ability to provide meaningful feedback well before the meeting. Presenters should remember that their mentors will also likely have to prepare for presenting at the same meeting. Moreover, if it is a presenter's first time presenting, she should engage her research team to provide her with some constructive preliminary feedback and to simulate the poster experience so that she is ready to address any questions that might be posed to her about her work. Another set of eyes is always useful to check for any typos, stylistic, or grammatical errors that presenters may not be aware of in their preparation. It is sometimes also helpful to get feedback from individuals who are not in the same field to get a sense of how the research might be evaluated by someone in a less related area. Upon finalizing a poster, presenters may choose a variety of different ways to print or display their poster, and there are a variety of online resources for poster presentations. Indeed, resources across institutions are highly variable, with some institutions having in-house facilities and staff to help with poster printing, and others requiring the use of printing vendors, such as FedEx Office Print & Ship Services or The UPS Store, which may have branches available local to where the academic meeting is held. In recent years, the scientific community has made tremendous strides in poster production ( 15 , 20 - 21 ), which eventually may lead to more technologically advanced formats, eliminating the need for paper altogether.

The next step in the process is the poster presentation. Some meetings offer an opportunity for early viewing of posters including on electronic platforms during the weeks leading to the meeting, and may request that the poster be placed on its designated board the morning of the presentation. Presenters should strive to be on time for the poster session, and try to remain at the poster as much as possible to be available to answer any questions by those viewing the poster. It is helpful to have a 2 minute summary of the poster, when if requested, the presenter can walk people through the various components in a relatively efficient manner. Presenters should be open to interruption and feedback during this presentation because among other reasons, it may improve the study, especially if it is being considered for publication. A two-minute summary of the poster becomes easier to present as the session carries on because presenters become adept in gauging their audience, revising their presentation approach, and getting to the heart of their message efficiently. This iterative process in a relaxed, nonthreatening environment ( 22 ) makes a poster presentation unique and very enjoyable for both presenters and their audience. Institutions and research laboratories commonly like to display the posters after the academic meeting, so it is helpful to check with advisors to see if a poster should be transported back from the conference (Text Box 1).

After the poster session, it is helpful for presenters to record some of the feedback they received from the people they met. This will enrich their discussion with their mentors and colleagues after the meeting to debrief on the experience and plan for next steps related to the study or for future projects ( Table 2 ). As mentioned earlier, there are several skeptics who believe that poster presentations carry limited weight in scientific process, or criticize posters for not being memorable events in scientific meetings ( 23 ). Among the most rewarding aspects of presenting a poster is the ability to utilize that medium to facilitate publication of research. If this is seen as the final step to the poster process, it can be a fruitful way to becoming a prolific author. This is commonly the case because in academics, one is often attending several meetings a year, and while manuscripts often do not have deadlines associated with them, abstracts for meetings do. Thus, there is no better way to take advantage of that stimulus to produce and analyze data than to simply move that work from poster to publication. It is also true that posters provide a helpful template for the initial draft of a manuscript. This fact combined with the feedback presenters receive at their posters can help them write and submit a manuscript that has already anticipated concerns that would be raised by reviewers. For these reasons, the last step for presenting a poster should be preparing it for publication.

Questions to pose to a mentor or colleague [adapted from The academic medicine handbook. ( 24 )]:

In this review, the purpose and importance of poster presentations were described and the qualities and pitfalls of this medium were summarized. Current opinion based on a review of the literature is that posters offer an opportunity to clearly and succinctly communicate research findings to colleagues, mentors, and potential future collaborators. The presentation of a poster offers mental health professionals a chance to network with peers and receive important feedback on their work in a nonthreatening environment. Eventually, this can lead to recognition, establishment of expertise, and possibly career advancement. A poster can serve as an effective stimulus for the publication of scientific work, and if prepared and presented systematically, can be highly rewarding throughout an academic career.

Text Box 1: Implications for Mentors

• - Mentors should encourage their students to present their scholarly work in the form of a poster at an academic meeting.
• - Well-mentored poster presentations can help trainees learn to connect with their audience, to direct and hold their audience's attention, and to enhance understanding and memory of their work with a clear take away message.
• - Trainees learn much from observing how their mentors network during an academic meeting.
• - Mentors should support their trainees by attending their posters and providing feedback to other trainees who are presenting at academic meetings.
• - Debriefing with trainees after a poster presentation can stimulate plans for next steps for the academic work, including publication.

DISCLOSURES

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

How to Write an Abstract APA Format

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

An APA abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of an article, research paper, dissertation, or report.

It is written in accordance with the guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA), which is a widely used format in social and behavioral sciences. 

An APA abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of between 150–250 words, the major aspects of a research paper or dissertation in a prescribed sequence that includes:

• The rationale: the overall purpose of the study, providing a clear context for the research undertaken.
• Information regarding the method and participants: including materials/instruments, design, procedure, and data analysis.
• Main findings or trends: effectively highlighting the key outcomes of the hypotheses.
• Interpretations and conclusion(s): solidify the implications of the research.
• Keywords related to the study: assist the paper’s discoverability in academic databases.

The abstract should stand alone, be “self-contained,” and make sense to the reader in isolation from the main article.

The purpose of the abstract is to give the reader a quick overview of the essential information before reading the entire article. The abstract is placed on its own page, directly after the title page and before the main body of the paper.

Although the abstract will appear as the very first part of your paper, it’s good practice to write your abstract after you’ve drafted your full paper, so that you know what you’re summarizing.

Note : This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), released in October 2019.

Structure of the Abstract

[NOTE: DO NOT separate the components of the abstract – it should be written as a single paragraph. This section is separated to illustrate the abstract’s structure.]

1) The Rationale

One or two sentences describing the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) you investigated. You are basically justifying why this study was conducted.

• What is the importance of the research?
• Why would a reader be interested in the larger work?
• For example, are you filling a gap in previous research or applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data?
• Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer can experience an array of psychosocial difficulties; however, social support, particularly from a spouse, has been shown to have a protective function during this time. This study examined the ways in which a woman’s daily mood, pain, and fatigue, and her spouse’s marital satisfaction predict the woman’s report of partner support in the context of breast cancer.
• The current nursing shortage, high hospital nurse job dissatisfaction, and reports of uneven quality of hospital care are not uniquely American phenomena.
• Students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are more likely to exhibit behavioral difficulties than their typically developing peers. The aim of this study was to identify specific risk factors that influence variability in behavior difficulties among individuals with SEND.

2) The Method

Information regarding the participants (number, and population). One or two sentences outlining the method, explaining what was done and how. The method is described in the present tense.

• Pretest data from a larger intervention study and multilevel modeling were used to examine the effects of women’s daily mood, pain, and fatigue and average levels of mood, pain, and fatigue on women’s report of social support received from her partner, as well as how the effects of mood interacted with partners’ marital satisfaction.
• This paper presents reports from 43,000 nurses from more than 700 hospitals in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, and Germany in 1998–1999.
• The study sample comprised 4,228 students with SEND, aged 5–15, drawn from 305 primary and secondary schools across England. Explanatory variables were measured at the individual and school levels at baseline, along with a teacher-reported measure of behavior difficulties (assessed at baseline and the 18-month follow-up).

3) The Results

One or two sentences indicating the main findings or trends found as a result of your analysis. The results are described in the present or past tense.

• Results show that on days in which women reported higher levels of negative or positive mood, as well as on days they reported more pain and fatigue, they reported receiving more support. Women who, on average, reported higher levels of positive mood tended to report receiving more support than those who, on average, reported lower positive mood. However, average levels of negative mood were not associated with support. Higher average levels of fatigue but not pain were associated with higher support. Finally, women whose husbands reported higher levels of marital satisfaction reported receiving more partner support, but husbands’ marital satisfaction did not moderate the effect of women’s mood on support.
• Nurses in countries with distinctly different healthcare systems report similar shortcomings in their work environments and the quality of hospital care. While the competence of and relation between nurses and physicians appear satisfactory, core problems in work design and workforce management threaten the provision of care.
• Hierarchical linear modeling of data revealed that differences between schools accounted for between 13% (secondary) and 15.4% (primary) of the total variance in the development of students’ behavior difficulties, with the remainder attributable to individual differences. Statistically significant risk markers for these problems across both phases of education were being male, eligibility for free school meals, being identified as a bully, and lower academic achievement. Additional risk markers specific to each phase of education at the individual and school levels are also acknowledged.

4) The Conclusion / Implications

A brief summary of your conclusions and implications of the results, described in the present tense. Explain the results and why the study is important to the reader.

• For example, what changes should be implemented as a result of the findings of the work?
• How does this work add to the body of knowledge on the topic?

Implications of these findings are discussed relative to assisting couples during this difficult time in their lives.

• Resolving these issues, which are amenable to managerial intervention, is essential to preserving patient safety and care of consistently high quality.
• Behavior difficulties are affected by risks across multiple ecological levels. Addressing any one of these potential influences is therefore likely to contribute to the reduction in the problems displayed.

The above examples of abstracts are from the following papers:

Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J. A., Busse, R., Clarke, H., … & Shamian, J. (2001). Nurses’ reports on hospital care in five countries . Health affairs, 20(3) , 43-53.

Boeding, S. E., Pukay-Martin, N. D., Baucom, D. H., Porter, L. S., Kirby, J. S., Gremore, T. M., & Keefe, F. J. (2014). Couples and breast cancer: Women’s mood and partners’ marital satisfaction predicting support perception . Journal of Family Psychology, 28(5) , 675.

Oldfield, J., Humphrey, N., & Hebron, J. (2017). Risk factors in the development of behavior difficulties among students with special educational needs and disabilities: A multilevel analysis . British journal of educational psychology, 87(2) , 146-169.

5) Keywords

APA style suggests including a list of keywords at the end of the abstract. This is particularly common in academic articles and helps other researchers find your work in databases.

Keywords in an abstract should be selected to help other researchers find your work when searching an online database. These keywords should effectively represent the main topics of your study. Here are some tips for choosing keywords:

Core Concepts: Identify the most important ideas or concepts in your paper. These often include your main research topic, the methods you’ve used, or the theories you’re discussing.

Specificity: Your keywords should be specific to your research. For example, suppose your paper is about the effects of climate change on bird migration patterns in a specific region. In that case, your keywords might include “climate change,” “bird migration,” and the region’s name.

Consistency with Paper: Make sure your keywords are consistent with the terms you’ve used in your paper. For example, if you use the term “adolescent” rather than “teen” in your paper, choose “adolescent” as your keyword, not “teen.”

Jargon and Acronyms: Avoid using too much-specialized jargon or acronyms in your keywords, as these might not be understood or used by all researchers in your field.

Synonyms: Consider including synonyms of your keywords to capture as many relevant searches as possible. For example, if your paper discusses “post-traumatic stress disorder,” you might include “PTSD” as a keyword.

Remember, keywords are a tool for others to find your work, so think about what terms other researchers might use when searching for papers on your topic.

The Abstract SHOULD NOT contain:

Lengthy background or contextual information: The abstract should focus on your research and findings, not general topic background.

Undefined jargon, abbreviations,  or acronyms: The abstract should be accessible to a wide audience, so avoid highly specialized terms without defining them.

Citations: Abstracts typically do not include citations, as they summarize original research.

Incomplete sentences or bulleted lists: The abstract should be a single, coherent paragraph written in complete sentences.

New information not covered in the paper: The abstract should only summarize the paper’s content.

Subjective comments or value judgments: Stick to objective descriptions of your research.

Excessive details on methods or procedures: Keep descriptions of methods brief and focused on main steps.

Speculative or inconclusive statements: The abstract should state the research’s clear findings, not hypotheses or possible interpretations.

• Any illustration, figure, table, or references to them . All visual aids, data, or extensive details should be included in the main body of your paper, not in the abstract. 
• Elliptical or incomplete sentences should be avoided in an abstract . The use of ellipses (…), which could indicate incomplete thoughts or omitted text, is not appropriate in an abstract.

APA Style for Abstracts

An APA abstract must be formatted as follows:

Include the running head aligned to the left at the top of the page (professional papers only) and page number. Note, student papers do not require a running head. On the first line, center the heading “Abstract” and bold (do not underlined or italicize). Do not indent the single abstract paragraph (which begins one line below the section title). Double-space the text. Use Times New Roman font in 12 pt. Set one-inch (or 2.54 cm) margins. If you include a “keywords” section at the end of the abstract, indent the first line and italicize the word “Keywords” while leaving the keywords themselves without any formatting.

Example APA Abstract Page

Download this example as a PDF

Further Information

• APA 7th Edition Abstract and Keywords Guide
• Example APA Abstract
• How to Write a Good Abstract for a Scientific Paper or Conference Presentation
• How to Write a Lab Report
• Writing an APA paper

How long should an APA abstract be?

An APA abstract should typically be between 150 to 250 words long. However, the exact length may vary depending on specific publication or assignment guidelines. It is crucial that it succinctly summarizes the essential elements of the work, including purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions.

Where does the abstract go in an APA paper?

In an APA formatted paper, the abstract is placed on its own page, directly after the title page and before the main body of the paper. It’s typically the second page of the document. It starts with the word “Abstract” (centered and not in bold) at the top of the page, followed by the text of the abstract itself.

What are the 4 C’s of abstract writing?

The 4 C’s of abstract writing are an approach to help you create a well-structured and informative abstract. They are:

Conciseness: An abstract should briefly summarize the key points of your study. Stick to the word limit (typically between 150-250 words for an APA abstract) and avoid unnecessary details.

Clarity: Your abstract should be easy to understand. Avoid jargon and complex sentences. Clearly explain the purpose, methods, results, and conclusions of your study.

Completeness: Even though it’s brief, the abstract should provide a complete overview of your study, including the purpose, methods, key findings, and your interpretation of the results.

Cohesion: The abstract should flow logically from one point to the next, maintaining a coherent narrative about your study. It’s not just a list of disjointed elements; it’s a brief story of your research from start to finish.

What is the abstract of a psychology paper?

An abstract in a psychology paper serves as a snapshot of the paper, allowing readers to quickly understand the purpose, methodology, results, and implications of the research without reading the entire paper. It is generally between 150-250 words long.

Upcoming Paper Presentation Competitions in College Fests, Events in March 2024.

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Virtual Presentation

16th international conference on humanities, psychology and social sciences.

14 – 16 March 2024 | Berlin, Germany

The virtual presentation will provide you with the ability to give, receive and discuss information

Going live on the Conference online Zoom platform is a great way to engage with your audience, receive instant interaction and feedback, and extend your reach. Some of the benefits of joining Virtual Presentation are: All papers presented virtually will be published in the Conference Proceedings with DOI and ISBN. Virtual presenters will be awarded a Certificate and their papers will be considered for publication opportunities in various Indexed Journals.

The key to a successful virtual presentation is the same as the key to a successful in-person presentation: preparation. So take the first step and prepare for your optimal Zoom presentation by submitting your Abstract to the online submission form. After receiving the feedback on your paper, you will get a notification and can proceed with registration and reserve your spot for the presentation .

Theme and Topics

Hps conference.

The  conference  is seeking submissions related to the following topics:

Social Sciences , Humanities , Psychological  and  Language and Literature . Other related tracks and topics will also be considered. Submitted abstracts will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee. All submissions should report original and previously unpublished research results no matter the type of research paper you are presenting. Manuscripts should meet the format set by the Conference committee and are subject to review. Detailed instructions and full paper submission guidelines will be emailed within a few weeks following the conference.

Join us Virtually and experience the interactive discussions on the online conference platform

If you cannot attend our conference but still wish to have your paper presented at the conference and published in the conference proceedings, we offer a virtual presentation option for your convenience. Virtual presenters are still required to submit a proposal/abstract, and one author must pay the registration fee. Your conference documents will be sent to your email after the conference.

Setting up for a virtual presentation

Virtual presentations are a great way to engage with the audience and present your findings in the event that you are not able to physically be present at the event. Such presentations utilize technological solutions to allow you to present live.

During a virtual presentation, a screen is split into two parts. The first part displays a live feed of you. The second part is a shared screen, which displays your slides (please see slides best practices earlier on the page).

To make sure your virtual presentation goes smoothly, you are required to:

• Be online and available 15 minutes before the presentation,
• Have a reliable and fast internet connection,
• Test your microphone and video camera,
• Test your slides and make sure they are compatible with a Windows operating system,
• Have a non-distracting environment around you during the presentation. The room you are using should be both quiet and the background used as plain as possible.

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