Undergraduate Research and Mentorship Program

Poster Content:

• Presentation Title
• Your Name, Mentor/Advisor Name, and any Department(s) and affiliations 

The following sections can be a good starting point to work from:

• Introduction or objective
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions and/or discussion
• Acknowledgements

If these sections do not make sense for your research project, you can use the  "5 Ws" to guide what sections you include:

• Who (introduce the author, organization, or community)
• What (what did you do? how did you do it?)
• Where (where did you do it?)
• When (when did it take place?)
• Why (what are the outcomes, implications, or future possibilities?)
• Acknowledgements

These lists are both places to start, but you may need to adjust the sections you use based on your research topics, methods, and findings. Depending on your research project, you may want to use different sections to group your research methods, findings, and opportunities for further research.

• Use a consistent, easily readable font, such as Arial, Tahoma, or Times New Roman.
• Font sizes:
  • Poster titles should be at least 50 point font
  • Authors and affiliations should be at least 40 point font
  • Poster body text should be at least 36 point font
• Use no more than 3-4 main colors in your poster (data visualizations and images may use additional colors).
• Text color must be contrasting to stand out from the background color. These should have contrasting values (light vs. dark) rather than contrasting hues (colors on the color wheel) to ensure your poster is legible and accessible.

Templates such as the one below can be a useful starting point for creating a poster. Modify the layout or section titles as needed to best present your research.

Additional Tips for Creating a Poster:

• Academic Poster Design -- University of North Carolina University Libraries
• Creating a Poster - University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Creating Effective Posters - University of Iowa
• Poster Session Preparation – Arizona State University Libraries

Use the research guide How to Cite Sources in Your Research Paper to review detailed coverage on all of the following style guides:

• ACM
• AMA
• APA
• ASA
• Chicago & Turabian
• CSE
• IEEE Style
• MLA
• NLM & Vancouver

Need additional help? Make an appointment with the NSU Writing Center using WCONLINE

What is a Citation?

A citation is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source and gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again.

Citations may include:

• Information about the Author(s) or Editor(s)
• The title of the work
• The publisher
• The date published
• The page numbers of the material you are referencing

Why is Citing Important?

Citing is important because:

• It gives credit to the authors and creators of the sources you used.
• It gives your readers information about your sources and allows them to fact check.
• It demonstrates your credibility and the work you have put into locating and exploring your sources.
• It strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas.
• It protects you from plagiarizing.

When Should I Cite?

Whenever you borrow words, ideas, or data from another source, you need to acknowledge that source. The following situations almost always require a citation:

• Whenever you use quotes
• Whenever you paraphrase
• Whenever you use an idea that someone else has already expressed
• Whenever you make specific reference to the work of another
• Whenever someone else's work has been critical in developing your own ideas
• Whenever you use a dataset created by another

From: Limestone University Library Citation Guide

When using materials created by someone else, always make sure you are not infringing on their rights. This page contains a selection of online sites where you can find free-to-use materials for your projects - you should still check for any use restrictions for items you use.

In addition to legal rights, there are also ethical considerations about using other people's work.

• Even if it is not required to give attribution to the original creator, it is considered good practice.
• Even if you're not legally required to pay for using the work, should you anyway?
• Are you sampling from culturally sensitive material?

Read more about copyright and ethical considerations on the Citizen DJ Copyright Guide.

For more information on usage rights, visit the Campus Guide to Copyright created by the Copyright Clearance Center. This guide was created to help students, instructors, faculty, and staff of U.S. based colleges and universities by offering background information about U.S. copyright law. 

"Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!" - U.S. Copyright Office