Academic conference posters: Describing visual impression in pharmacy education.

Area of Science:

• Scientific Communication
• Visual Design in Academia

Background:

• Academic conference posters serve as crucial pre-journal article communication.
• Visual attributes significantly impact the effectiveness of academic poster communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a measurement instrument for visual impression.
• To describe and compare the visual impression of scientific posters presented at an academic conference.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods rubric was developed to assess visual impression.
• 378 posters from a pharmacy education conference were scored for visual impression and characteristics.
• Poster characteristics (format, abstract, wordiness, QR code, sequencing, visuals) were analyzed for their impact on visual impression.

Main Results:

• Contemporary poster formats achieved significantly higher visual impression scores than traditional formats.
• Poster format, abstract absence, conciseness, QR code presence, logical sequencing, and number of visuals were significant predictors of visual impression.
• High inter-rater reliability was achieved in scoring.

Conclusions:

• Visual impression of academic posters varies widely, with contemporary formats generally outperforming traditional ones.
• Effective academic poster communication relies on a clear, concise combination of text and visuals, not dense information.
• While contemporary formats show promise, quality varies; focus on clear design principles is essential.