The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Comparative Study of Scientific Research Poster Design Favors Complete Assertion Headings and No Abstracts Over Other Formats
Open accessAbstract
Abstract—Background: Millions of scientific research posters are presented at conferences every year, yet littleresearch exists to guide poster design. Literature review: There is widespread dissatisfaction with the state ofscientific research posters. Research from technical and professional communication suggests that the typical research poster could be improved with complete sentence assertion headings. Research question: How does poster format affect audience comprehension and reader preference? Research methodology: In Study 1, undergraduates read posters in two different formats—Complete Assertion Headings and short, Topical Phrase Headings—and answered questions about comprehension and preference. In Studies 2a (engineering educators) and 2b (engineering faculty), participants answered questions about their perceptions of three different poster formats: Complete Assertion Headings, traditional IMRD headings + Abstract, and the popular #betterposter billboard style template. In a short teaching case study, students used these research results to develop their own posters and adapted the templates that we presented.Results: Study 1 found that Complete Assertion Headings, compared to topical headings, improved student recall, and students preferred the complete assertion format. Study 2a found that engineering educators preferred nontraditional poster formats (both the Complete Assertion Heading and the #betterposter format) to the traditional IMRD + Abstract format. Study 2b found that mechanical engineering faculty preferred the Complete Assertion Heading to other formats.Conclusion: We recommend that practitioners consider using Complete Assertion Headings on their posters, and we provide examples of exemplary student posters.
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A meta-analysis of how signaling affects learning with media
Schneider, S., Beege, M., Nebel, S., & Rey, G. D. (2018) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2017.11.001 · Cited by 268 · cited 1×
“A recent meta-analysis shows that compared to no headings, headings increase learner recall and that this effect is particularly strong when more complex passages are used with college or adult learners [43].”
Articles with short titles describing the results are cited more often
Paiva, C. E., Lima, J. P. D. S. N., & Paiva, B. S. R. (2012) · Clinics · doi:10.6061/clinics/2012(05)17 · Cited by 196
Assertion-Evidence Slides Appear to Lead to Better Comprehension and Recall of More Complex Concepts
Garner, J., Alley, M., Wolfe, K., Zappe, S., & Sawarynski, L. (2020) · 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings · doi:10.18260/1-2--17510 · Cited by 9 · cited 2×
“Given that complete sentence assertions have been found to be useful to audiences viewing PowerPoint presentations [31], [32], [35] and now posters, there may be other contexts where we should test their effectiveness.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wolfe, J., Reineke, J., & Lott, J.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (United States) (US)
- Venue
- IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
- Published
- 2025-06
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-154
- ISSN
- 0361-1434 (ISSN-L)
- 1558-1500
- OpenAlex
- W4407450177
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2
- FWCI
- 5.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- KiltHub Repository (cc-by)
- Funders
- Carnegie Mellon University's Global Communication Center
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Academic Writing and Publishing
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Discourse Analysis in Language Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
- Keywords
- audience understanding, reader preferences, IMRD structure, abstracts, engineering education, mechanical engineering faculty
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Comparative Study of Scientific Research Poster Design Favors Complete Assertion Headings and No Abstracts Over Other Formats. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1109/tpc.2025.3529094
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- Wolfe, J., Reineke, J., & Lott, J. (2025). Comparative Study of Scientific Research Poster Design Favors Complete Assertion Headings and No Abstracts Over Other Formats. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. https://doi.org/10.1109/tpc.2025.3529094
