form of scientific presentation, we encouraged a wider use of poster
presentations as a primary method of reporting research and clinical work.
Although the ...
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR There comes a time when ones future may depend on being aware of one's problems, being imaginative enough to see solutions, and being courageous enough to take bold steps. This, in my view, is such a time. HENRY N. WAGNER, JR. Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Baltimore, Maryland
Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Poster Presentations at a Scientific Meeting This year, because the scientific Program Committee for the 197V Annual Meeting believes thai poster sessions are a desirable form of scientific presentation, we encouraged a wider use of poster presentations as a primary method of reporting research and clinical work. Although the meeting abstract form requested designation of the author's preference, the final method of presentation was at the discretion of the Scientific Program Committee. Most scientists are accustomed to presenting their work in the traditional oratorical style and initially are opposed to, and resist, presenting in a poster session. When queried after a poster session, however, nearly all authors are impressed favorably and state that they would like to present future work in a similar poster session. The audience is almost uniformly positive about poster sessions, both as attendees and as future presenters. A poster or booth session is best suited for describing an apparatus or an experimental method, but it is also useful to present results of a study. The poster presentation format is not well suited for a theoretical discussion. Some relative advantages and disadvantages of participation in a poster session are listed below. Advantages Disadvantages 1. Less formal, more time, 1. The presenter is not able to more personal, and less view other presentations at anxiety-provoking for the the same session, presenter. 2. The presentation reaches 2. There is a two-way inforfewer people. mation exchange: the au- 3. The presenter may have to
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repeat the presentation dience is more likely to several times: the overall question, and there is an delivery is more tiring for opportunity for detailed the presenter. discussion. 3. It is possible for coauthors 4. Contradictory results from to participate directly in the separate groups cannot be presentation and discusdebated publicly. sion. 4. Although fewer people may "get the message," those that attend are usually truly interested and may have a personal interest in or firsthand knowledge of the work. Overall, the acceptance and popularity of poster sessions is due to the fact that the sum of the attributes outweighs the undesirable features. Many large and prestigious scientific organizations rely heavily on poster presentations as a major method for the dissemination of research results at domestic and international meetings. Included in this group are the Federation of American Scientists of Experimental Biology, the American Federation for Clinical Research, the Clinical Radioassay Society, the American Heart Association, the Biophysical Society, the American Chemical Society, and the American Society of Biological Chemists. As early as 1973, the organizers of the 9th International Congress of Biochemistry assigned more than 759? of the preferred papers to poster presentations, and this format has proven to be increasingly popular throughout the scientific community. The SNM meetings have included poster presentations in the past, but I would predict a much wider use in future annual meetings. RICHARD C. REBA Chairman, 1979 Scientific Program Committee George Washington University Medical Center Washington, D.C. REFERENCES 1. ANONYMOUS: Communicating through Poster Sessions, Kodak Pamphlet No. P-319, 1978, pp 1-5 2. MAUGH TH: Poster sessions: A new look at scientific meetings. Scien ce 184: 1361, 1974 3. HARTE RA: Poster sessions: A better way to communicate. Federation Proceedings 33: 2087-2089, 1974 4. RISLEY JS: Booth sessions: An innovation in communications at scientific meetings. Physics Today 30: 9-10, 1977
THE JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE
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Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Poster Presentations at a Scientific Meeting Richard C. Reba J Nucl Med. 1979;20:582.
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