Presentation Resources
Abstracts
What is an abstract?
Abstracts are a brief summary of your research project. An abstract should concisely summarize the project and give your readers a preview of your presentation. The length of the abstract varies according to the guidelines of each presentation event - be sure to read instructions or guidelines carefully! Each abstract should answer four key questions:
What is your research about?
Why is your research important?
How was your research done?
What will you present on?
Who is your audience?
Each abstract has multiple audiences. First is likely your research mentor, who may review your abstract before submission. Because your mentor is more familiar with the project, they may ask questions such as how well the abstract represents the project, how well you've articulated the mainf ocus of the project, and what are the key points of your research.
Second is the organizers for the conference or event your are applying to. Most of these events have a review committee of experts in charge of evaluating each abstract. This committee will be looking to determine whether or not your abstract is suitable for the event based on whether it describes an interesting, promising presentation relevant to the given event.
Third is the audience at the meeting or conference. Most events create program books that include the titles and abstracts of the presentations at the event. The audience then uses the program to determine which presentations they wish to attend.
What does your audience need to know?
When writing your abstract, it is important to know whether your conference is field-specific or more general. Writing for fellow researchers or experts in your field will allow you to more comfortably use technical language and specific jargon. For more general audiences, however, it will be more appropriate to use "lay" language and avoid highly technical jargon in your abstract. In both cases, there are specific things your audience will be looking to gain from your abstract:
- What is your project about? A descriptive, interesting title will help convey this information, and the first few sentences of your abstract should further develop the research focus.
- Why is your research important? In order to gain the audience's interest, it is critical to explain why your research matters and what problem or issue it addresses.
- How are you doing your research? Including your research methods, such as data collection and analysis methodology, helps support your research and may interest researchers in similar fields who are looking to better understand that methodology.
Common Pitfalls in Abstract-Writing
- Not considering your audience.
- Whether your audience is general or field-specific, it is important that you carefully evaluate your use of language in the abstract and ensure that it is clear and readable while still being appropriately professional. An abstract is a formal piece of professional and academic writing and should reflect that in the language used.
- Failing to include a sense of the presentation itself.
- It is important to include a general idea of what the presentation will be like. This includes descriptive information regarding the actual content of the presentation and what the research was about.
- Failing to address the relevance of the research.
- Abstracts should clearly address the "so what?" question. Readers should be able to tell why the research is compelling, interesting, and important by reading the abstract.
- Typos or misspellings.
- Make sure to use spell-check and grammar-check features as you write, but do not rely exclusively on that software as it will not catch everything. Instead, be sure to have someone else - such as your faculty mentor or a colleague - to read over your abstract to make sure it is free of errors.
Poster Presentations
What is a poster presentation?
Poster presentations are formal visual presentations of your research. Using text, charts, graphs, and other visual aids, a poster presentation gives your audience an opportunity to read through your work at their leisure and to interact with you.
What do you need to include in a poster?
Along with being visually appealing and professional, a poster should generally include the following points:
- A title and list of authors
- The title should be descriptive and appealing in order to drawn in viewers.
- An institutional logo
- The logo is usually positioned near the top of the poster, often close to the title and authors' names.
- An introduction
- The introduction should provide a concise background on your research and, if necessary, definitions of key terms.
- A conclusions section
- The conclusions section describes your key findings or results and expresses the importance and relevance of your work.
- Acknowledgments
- The acknowledgments section is an opportunity to thank your research mentor and any funding sources or other people who assisted in your work.
Tips for designing your poster
- Make sure your font is readable. Fonts should be professional and easy to read, and text should be large enough for people to read from standing some distance away. Avoid using all caps or long strings of italics, as these are more difficult to read.
- Organize your poster with headings and subheadings. Make sure these headings stand out and are consistently formatted to provide an organized, professional appearance.
- Avoid dense walls of text. Where it is appropriate, use bullet points and visual aids instead of long paragraphs. Remember, you can provide more information as you speak with viewers of the poster.
- Avoid using dark backgrounds with light text. This is more difficult for most viewers to read. While you do not have to stay with black text on a white background, it is best to utilize a light background and dark text to ensure readability.
- Use high-quality visuals. Figures, graphs, photos, and other visual content should not appear blurry or pixelated when printed and should be large enough and clear enough to be readable from 10 feet away.
- Include captions on all visual content. All figures, graphs, photos, and other visual content should be labelled with a descriptive caption so that readers know exactly what the figure is telling them and what its relevance to the research is.
Tips for presenting your poster
- Prepare a brief overview of your research. A short, two- to three-sentence, summary of your research will help engage your audience and break the ice when speaking to new people. Make sure to keep this overview succinct and engaging; you can go into further detail and explanation later.
- Practice presenting. Have your friends stop by to act as practice audience members. This will help you become comfortable presenting your poster and give you an opportunity to work out any gaps in your presentation.
- Talk to your viewers. When people stop by your poster, be sure to make eye contact and speak towards them rather than towards your poster.
- Thank people who stop by your poster. Whether they read your poster or ask you questions, be sure to thank them for stopping by.
Oral Presentations
What is an oral presentation?
An oral presentation is an opportunity to share your research, report findings, or share progress on a project. Oral presentations can take several forms, including reading a paper aloud, showing a slideshow, or engaging the audience with questions and discussion. It is important to identify the most appropriate form of oral presentation for a given event before you begin. This can be done by asking the event management or other people familiar with the event or by looking up past conference or event proceedings.
How do you get started?
A critical first step is to create an outline of your presentation. Depending on your discipline, the typical format of a presentation may vary, so be sure to look up common presentation formats for your field. Once you have the general outline down, you can begin filling in your presentation by answering the following questions:
- What was the problem or issue you studied?
- Who is affected or involved?
- Why does this problem or issue matter?
- How does your research relate to existing research?
- What methods did you use to research or analyze the issue?
- What are your findings?
- What is the significance of those findings?
- What are your conclusions?
How to avoid common pitfalls
- Study others. No one is born a great presenter, and practice is critical to success. Watch videos of successful presenters to gain a better understanding of good techniques.
- Know what to expect. Determine ahead of time what technology will be available and, if necessary, make requests in advance.
- Practice. Practice delivering your presentation out loud in order to be comfortable with the material and to be sure you are staying within the allotted time. Make sure you are including enough information to fill the time provided without going over.
- Be prepared. Make sure to have additional methods of accessing your presentation in case of technological issues. If your presentation is on a flashdrive, for instance, email yourself a copy as well.
- Telling and showing. You should incorporate an appropriate balance of both telling your audience about your work and showing information about it through visual aids.
- Mastery. You should be comfortable talking about your work and its purpose.
- Being comfortable. You should be mindful of your posture and body language and try to appear comfortable and confident.
Poster Presentations
What is a poster presentation?
Poster presentations are formal visual presentations of your research. Using text, charts, graphs, and other visual aids, a poster presentation gives your audience an opportunity to read through your work at their leisure and to interact with you.
What do you need to include in a poster?
Along with being visually appealing and professional, a poster should generally include the following points:
- A title and list of authors
- The title should be descriptive and appealing in order to drawn in viewers.
- An institutional logo
- The logo is usually positioned near the top of the poster, often close to the title and authors' names.
- An introduction
- The introduction should provide a concise background on your research and, if necessary, definitions of key terms.
- A conclusions section
- The conclusions section describes your key findings or results and expresses the importance and relevance of your work.
- Acknowledgments
- The acknowledgments section is an opportunity to thank your research mentor and any funding sources or other people who assisted in your work.
Tips for designing your poster
- Make sure your font is readable. Fonts should be professional and easy to read, and text should be large enough for people to read from standing some distance away. Avoid using all caps or long strings of italics, as these are more difficult to read.
- Organize your poster with headings and subheadings. Make sure these headings stand out and are consistently formatted to provide an organized, professional appearance.
- Avoid dense walls of text. Where it is appropriate, use bullet points and visual aids instead of long paragraphs. Remember, you can provide more information as you speak with viewers of the poster.
- Avoid using dark backgrounds with light text. This is more difficult for most viewers to read. While you do not have to stay with black text on a white background, it is best to utilize a light background and dark text to ensure readability.
- Use high-quality visuals. Figures, graphs, photos, and other visual content should not appear blurry or pixelated when printed and should be large enough and clear enough to be readable from 10 feet away.
- Include captions on all visual content. All figures, graphs, photos, and other visual content should be labelled with a descriptive caption so that readers know exactly what the figure is telling them and what its relevance to the research is.
Tips for presenting your poster
- Prepare a brief overview of your research. A short, two- to three-sentence, summary of your research will help engage your audience and break the ice when speaking to new people. Make sure to keep this overview succinct and engaging; you can go into further detail and explanation later.
- Practice presenting. Have your friends stop by to act as practice audience members. This will help you become comfortable presenting your poster and give you an opportunity to work out any gaps in your presentation.
- Talk to your viewers. When people stop by your poster, be sure to make eye contact and speak towards them rather than towards your poster.
- Thank people who stop by your poster. Whether they read your poster or ask you questions, be sure to thank them for stopping by.
Undergraduate Research Journals
What is an undergraduate research journal?
An undergraduate research journal is an online or print publication that accepts submissions from undergraduate students. While some journals are strictly focused on research, others accept creative submissions such as of visual art or creative writing.
Why should you submit your research to an undergraduate journal?
Undergraduate research journals provide an opportunity for you to publish your research in regional, national, or international publications and gain experience working with journals and publication requirements.
Undergraduate Research Journals by Discipline
- American Journal of Undergraduate Research
A national, independent, peer-reviewed, open-source, quarterly, multidisciplinary student research journal. Submissions accepted any time.
- Apollon
An electronic undergraduate journal in the humanities including Englihs, Foreign Languages and Literature, Music, Theater, History, Classics, Art History, Design, Philosophy, Religion, Peace and Social Justice Studies, Women's Studies, and regional studies, as well as associated disciplines.
- Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research
A journal for undergraduate research from any college or university across the humanities, social and natural sciences.
- Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development
A student-founded journal aiming to provide an interdisciplinary approach to issues of sustainable development as relates to the environment, economics, politics, and social life.
- Digital America
An online journal focused on digital art and culture through the American experience. Issues are published in November and May.
- Discussions
A journal for research papers written by undergraduate students from any topic, presenting new and innovative ideas.
- Forbes & Fifth
An interdisciplinary journal accepting submissions from research articles and essays to creative writing and visual art. New issues are published in April and December. Submission deadline is October 2019.
- Honors Review
A nationally competitive interdisciplinary journal open to all undergraduate researchers. Submission deadline is January 14.
- Inquiries Journal
An open-access academic journal for undergraduate students with particular focus on social sciences, arts, and humanities. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.
- International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities
A peer-reviewed, open-access journal for undergraduates in all disciplines accepting submissions of research articles, fiction, poetry, photography, videos, and other creative works. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.
- Journal of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Excellence
An interdisciplinary undergraduate journal accepting submissions of research, poetry, reviews, and art from all disciplines. Submissions accepted any time.
- Metamorphosis
An interdisciplinary journal in natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts.
- Midway Review
A quarterly and online journal focused on writing regarding politics and current events, cultural criticism, book and film reviews, religion, and philosophy. Submission deadline is July 1.
- Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research
An interdisciplinary undergraduate journal. Submission deadline is January 15.
- Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring
An open-access, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed online journal focused on undergraduate research. Submission deadline is April 1.
- Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research
An online, peer-reviewed journal accepting submissions from undergraduate students from all disciplines.
- Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal
An annual, peer-reviewed journal accepting submissions from well-qualified students from any institution. Submission deadline is January 15.
- Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning and Community-Based Research
A refereed, multidisciplinary, online journal focused on service learning and community-based research. Submission deadline is June 30.
- Vexillum: The Undergraduate Journal of Classical and Medieval Studies
An interdisciplinary journal accepting research on history, literature, philosophy, sociology, linguistics, classical and medieval studies.
- Agora
A national journal of undergraduate academic writing specializing in responses to the great books of the world.
- Allegheny Review
An annual, nationwide literary magazine dedicated to undergraduate works of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and artwork. Submission deadline is October 15
- The Cedarville Review
A literary journal dedicated to undergraduate work in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and photography.
- Criterion
A journal focused on original, well-researched, and intellectually rigorous essays written from diverse critical perspectives and about tests from any time period or literary tradition. Issues are published in the fall and winter. Submissions are accepted at any time.
- Digital Literature Review
An online journal of academic research focusing on annual themes. Submission deadline is January 7.
- Kennesaw Tower
An online journal focused on undergraduate research projects in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Published annually in June. Submission deadline is February 1.
- Madison Journal of Literary Criticism
An international publication dedicated to outstanding essays of undergraduate literary analysis. Published annually in the spring. Submission deadline is January 15.
- Oakland Arts Review
A journal dedicated to the publication and advancement of literature written by undergraduate students across the United States and around the world, accepting submissions of fiction, poetry, essays, comics, and screenplay excerpts, as well as art. Submission deadline is December 1.
- Oswald Review
An annual, refereed undergraduate journal of criticism and research in the field of English. Submission deadline is March 1.
- Queen City Writers: A Journal of Undergraduate Writing and Composing
A bi-annual referered journal that publishes essays and multimiedia works by undergraduate students from any disciplinary perspective that explore questions and problems related to writing, rhetoric, reading, pedagogy and teacher-training, literacy broadly conceived, popular culture and media, community discourses, and multimodal and digital composing. Published twice a year in fall and spring.
- UC Berkeley Comparative Literature Undergraduate Journal
A bi-annual undergraduate journal focused on comparative texts and media. Submission deadline is September 15.
- Watcher Junior
An undergraduate journal focused on film and media studies and the growing body of Joss Whedon scholarship. Published in April and October
- Xchanges
A bi-annual, interdisciplinary technical communication, writing/rhetoric, and writing across the curriculum journal. Fall issue focuses on undergraduate research. Submission deadline is June 30.
- Young Scholars in Writing: Undergraduate Research in Writing and Rhetoric
An annual undergraduate journal focused on writing, writers, rhetoric, discourse, language, and related topics. Submission deadline is June 30.
- Berkeley Economic Review
A bi-annual undergraduate journal for research papers, theses, term papers, class essays, and op-eds on the world's current political economy.
- Developing Economist
An annual journal for undergraduate and recent graduate students focused on economics, finance, political economy, mathematics, and public policy. Submission deadline is January 16.
- Issues in Political Economy
An undergraduate journal dedicated to all areas of economics. Published in May and October. Submission deadline is January 31.
- Journal for Global Business and Community
A bi-annual undergraduate journal focused on a wide range of international business topics. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Michigan Journal of Business
An undergraduate journal for theses, empirical research, case studies, and theories relating to accounting, economics, econometrics, finance, marketing, management, operations management, information systems, business law, corporate ethics, and public policy. Submissions accepted at any time.
- SS-AAEA Journal of Agricultural Economics
An annual online journal for agricultural economics articles written by undergraduate students. Submission deadline is June 30.
- Undergraduate Economic Review
An online journal that promotes original undergraduate economic research from around the world. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History
An undergraduate journal open to articles and essays, short stories, photography, other artistic/creative artifacts, travel and conference reports, as well as nonfiction, fiction, film, and television reviews.
- Columbia Journal of History
A bi-annual undergraduate journal accepting research papers and essays from seminars, upper-level electives, independent study, and thesis programs. Submission deadlines are February 1 and October 1.
- Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era
An annual undergraduate journal accepting academic essays, public history essays, and book reviews broadly relating to the American Civil War and its lasting memory. Submission deadline is February 1.
- Gettysburg Historical Journal
An interdisciplinary journal incorporating history, sociology, anthropology, and classics. Submission deadline is February 28.
- History Matters: An Undergraduate Journal of Historical Research
An undergraduate history journal especially seeking submissions that utilize primary sources. Submission deadline is January 31.
- Anthrojournal
An undergraduate research journal focused on anthropology, archaeology, and ancient history.
- The Dartmouth Law Journal
A bi-annual undergraduate law journal.
- The Dialectics
A refereed, multidisciplinary online journal focused on issues of public importance in law, leadership, and society.
- International Social Science Review
The semi-annual, peer-reviewed journal of Pi Gamma Mu Honor Society focused on history, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, international relations, criminal justice, social work, psychology, social philosophy, history of education, and human/culture geography. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography
An online, multidisciplinary journal seeking to bring insights into subcultures, rituals, and social institutions. Submission deadlines are January 31 and July 31.
- Journal of Integrated Social Sciences
An online, peer-reviewed journal of social phenomena.
- Journal of Politics & Society
An interdisciplinary journal focused on politics, economics, public policy, social phenomena, international relations, and law. Submission deadline is August 27.
- Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences
A peer-reviewed journal focusing on the use of the social sciences to reflect critically on learning and teaching in higher education.
- Penn Undergraduate Law Journal
An international pre-law journal accepting research papers, senior theses, and independent projects from any field of study.
- Hemispheres: The Tufts University Journal of International Affairs
A peer-reviewed, international journal for undergraduate articles addressing social, economic, political, and legal issues within the framework of international relations. Submissions deadline is February 1.
- Journal of Undergraduate International Studies
A peer-reviewed journal including articles on international conflict and conflict resolution, human rights, environmental issues, history, comparative politics and economics, development and trade, global security, and international health. Submission deadline is October 1.
- North Star Reports
An international journal accepting brief articles on global and/or historical connections.
- Undergraduate Journal of Global Citizenship
An undergraduate journal focused on promoting the understanding of global citizenship through topics such as global awareness, interdependence, environmental responsibility, social justice, humanitarianism, and other themes. Submission deadline is October 1.
- Wittenberg University East Asian Studies Journal
An international undergraduate journal accepting articles and creative pieces from all fields and disciplines having to do with East Asia.
- World Outlook
A bi-annual, student-run journal on international affairs. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Involve: A Journal of Mathematics
An undergraduate journal focused on mathematical research and seeking to bridge the gap between purely undergraduate research journals and mainstream research journals.
- Journal of young Investigators
A monthly undergraduate research journal focused on biological/biomedical sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and engineering, psychology, and social sciences.
- Missouri Journal of Mathematical Sciences
An undergraduate research journal focused on mathematical sciences.
- Pi Mu Epsilon Journal
An undergraduate research journal focused on mathematics.
- PUMP Journal of Undergraduate Research
An undergraduate research journal for students wanting to pursue doctoral studies in the mathematical sciences, accepting research papers, papers containing new proofs of known results, and expository papers which propose original points of view.
- Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal
A refereed bi-annual journal focused on topics related to mathematics including new results, new and interesting proofs of old results, historical developments of a theorem or area of mathematics, or interesting applications of mathematics. Submission deadlines are February 1 and September 15.
- SIAM Undergraduate Research Online
An online undergraduate research journal focused on applied and computational mathematics. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Aporia
A bi-annual undergraduate research journal of philosophy. Submission deadlines are March and October.
- The Aristarchus
An undergraduate journal of philosophy. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Dialogue
A bi-annual undergraduate journal of contemporary philosophical research accepting articles, discussions, and reviews.
- Dualist
A national undergraduate research journal in philosophy accepting essays written for classes, honors theses, and independent work. Submission deadline is May 10.
- Ephemeris
A student-run undergraduate research journal accepting submissions in philosophy, political theory, metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, religion, feminist philosopy, philosopy of race, eastern philosophy, philosophy of mind, and others. Submission deadline is January 6.
- Episteme
A student-run journal for undergraduate research in any area of philosophy. Submission deadline is December 19.
- Janua Sophia
An annual, refereed journal of undergraduate research in philosophy.
- Logos
A student-run undergraduate journal focused on all branches and traditions of philosophy. Submission deadline is March 25.
- Stance
An international, peer-reviewed, student-run journal for undergraduate research in philosopy. Deadline submission is mid-December.
- Vassar College Journal of Philosophy
A student-run journal accepting submissions from all disciplines regarding philosophical ideas. Submission deadline is November 1.
- Critique
A peer-reviewed journal of political science examining opportunities for social change and new possibilities for enacting policy locally, nationally, and internationally. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Security and Intelligence Studies Journal
An undergraduate research journal on intelligence, security, terrorism and counterterrorism, goepolitics, and international relations.
- Journal of European Psychology Students
An international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal for theoretical and empirical psychology research. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Journal of Interpersonal Relations, intergroup Relations, and Identity
An international journal in the field of identity, interpersonal, and intergroup relations.
- Journal of Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences
An undergraduate research journal accepting articles in any topic area of psychology.
- Journal of Undergraduate Ethnic Minority Psychology
An edited and refereed online journal for undergraduate researchers focused on ethnic minorities' unique perspectives, the thoughts and behaviors of ethnic minority populations, or both. Deadlines for submission are January 31 and August 31.
- Modern Psychological Studies
An undergraduate research journal in psychology accepting experimental research results, theoretical papers, literature reviews, and book reviews.
- Undergraduate Journal of Psychology
A peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal in psychology.
- Undergraduate Journal of Psychology at Berkeley
An annual journal for research in psychology and psychology-related fields. Submission deadline is November 15.
- Yale Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology
An international undergraduate research journal focused on original research in psychology and psychology-related fields. Submission deadline is January 15.
- BIOS
A research journal emphasizing undergraduate research in biology.
- Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal
An open-access undergraduate journal focused on scientific research. Submission deadline is March 4.
- Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science
A science journal accepting research papers by undergraduate students. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Eastern Oregon Science Journal
An undergraduate research journal focused on any research done principally by undergraduate students in the sciences.
- EvoS Journal
An interdisciplinary journal focused on evolutionary theory in higher education and in research.
- Fine Focus
A bi-annual international journal focused on undergraduate research in microbiology accepting original research articles, mini-reviews on topics of contemporary interest, and research notes over abbreviated work that adds to the greater body of knowledge in a specific subdiscipline of microbiology. Submission deadlines are October 31 and April 30.
- Impulse
An international online journal for undergraduate work in neuroscience.
- International Journal of Exercise Science
A research journal for undergraduate and graduate students focused on exercise science.
- Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science, Technology, and Society
An international, student-run journal focused on the intersection of history, culture, sociology, art, literature, business, law, health, and design with science and technology.
- JOSHUA: Journal of Science and Health at the University of Alabama
An undergraduate research journal focused on science and health.
- Journal of Experimental Microbiology and Immunology
An online research journal dedicated to undergraduate work in fields related to microbiology and immunology. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research
A peer-reviewed quarterly journal focused on original research by undergraduates in all areas of chemistry including analytical, organic, inorganic, physical, polymers, and biochemistry.
- MarSci
An inter-institutional publication for undergraduate research on marine and aquatic sciences.
- Penn Bioethics Journal
A peer-reviewed undergraduate bioethics journal accepting reports of empirical research or novel syntheses of previous work in science, philosophy, public policy, or any other discipline addressing an issue in neuroscience or neurotechnology.
- RURALS: Review of Undergraduate Research in Agricultural and Life Sciences
A faculty-refereed journal focused on research by undergraduates in agricultural and life sciences. Submissions accepted at any time.
- American Journal of Undergraduate Research
A multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open-source student research journal published quarterly. Submissions accepted at any time.
- Ilumin
An online magazine focused on science and technology.