Undergraduate Student Poster Award

How to Apply

If your first-authored poster has been accepted for the SPSP 2021 program and you meet the other criteria, you may apply for a Student Poster Award by uploading the following documents:

1. A .pdf copy of the poster you intend to present at SPSP 2021.
2. A 500-700-word (maximum) summary of the research you will be presenting, in .pdf or .doc format.

The research summary should provide an overview of the research and offer complementary information that enhances your poster. This may include more detailed explanations of related literature and how the research question was formed, any secondary analyses and results, or information the presenter might convey in conversations with an audience at their poster presentation

Note: Any submission that exceeds 700 words will be disqualified automatically. In-text citations will count towards the word limit, but a reference list will not.

Competitive submissions will include each of the following sections (or sections equivalent to those) below:

1. Background Information or Introduction
2. Research Question(s) or Objective(s)
3. Hypotheses or Potential Outcomes (if the work is exploratory)
4. Impact (of project)
5. Methods or Procedures
6. Results or Analyses
7. Conclusions or Discussion
8. Any in-text citation should be in APA format; a reference list is not required

To improve the poster experience for presenters and attendees alike during SPSP 2021, posters are not required to include all sections described above. If posters do not include one of these sections, however, they should be addressed in the research summary.

In addition, while we encourage that final posters include a QR code (free resource: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/) or link to a personalized website where audience members may easily access further information about the research poster (e.g., Open Science Framework webpage), to ensure the anonymity of our submissions, we advise that applicants refrain from including an actual QR code and instead indicate where the QR code would be placed in the final poster. This may be done by adding a text box that could read, for example, '[Insert QR code here]'. Posters that do not include a QR code or link will not be penalized.

Note: If you are selected to present your poster at SPSP as a finalist, you will be allowed to make minor edits to your poster prior to the convention in order to incorporate reviewer feedback. However, you should consider the poster that you submit now to be a final version, ready to be presented at a conference.

Judging Criteria & Process

There will be two rounds of judging. Links to rubrics are posted below for each round.

Round 1: In the first round of judging, reviewers will evaluate posters based on their effectiveness in communicating main finding(s) or conclusions in a simple, easy to follow format. In addition, reviewers will provide an in-depth evaluation of both poster content and the accompanying research summary. Applicants Scores from this round will be used to select 10 poster finalists.

Round 2: In the second round of judging, the 10 final undergraduate student posters (exhibited at SPSP in the Student Poster Award Hall) will be evaluated by “secret judges” (typically faculty members). In addition to the criteria mentioned above, scores in this round will be determined on the basis of how well authors present their posters in person (e.g., their ability to answer questions, guide viewers through the poster, and communicate the important elements of the research presented).

For more information about what to include within each section of your poster and research summary, or for more details about the judging criteria, please reference the public judging rubrics for Round 1, and Round 2.

Preparing Your Abstract File for Blind Review

Please name your research summary file "USPA_Abstract" and name your poster file “USPA_Poster”. Remove all identifying information (e.g., names, affiliations) from your research summary, poster, AND file names before uploading your submission.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at spsp_gsc@spsp.org.

The application portal will open September 2020.