Turning a Conference Poster into a Manuscript

A single conference can generate well over a hundred posters, many of them from students and early-career researchers. They are seen by conference attendees, but how can an author reach a broader audience? In the second installment of a 4-part webinar series from the International Journal of MS Care, editor in chief François Bethoux, MD, and associate editor Elizabeth S. Gromisch, PhD, discuss what it takes to turn a poster into a manuscript for submission.

Not every poster should become a paper. Some are too specific to a single local unit; others rest on a small sample or one detail of an analysis. The editors suggest asking what the findings add to the field, and whether there is a unique angle, such as an assessment examined in a population where it has not been studied.

A poster tells its story through images and bullet points, but it contains the outline of a possible paper. The paper itself relies on text, with tables and figures that complement. It tells the full story of the research from idea to conclusions.

The Introduction contains the pared down specifics. Methods offer far more detail than a poster allows, including demographics, inclusion criteria, and the psychometrics of every measure used. Results should report statistical and clinical significance. Discussion and Conclusions answer the question readers are really asking: So what?

Webinar 1 began the series with how to turn an idea into a manuscript. Webinar 3 will be a detailed review of how to do a literature search and Webinar 4 will cover how to be a peer reviewer.