At professional conferences, an oral presentation, commonly known as a talk, involves a researcher standing before an audience of fellow scientists to discuss their findings. Depending on the specific conference, these presentations can last anywhere from $$10$$ minutes to $$1$$ hour, and they typically conclude with the presenter fielding questions from the audience.

Oral Presentation

A poster presentation is a method of sharing findings at professional conferences where the study's purpose, methods, results, and discussion are summarized on a large poster. The presenter typically stands by their poster for $$1$$ or $$2$$ hours, discussing the research with passing attendees, which encourages direct and meaningful interaction.

Poster Presentation

To present a talk or poster at a professional conference, researchers typically must submit an abstract of their study to the event organizers in advance. These abstracts undergo a peer review process to determine if they are accepted for presentation, though this evaluation is generally less rigorous than the review process for manuscripts submitted to formal academic journals.

Conference Abstract Submission

In North America, numerous large-scale and regional professional conferences provide venues for psychologists and undergraduate students to present their research. Prominent large conventions include those hosted by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), and the Association for Psychological Science (APS). Additionally, there are many regional conferences—such as the Eastern (EPA) or Western Psychological Association (WPA) meetings—and specific undergraduate research conferences where students frequently disseminate their work.

Examples of Professional Conferences in Psychology

Presenting research findings at a professional conference provides a valuable opportunity for researchers to receive informal feedback from their peers. This interaction is highly beneficial for refining the work before it is submitted to the more rigorous formal peer-review process required for journal publication.

Benefits of Conference Presentations

At professional psychology conferences, what are the primary methods used to officially disseminate research findings?

Professional conferences are key venues where researchers share their findings with colleagues. In psychology, research-focused conferences vary widely in scale, from small afternoon gatherings of a dozen researchers to large, multi-day conventions with thousands of attendees. While participants frequently discuss their work informally, research is officially disseminated through formal presentations, which primarily consist of oral talks and visual poster sessions.

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The final step of the research process is reporting the results, which allows scientists to share their findings with the broader community. The most common methods for disseminating research include publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributing chapters to edited books, and giving presentations at academic conferences.

Reporting Scientific Results

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KPU Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition

An alternative method for researchers to report their findings is by writing a chapter for an edited book. While it is ideal for the book's editor to subject the chapter to a rigorous peer-review process, this is not guaranteed, as editors sometimes directly invite scientists to contribute chapters without formal review.

Academic Book Chapter

Publishing a manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal is widely considered the most prestigious method for researchers to share their findings. Before a manuscript is accepted, it undergoes a rigorous evaluation process where other experts in the field anonymously review the work to ensure it meets scientific standards.

Peer-Reviewed Scientific Journal

Professional Conferences

Professional journals are periodicals that publish original research articles, typically issued on a monthly or quarterly basis in volumes. As a primary component of the research literature, they undergo a rigorous peer review process to ensure quality and primarily feature empirical research reports and review articles.

Professional Journals

Edited volumes are scholarly books in which an editor or an editorial team recruits various authors to write separate chapters on different aspects of a shared topic. While they aim to provide a coherent overview, different chapters may present distinct perspectives or feature authors who openly disagree with one another.

Edited Volumes

Scientific communication is the process of sharing research ideas, methods, results, and interpretations through formats such as journal articles, review articles, professional conferences, and poster sessions.

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