Fall 2026 planning
A late-breaking poster checklist built backward from presentation day.
Late acceptance shortens production time, but it does not change the need to verify the organizer’s dimensions, lock the science, inspect the PDF, and meet the printer cutoff.
The confirmed SfN 2026 anchors
For Neuroscience 2026, the Society for Neuroscience lists late-breaking abstract submission from September 8 through September 15, 2026. Its late-breaking page states a September 15 deadline of 5 p.m. EDT, no editing period, and a maximum of 2,500 submissions that may close the site earlier. Late-breaking acceptance notices are scheduled for late September, presentation times for mid-October, and the meeting for November 14–18 in Washington, D.C.
Those are organizer dates, not poster-production deadlines. Read the current SfN late-breaking instructions and dates and deadlines before acting. A workshop, satellite event, or another society can use a different submission window, board size, upload process, or print deadline.
Before acceptance: prepare without claiming a slot
- Finalize the abstract, author block, affiliations, and required accounts before submission. SfN states that late-breaking submissions have no editing period after the deadline.
- Create a folder for the approved abstract, figures, source data, disclosures, logos, presenter rules, travel details, and printer instructions.
- Draft a format-neutral story: question, methods, principal results, limitations, and conclusion. Do not select a poster size until the organizer’s instructions identify the permitted dimensions.
- Name one scientific approver and one production owner. Record who can make the final call if a co-author is unavailable.
After approval: work in dependency order
The table below is a practical internal schedule counted backward from presentation day; it is not an SfN rule. Move each target earlier when travel, institutional approval, accessibility review, or the printer requires more time.
| Target | Work to finish |
|---|---|
| Acceptance day | Save the acceptance notice, confirm presenter identity, and retrieve current poster and upload rules. |
| T−28 days | Lock the narrative and figure list; request any missing high-resolution source files. |
| T−21 days | Complete the first full layout and verify all required credits, funding, and disclosures. |
| T−14 days | Collect scientific edits, resolve factual disputes, and stop adding optional analyses. |
| T−10 days | Run font, image, margin, accessibility, and PDF checks with a second reviewer. |
| T−7 days | Submit the inspected PDF before the printer’s actual cutoff; keep a portable backup. |
| T−1 day | Confirm the session time, location, mounting method, and transport plan. |
When the presentation assignment arrives after acceptance, verify the board dimensions and orientation before committing the layout. If the format is A0 or 36×48, use the size conversion and PowerPoint setup guide. Before printing or uploading, complete the full PowerPoint preflight.
Protect the final handoff
Freeze the source file while the final PDF is reviewed. Record the PDF filename, page dimensions, page count, and printer order number in one handoff note. Carry the inspected PDF in two independently accessible locations. If a deadline slips, remove nonessential polish before dropping the dimension, factual, authorship, disclosure, or output checks.