Introduction
As someone who has organized several academic conferences and served on numerous organizing committees, I know firsthand the critical role that abstracts play in shaping a successful event. Abstracts give a glimpse into the research that will be showcased, allowing organizers to craft a program that reflects both diversity and depth in the scientific discussions. Whether it's selecting presentations or structuring sessions, the quality and variety of abstracts submitted can make or break a conference.
Over the years, I’ve learned that collecting abstracts isn't just about gathering research summaries. It's about creating a submission process that is clear, intuitive, and comprehensive. A well-designed abstract submission form ensures that researchers provide all the necessary details—without unnecessary hurdles—so the review and selection process can run smoothly. And, importantly, it makes the experience easier for both the submitters and the organizing committee.
In this article, I’ll share insights from my own experiences on how to create an abstract submission form that works. From the essential components to custom options and even the benefits of using an online management tool like MeetingHand, I'll walk you through the process of collecting abstracts that meet your event’s needs.
Why Abstracts Are Crucial for Academic Conferences?
In my experience, abstracts are much more than a simple summary of a research paper—they are the first opportunity for a researcher to showcase the significance of their work to the organizing committee. Abstracts serve as a preview of the research that will be presented at the conference, providing insight into the key findings, methodologies, and innovations in various fields. A well-written abstract can often spark immediate interest, setting the stage for further discussions during the event.
One of the most important functions of an abstract is to help organizers assess the scientific relevance and quality of the submission. As an organizing committee member, I’ve often relied on abstracts to determine whether a submission aligns with the core themes of the conference or adds value to the overall program. Abstracts give us the ability to gauge the novelty of the research, the robustness of the methodology, and the potential impact on the field. This is especially crucial when you’re dealing with a high volume of submissions and need to make decisions efficiently.
Moreover, abstracts play a pivotal role in the selection process for oral or poster presentations. Depending on the nature and significance of the research, an abstract may be selected for an oral presentation, allowing the presenter to engage directly with a broader audience. Alternatively, a poster presentation might be more suitable for more detailed discussions in a smaller group. The structure and clarity of the abstract can be the deciding factor in determining where a presentation fits best within the program. Ultimately, the quality of the abstracts you receive will influence the overall depth and balance of the conference's scientific sessions.
That being said, spreading the word and reaching out to a wide target audience is equally important in ensuring the collection of top-quality abstracts. To attract the best submissions, it’s essential to use all available resources such as the conference web page, social media platforms, invitation emails, and even event-relevant publications like journals or newsletters. By effectively promoting the abstract submission process, you not only increase the diversity of topics but also the overall quality of the scientific program. In my experience, taking a proactive approach in publicizing the call for abstracts has always resulted in a richer and more dynamic conference.
As I’ve learned through organizing various events, the importance of collecting high-quality abstracts cannot be overstated. They are the foundation upon which the scientific program is built, and investing time in designing an effective submission process—and promoting it—is well worth the effort.
Key Components of an Abstract Submission Form
Having worked on multiple conferences, I can tell you that the efficiency of your abstract submission process depends largely on how well your submission form is designed. A well-structured form ensures that you collect all the necessary information for smooth processing and evaluation, while also making the experience user-friendly for submitters. The clearer and more organized your form, the fewer chances of errors, incomplete submissions, or confusion during the review process.
Below are the key components every abstract submission form should include to ensure you gather all relevant details:
1. Abstract Title
The title is often the first thing the reviewers and attendees will see, so it needs to be clear, concise, and reflective of the research topic. The title should be compelling enough to give an immediate sense of what the abstract is about without being overly long or ambiguous.
2. Preferred Presentation Type
Allow submitters to choose their preferred presentation format—whether it be oral, poster, or even other formats that might be relevant to your event (such as panel discussions or lightning talks). Knowing the preferred presentation type in advance helps with session planning and allocation.
3. Scientific Topic or Field
To streamline the review process, it’s important to ask submitters to categorize their abstracts under the relevant scientific topic or field. This will help you sort submissions into appropriate sessions or tracks, and it ensures that the abstracts are reviewed by specialists in the right fields.
4. Author Information
A well-organized submission form should require complete information for all authors and co-authors involved in the research. This includes:
- Corresponding Author: The primary contact who will receive notifications and updates about the submission status.
- Presenting Author: The person who will present the research at the conference. Sometimes, the corresponding and presenting author are the same, but not always, so it’s important to clarify this in the form.
5. Abstract Body
The abstract itself is the core of the submission. Here, you’ll need to provide space for the abstract body, specifying any length requirements, formatting guidelines, and structure (such as Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). Providing clear guidelines in this section helps ensure consistency across submissions, which will make the review process much more straightforward.
Additionally, some submitters may need to include visual elements such as images, charts, or tables to better explain their research. It's crucial that the submission form allows for the upload of these visual elements to complement the abstract text. This can be especially important in fields where visual data plays a significant role. Furthermore, the form should support special characters, especially those commonly used in mathematical formulas or scientific notations, ensuring that all relevant information can be accurately presented.
6. Keywords
Ask submitters to provide a few keywords that capture the essence of their research. Keywords are incredibly useful for categorizing abstracts and helping reviewers quickly identify the focus of the research.
7. References (if applicable)
In some cases, references might be necessary, especially for certain disciplines or topics. This section is typically optional but can be included depending on your event’s specific rules. Make sure to clarify if there are any formatting requirements for citing references.
8. Full-Text Submission (Optional or Required)
Some conferences request a full-text submission in addition to the abstract, particularly if the event plans to publish conference proceedings or special journal issues. If this is the case, provide a section for submitters to upload their full-text paper, with guidelines on file types, length, and formatting.
Making the Submission Process User-Friendly
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the years is that a submission form must be easy to navigate. The fields should be clearly labeled, and submitters should know exactly what information is required in each section. You can also reduce the risk of incomplete or incorrect submissions by making certain fields (like abstract title, authorship, and body) mandatory.
To improve user experience further, I recommend offering a save-and-continue-later feature, allowing researchers to return to their submission if they need more time. And, of course, the form should be mobile-friendly to accommodate those submitting on different devices.
When all necessary information is gathered in a logical and user-friendly manner, not only do submitters have a more positive experience, but organizers also benefit from receiving well-structured, complete submissions ready for review.
Customizing the Abstract Submission Form
While there are standard fields that every abstract submission form should include, one of the best ways to enhance your submission process is to customize the form to meet the unique needs of your event. Adding custom questions can help you gather additional information that is relevant to the specific goals of your conference, and it ensures that you receive all the data needed for proper planning, evaluation, and logistics.
Here are some examples of customization options that I’ve found helpful during my time organizing conferences:
1. Submitter’s Bio
In addition to the abstract itself, it’s often useful to ask the submitter for a brief biography. This might include their academic background, research focus, and key achievements in their field. Having this information can help with session introductions or marketing materials, especially if the submitter is selected for an oral presentation. It also adds context for the reviewers, allowing them to see the professional background of the author and how it relates to the submitted research.
2. Consent for Publication
If the event plans to publish submitted abstracts in conference proceedings or in academic journals, it’s important to request the submitter’s consent during the submission process. Including a question that asks for explicit permission to publish the abstract (or the full paper) ensures that there is no ambiguity and that you have the author’s approval to move forward with publication. This can also help streamline the later stages of the event, especially when it comes to producing conference materials or coordinating with publication partners.
3. Optional Fields Based on the Event’s Specific Goals
Depending on the focus of your event, you may want to include optional fields that gather more detailed information. For instance:
- Funding Sources: If your event includes discussions around funding or partnerships, asking submitters to provide details about their research funding can help you gather relevant data.
- Affiliations: Some conferences may want to emphasize collaborations between different institutions or companies. Including a field for submitters to list their institutional or corporate affiliations can be beneficial.
- Special Requests: You can also add fields where submitters can mention any specific needs, such as AV requirements for their presentation or accessibility considerations. This ensures that your team can make necessary arrangements in advance.
4. Conditional Fields
One of the more advanced customization features you can incorporate is conditional fields, which appear based on the submitter’s previous answers. For example:
- If the submitter selects “oral presentation” as their preferred format, a new field can appear asking for specific details related to their AV requirements or session preferences.
- If the submitter consents to publication, you can prompt them to provide additional information, such as the copyright transfer or submission of a final version of the full paper.
Conditional fields allow you to create a dynamic submission form that adapts to the submitter’s responses, reducing the clutter of unnecessary fields while ensuring that all relevant information is captured for those who need it.
Customizing the abstract submission form allows you to tailor the process to your event’s unique needs, ensuring that you collect all the information required for smooth organization and a better attendee experience. These small adjustments can make a significant difference in managing your event efficiently, and they contribute to a more seamless submission experience for your participants.
User-Friendly Design Elements for a Smooth Submission Process
Through my years of organizing academic conferences, one of the most critical lessons I’ve learned is the importance of making the abstract submission process as user-friendly as possible. The more intuitive and streamlined the submission form, the less likely submitters are to encounter issues or abandon the process midway. A smooth submission process not only improves the experience for researchers but also benefits organizers by reducing errors and incomplete submissions.
Here are a few key design elements to ensure a seamless experience for your submitters:
1. Ensuring the Form Is Intuitive and Easy to Navigate
When designing your submission form, simplicity should be a top priority. The form should be clean and well-organized, with a logical flow that guides submitters from one section to the next without confusion. Avoid overcrowding any single page with too many fields, and use headers or section dividers to make it easy for users to know where they are in the process. Additionally, all mandatory fields should be clearly marked to ensure that critical information is not accidentally overlooked.
2. Limiting Unnecessary Steps to Avoid Frustration
No one likes filling out forms that ask for redundant or irrelevant information. To keep the process as efficient as possible, limit the number of steps and only ask for the information that is absolutely necessary at each stage. If you need additional details, such as author bios or references, consider making those optional fields rather than required ones. Minimizing unnecessary steps keeps the form shorter and more manageable, preventing submitter fatigue or frustration.
3. Providing Clear Instructions and Examples
One of the most common reasons for incomplete or incorrect submissions is a lack of clarity in the instructions. Each section of the submission form should include clear, concise instructions that explain exactly what is required. Consider providing examples for more complex fields—such as the formatting of the abstract body, the structure of keywords, or how to input author details. This removes ambiguity and ensures submitters feel confident in completing the form correctly on the first try.
4. Offering the Ability to Save Drafts and Continue Later
Submitting an abstract often requires time and multiple drafts. By offering a save-and-continue-later option, you give submitters the flexibility to start their submission, save their progress, and return to complete it at a later time. This is particularly helpful for researchers who may need to collaborate with co-authors or gather additional information before finalizing their submission. It also reduces the risk of submitters rushing through the form just to meet a deadline.
5. Ensuring Mobile Responsiveness for Submitters on Different Devices
In today’s fast-paced world, many researchers are working on the go. Making sure that your submission form is mobile-responsive is crucial for accommodating submitters using various devices—whether it’s a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. A responsive form adjusts automatically to the screen size and remains fully functional on any platform, ensuring that researchers can submit their abstracts no matter where they are or what device they’re using.
Benefits of Using an Online Abstract Management Tool like MeetingHand
From my experience organizing academic conferences, I’ve learned that managing abstract submissions manually can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. That’s where an online abstract management tool like MeetingHand makes a significant difference. Such tools not only simplify the submission process but also help event organizers streamline their workflows and ensure the entire event runs smoothly.
Here are the key benefits of using MeetingHand for managing abstract submissions:
1. Centralized Management
One of the greatest advantages of MeetingHand is the ability to manage the collection, sorting, and reviewing of abstracts in a single platform. Instead of juggling spreadsheets, emails, and different tools, you can easily access all submission data in one place. This allows you to efficiently organize abstracts, categorize them by scientific topic, and track their progress through the review process.
2. Automated Communication
MeetingHand also helps reduce the administrative burden by allowing you to send automated emails to submitters. Whether it’s confirming their submission, providing status updates, or reminding them of upcoming deadlines, the system handles communication automatically. This ensures that submitters stay informed and up-to-date without requiring constant manual follow-up from your team.
3. Seamless Integration
Another major benefit of MeetingHand is its seamless integration with other event management modules, such as registration and payment systems. By linking the abstract submission form to these modules, you can easily manage all aspects of the event in one place. This integration ensures that both submitters and attendees can complete multiple steps—like registering for the event and submitting their abstract—through a unified platform, creating a more streamlined experience.
4. Customization Options
MeetingHand offers extensive customization options that allow you to tailor the abstract submission form and workflows to meet the specific needs of your event. Whether you need to add custom fields, conditional logic, or specific instructions, the platform makes it easy to adjust the form to fit your requirements. This flexibility ensures that you gather all the relevant information while maintaining a user-friendly experience for submitters.
5. Data Export & Analysis
Once you’ve collected the submissions, MeetingHand makes it simple to export data for further analysis. You can easily export abstracts, author details, and submission statistics, which are crucial for creating reports, scheduling sessions, or preparing event materials. This data is invaluable for making informed decisions and improving the overall planning process.
6. Seamless Abstract Evaluation and Program Creation
MeetingHand also streamlines the evaluation of abstracts, making it easier for the review committee to assess submissions and make decisions. The platform offers tools that allow for efficient evaluation workflows, such as scoring systems or comment fields, ensuring a smooth and fair review process. Once the abstracts are accepted, creating the event program becomes significantly simpler. You can easily add accepted abstracts to the program, organize them by session, and generate a comprehensive agenda with minimal effort. This saves valuable time and helps ensure a well-structured and balanced program.
7. Exporting Accepted Abstracts as a Book of Abstracts or Proceedings
MeetingHand makes it easy to compile and export accepted abstracts as a book of abstracts or a book of proceedings in a single Word or PDF document. This is particularly useful for creating official conference materials to distribute to attendees or to publish online. The platform allows for flexible formatting, ensuring that your book of abstracts or proceedings is professional, well-organized, and ready to be shared.
8. User-Friendly Interface
Perhaps most importantly, MeetingHand provides a user-friendly interface for both submitters and reviewers. For submitters, the intuitive platform makes it easy to navigate the submission process and ensure that all necessary information is provided. For reviewers, the platform simplifies the process of evaluating abstracts, offering clear workflows and tools to help them assess each submission efficiently.
Managing and Reviewing Submitted Abstracts
Once the abstracts start coming in, managing and reviewing them efficiently is crucial to ensuring the scientific quality of your event. A smooth review process helps the organizing committee make informed decisions, while keeping everything organized minimizes delays and confusion. Based on my experience, using an organized, systematized approach to abstract management is key to successfully handling a high volume of submissions.
1. Organizing Abstracts for Easy Review by the Scientific Committee
One of the main challenges of managing abstract submissions is ensuring they are easy to review. Using a platform like MeetingHand helps centralize all the submissions in one place, allowing the scientific committee to access and evaluate them without hassle. Organizing abstracts based on predefined criteria—such as the submission date, topic, or presentation type—helps streamline the process and keeps the committee focused on evaluating the content, rather than navigating a messy system.
Providing reviewers with clear workflows, including scoring systems or feedback options, further ensures consistency in how submissions are assessed. With all abstracts accessible in one place, the review committee can collaborate more effectively, share feedback, and make quicker decisions.
2. Using Filters and Categories to Sort Abstracts
One of the most powerful features of an online management tool like MeetingHand is its ability to filter and categorize abstracts based on specific criteria. For example, abstracts can be sorted by:
- Presentation type (oral or poster)
- Scientific field or topic
- Submission date
- Author information or affiliations
This categorization ensures that abstracts are reviewed by specialists in the appropriate field and are placed in the correct sessions or tracks. With customizable filters, you can ensure that no abstract is misplaced, and reviewers can focus on the submissions most relevant to their expertise.
3. Setting Up an Automatic Confirmation Email Upon Submission
Once an abstract is submitted, it’s important to immediately acknowledge the submission. An automatic confirmation email reassures the submitter that their abstract has been received and is being processed. In addition to confirming receipt, this email can also provide details about the next steps in the review process or upcoming deadlines, which helps to keep submitters informed and engaged.
MeetingHand allows you to customize these automated emails, so they reflect the tone and messaging of your event. Sending an immediate confirmation upon submission is a small but important step in maintaining good communication and creating a professional, efficient abstract submission process.
Final Thoughts and Best Practices
In my experience organizing academic conferences, one thing remains constant: the quality of the event often begins with the quality of the abstract submission process. A well-designed abstract submission form is more than just a tool for collecting research summaries—it is the foundation upon which the scientific program is built. The easier and more intuitive the process for submitters, the more likely you are to receive high-quality abstracts that contribute to a successful and impactful event.
Key Takeaways for Optimizing the Collection Process
- Efficiency is essential. Make sure your submission form is concise, easy to navigate, and collects all the required information. Customizing the form to suit your event’s specific needs ensures that you gather the most relevant data without overwhelming submitters.
- User experience matters. A smooth submission process—complete with clear instructions, the ability to save drafts, and mobile responsiveness—makes a significant difference for both submitters and organizers. The more accessible and user-friendly the form, the more likely you are to avoid issues like incomplete submissions or frustration among participants.
- Streamline management and reviews. By using an online tool like MeetingHand, you can centralize abstract collection, automate communication, and simplify the review process. From organizing abstracts for easy evaluation to exporting accepted submissions as a book of abstracts or proceedings, the right tools can help ensure a seamless process from start to finish.
Encouraging Feedback for Future Improvements
No matter how well-designed the process, there is always room for improvement. I recommend actively encouraging feedback from your submitters—either through surveys or by asking for informal suggestions—on what worked well and what could be improved. Incorporating feedback not only helps improve future submission processes but also signals to your attendees that their experience and input are valued.
Dr. Esat Arber
---
Images designed by Vecteezy