1. Integrates with other event management systems
When planning an academic conference, abstract management via software is just one piece of the puzzle. It does not stand alone; it is deeply intertwined with other areas of conference organization.
For example, authors presenting their papers during the conference appear in the attendee list and usually need to pay a registration fee as well.
Therefore, choose software that allows you to create the registration form for attendees alongside your abstract management. It is even better if the solution also manages the registration fees directly.
🚀Benefit for abstract authors: They only need one login to access all functions.
2. Covers the entire process - from submission to evaluation
With effective abstract management software by your side, you cover every step, starting from the call for papers and ending with the final conference program.
What needs to be done beforehand? In the admin area of the abstract management software, you define exactly what information you need from anyone wishing to submit an abstract for your conference.
Subsequently, the reviewers selected by the program committee evaluate the assigned papers based on criteria you have also established in advance.
Once every abstract has been evaluated, the program committee acts as the final authority to make the ultimate decision on whether a submission is accepted or rejected.
Is your process a bit more complex? Then make sure the software doesn't throw a wrench in your plans. It should handle multi-stage abstract management processes with ease.
For instance, if authors of accepted abstracts are required to submit their full academic paper in the next step, which then undergoes the same evaluation process.
🔙Whether complex or simple, single-stage or multi-stage—the software must be able to do this: once a submission has been evaluated, it can be sent directly back to the author for revisions.
3. Allows you to customize submission and evaluation
No two conferences are the same.
Good abstract management software knows this. That is why it allows you to individually define submission periods, topic areas, and presentation types (talk, workshop, poster presentation, etc.).
Using the abstract management software, you determine whether authors enter their submissions into a form or upload them, set file formats and sizes, and specify the maximum number of contributions a person can submit and how many a reviewer can evaluate.
The decision of whether a submission is evaluated by one or more people is also entirely up to you.
📋If you want to save time, choose abstract management software that automatically provides suggestions on how to distribute submissions among the individual reviewers.
4. Plans the conference program
Once you know which submissions will be part of the final conference, the abstract management software helps you automatically generate an overview of all program items for the event.
This "schedule" provides suggestions on how to distribute presentations across the individual conference days, taking a significant portion of the planning work off your hands.
❌It is possible that you and the software might have different ideas about a particular talk. Ultimately, however, you make the decisions, not the automation—and good software never makes a decision without you.
5. Keeps you up to date
Your abstract management software helps you stay informed about everything at all times.
You will be notified when new abstracts arrive, and the software provides a constantly updated overview of all submissions received.
Once the review process is underway, you only need a quick glance at your abstract management software's dashboard to see how many reviews are still outstanding.
6. Manages communication with reviewers and authors
Abstract management software provides the foundation for the conference organizing team, the program committee, the reviewers, and the authors to communicate effectively.
It connects everyone by working from a shared database. This means no one has to switch to their email program, as the abstract management software keeps everyone updated on the current status.
This is particularly relevant when deadlines are approaching. For example, you should remind reviewers who haven't yet evaluated their abstracts before the review period ends. Such emails are also practical for submitters. They need to know if their abstract has been received (confirmation of receipt) and what the final outcome is (the program committee's final decision).
However, this doesn't mean you have to draft and send an email to every recipient individually. Ideally, the abstract management software handles this task. You simply create the template text, and the tool does the rest.
📧Who is allowed to communicate with whom via email? Can reviewers send messages to authors or the program committee? These are decisions for you to make.
7. Define who sees what
Not everyone needs a full overview of all data during the review phase. You set the limits, and the abstract management software implements them—not the other way around.
From the reviewers' perspective, for example, you should be able to decide whether:
- …they only see the abstracts assigned to them for evaluation
- …the author of the abstract remains anonymous to them
- …they know who else is evaluating the submission.
Furthermore, you can use the abstract management software to determine whether the review (double) blind should take place.
8. Import conference data
You already have a list of all the reviewers involved in your conference. It only makes sense that you shouldn't spend hours manually entering them into software again.
Make sure the abstract management software has an import function. Then the list arrives in the system ready to go, saving you the extra work.
The more abstracts and reviewers you have, the greater the time savings. For large conferences, this is an absolute must-have.
💡What are the next steps?
- Is your personal checklist for abstract management software ready? Then why not try out a tool right away?
- You're already thinking about the conference program. We'll show you how to describe sessions so engagingly that there won't be an empty seat left.
