How to write and submit a conference abstract

One way to progress your career is to write and submit an abstract for a poster or free paper presentation for a conference. Here we take you through the key steps of this process.

Sharing your work with your peers is a good way to disseminate innovation and best practice, and share successes as well as failures.

What is an abstract?
 
Most clinicians will be familiar with an abstract as part of a longer published article describing original research, audit findings, an interesting case report or even an innovative piece of work that has improved practice. In this context, the abstract works as a summary and presentation of the key elements of the full article, so that the reader can establish quickly if the publication is of interest, before reading it in full. The abstract will also feature key words for search engines to ensure it is uncovered during a literature search.
 
Similarly, a conference abstract provides a summary of an overall piece of work, but it is often the starting point of sharing the work with peers. Initially, the abstract will describe the key elements of your research to the conference committee and hopefully lead them to invite you to present at the conference.
 
 

What is its purpose?

In the simplest terms, a conference abstract will increase the visibility of your work, ensuring that people working in your field are aware of what you have been researching so that they can factor your findings into their research and their clinical practice (Arsenault Knudsen, 2023).
 
An important difference between a conference abstract and an abstract for a paper is that the conference abstract is a standalone piece of work, not an introduction to a larger piece. This means that it needs to include everything that the conference organisers require to assess its relevance for the conference, and also what conference delegates need to know to help them decide whether they will attend your presentation (Strazdes and Clarke, 2024).

When thinking about how to ‘pitch’ your abstract, there are some key questions you should consider to clarify the story that you want to tell:
 

• What kinds of presentations is this conference most likely to attract? How can you make yours different?
• Are there any published selection criteria for abstracts for this conference?
• What are the ‘fashionable’ areas in your field right now? Are you working in one of these areas? If so, how can you make your presentation different from others doing the same? If not, how can you make your presentation appealing? (Kara, 2015; Arsenault Knudsen, 2023)

How do you structure your abstract?

The conference that you are submitting your abstract to may well have specific instructions for the format/style of the abstract, so make sure you check this first and read them carefully before you begin. However, regardless of what sections or subheadings might be required, your abstract needs to cover the following areas:

• The purpose of the project
• The research problem that led to the project being suggested
• The methods used to address this research problem, and documents or evidence that you have analysed
• The conclusions reached or, if the research is in progress, what the preliminary results of the investigation suggest, or what the research methods have demonstrated so far
• The significance of the research project – why are the results useful or why will they be useful when the research is complete? What have you found out that will inform your colleagues’ and peers’ understanding of this area? (Strazdes and Clarke, 2024).

Whatever kind of research you are doing, your abstract should give the reader answers to the following questions:

• What are you asking?
• Why is it important?
• How will (or did) you study it?
• What will (or did) you use to demonstrate your conclusions?
• If you’ve completed the research, what are the conclusions and what do they mean?
• If you’re still doing the research, what are the inferences that you can make so far? (Strazdes and Clarke, 2024).

Writing your abstract

Strazdes and Clarke (2024) recommend that any abstract should meet the four Cs of abstract writing:
 

1. Complete – it covers the major parts of the project
2. Concise – it contains no excess wordiness or unnecessary information
3. Clear – it is readable, well organised, and not full of jargon
4. Cohesive – it flows smoothly between the parts.

Even though you’re likely to be writing for an audience that has a similar background to yours, don’t assume that they will know as much about the area as you do, and don’t fill your abstract with abbreviations – these affect the flow of your writing and make your abstract less inclusive for a wider audience.
 
It is always helpful to ask someone who doesn’t work with you to read your abstract before you submit it to the conference organisers, to make sure it makes sense and doesn’t assume too much background knowledge. Give yourself plenty of time to write, edit, check and rewrite your abstract before the submission deadline. When you’ve done this, make sure you do a final check of the grammar and spelling, and the submission criteria, and then you’re ready to submit your abstract.
 

Submitting your abstract

Most conference organisers will have guidelines for people submitting abstracts, so make sure you get hold of these, read them and follow them carefully. This may include things such as word count, required subheadings and the type of reference style. By following these requirements, you show the conference organisers that you are the sort of person they want presenting at their conference.
 
You may either need to submit the abstract via an online system, or you may need to email it with your details to the conference organisers. Either way, make sure that you supply all the information needed, as this is likely to be used to create the conference programme and update the website.
 
When your submission is complete, you should receive an email acknowledgement, letting you know the next steps in the process. Give yourself a moment to celebrate – writing an abstract is no small achievement, and you should be proud of the work you have put in to get to this point.
 
The next article in this series will talk about the next step once your abstract has been accepted - presenting your abstract at a conference.
 

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References

Arsenault Knudsen EN (2023) Everything You Need to Know to Write an Abstract: A Step-by-Step Guide. https://pcna.net/step-by-step-guide-to-write-an-abstract/ (accessed 17 March 2025)

Kara H (2015) How to write a killer conference abstract: The first step towards an engaging presentation. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/01/27/how-to-write-a-killer-conference-abstract/ (accessed 10 March 2025)

Strazdes D, Clarke A (2024) How to Write an Abstract for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference. https://urc.ucdavis.edu/how-write-abstract (accessed 10 March 2025)