How to Write a Great Call for Abstracts

Introduction

An abstract is a brief statement that provides the reader with a thorough yet concise comprehension of your work. Your work might be research, such as a study or clinical trial, or it could be a novel or one-of-a-kind service, program, theory, or resource. An abstract allows you to publicize your work, inform practice and education, and interact with people in your field of interest. It should inform readers about the content of your presentation and pique their curiosity to know more about your work; they may opt to attend your talk, visit your poster, or contact you based on it.

An abstract is usually limited to 250-500 words. Word restriction can be challenging: some graduate students ignore the word limit and rush to prepare/conduct and submit an abstract at the last minute, which typically affects their prospects of acceptance. Take your time with the assignment; the abstract is a very conventional writing style. You will substantially enhance your abstract if you follow the fundamental criteria below and avoid frequent problems. When any organization is searching for speakers and authors to submit abstracts, papers, posters, or session ideas for an upcoming event, ideally, you want the procedure to be as simple as possible, so that you may choose from a bigger pool of high-quality submissions. A simple submission procedure starts with clear, concise submission guidelines that ensure speakers and authors understand all criteria before they begin.

The Significance Of An Abstract

Abstracts have been compared to movie trailers since they provide previews with highlights that help viewers decide if they want to watch the complete work. Abstracts play an essential role in many publication decisions made by various audiences. Abstract quality is a crucial predictor of a paper's life and legacy at every stage of the publishing process. Preparing a high-quality abstract that will persuade interested readers to read your entire research necessitates the author avoiding frequent flaws in published journal abstracts while recognizing the characteristics of a successful abstract.

Essential Considerations When Preparing a Call For Abstracts

1. Conduct The Conference Research: You must know the abstract submission deadline. Furthermore, you should submit your abstract as soon as feasible. Conduct research on the conference to determine its emphasis and how your topic fits in. This involves researching the variety of presentations offered during the meeting. This will help you choose which session is the most excellent fit for your paper.
2. Choose your keywords with care: Keywords are essential for enhancing the discoverability of your post. Use the keywords that best represent the topic of your post.
3. Be precise: Once you've decided on the conference's theme, you may adapt your abstract to meet individual sessions. Knowing the Word limit for the abstract is essential for maintaining concentration. The majority of word counts are between 250 and 300 words. So, be brief.
4. As a guide, use Example Abstracts: Examining samples  of abstracts is usually beneficial or significant . Examine generic abstract illustration as well as abstract ones in your specialty. Take notes to understand the key factors contributing to an abstract's effectiveness.
5. Avoid using fillers and cliches: Abstracts are meant to be brief but informative. Use terms or phrases that bring no specific value to your investigation. Keep your words short and concise to deliver as much information as possible. Revise and modify your abstract to ensure it is error-free in its final presentation. The editing process is also an excellent opportunity to look over your abstract and remove extraneous words or phrases. The final text should be linear, straightforward, and easy to read. If you trip over something while reading, so will the abstract selection committee. Request that another graduate student read your abstract to guarantee its clarity or attend a Graduate Student Writing Group meeting.
6. Edit with an Open Mind: After finishing your abstract, take a break. Then go through everything again with a fresh perspective. This will assist or aid you in editing it to increase its efficacy. You may also seek expert editing services that provide speedy turnaround.
7. Maintain The Concentration and Form Your Ideas: The purpose of an abstract is to pique the interest of conference organizers. As a result, you must concentrate or focus on increasing the significance of your job. You want to convey the importance of your thoughts in as little as 250-300 words. Your language should be professional, and your writing style should be scholarly. Because of the word restriction, contractions may seem enticing, but they should be avoided. If no particular citation standards are provided, it is acceptable to utilize the author's name and title of work (in italics or quote marks) inside the text rather than footnotes or in-text citations.
8. Use various fonts and sizes: If you need to draw attention to a specific instruction or warning, employ a strong typeface or change the font style or size. Using a different colored font might also assist, but remember that certain people may find colors challenging to read.
9. Be prepared for the length of the application procedure: Provide submitters with an estimate of how long the process will take. For example, your submission procedure may include three phases and take 20-30 minutes to complete. In this manner, submitters may guarantee they have enough time to finish the submission without feeling pressured.

Writing the Abstract Body For Great Calls

Subheadings that are required

For great calls, your abstract should include material in the following subheadings:

1. Title Or Topic: The title is a one-sentence overview of your study and presentation. It is most likely the most crucial statement in your abstract because:

• It is the initial impression that individuals studying your abstract will have.
• It will be included in the conference schedule, with a link to your abstract.
• People are more likely to read the title than the abstract or attend the presentation.
• The headline of your essay is what people remember and memorize.

An excellent title is a concise, simply understandable statement that explains your study and emphasizes its significance. A compelling title entices readers to read the entire abstract or attend the oral presentation. This should be the shortest abstract portion; it should simply summarize what is previously known about the study's topic area and what is unknown, with the present study's emphasis. 6 This section emphasizes clinical relevance, provides the study's rationale and specifies study objectives/questions.

To keep your title simple, concise, and brief:

• Keep it under 14 words.
• Avoid using apparent terms like "research on," "results of," "investigation," and "role of."
• Remove extraneous words such as "the."
• Remove any terms that provide no information to the readers.
• Avoid using special symbols and units.
• Avoid using complicated terms, unusual abbreviations, and jargon.

1. Consider your audience: The amount of background you offer on a topic will vary depending on the conference. For example, is the conference a broad humanities conference, a general graduate student history conference, or something more specific? Your pitch should be tailored to the specifics of the meeting: the more precise the issue, the less comprehensive the background you should provide, and vice versa.
2. Objectives and Purpose: This section is generally two to four lines long and contains the following topics: background information, the motivation for doing the research, the issues or questions that the study seeks to address, and the central theme of the research. It also explains why your study is necessary and how tough it is. This body section will often conclude with a phrase defining the study's goal. "The goal of this study was to _____," for example.
3. Method: What research methodologies were employed throughout the study? How thorough was the investigation? Remember to provide information on the participants, what the researchers measured, and the instruments they used. Was the study empirical or theoretical? What sources of information did the study use? This section should include information about something other than what the researchers anticipated to find.
4. Results: This section discusses the study's findings. If the investigation has yet to yield results, you should consult the preliminary data or outcomes with some statistical work. If you intend to receive findings before the conference, include a notation stating a completed version of the abstract will be updated before the meeting.
5. Conclusion: This part summarizes the significance of the findings, as well as their ramifications. A descriptive abstract does not include a conclusion or results section. An informative abstract has a conclusion.
6. Topic area: Refer to the call for abstracts and choose the most relevant topic so that the congress organizers can place your abstract in the proper session.

The Review Procedure

Reviewers ask the five fundamental questions listed below: A standardized review procedure will be conducted after submitting your abstract. The purpose is not to limit the number of presentations or posters but to guarantee that all published abstracts fulfill minimal professional standards and represent solid work.

• Is the effort addressing a significant issue?
• Is the work brand new, or has it already been published?
• Do the methods/approach allow for a thorough answer to the question presented at the start of the project?
• Have the data/findings appropriately been interpreted?
• Are the abstract's contents clear and understandable?

A List Of Important Dates

• March 1, 20XX Submission deadline for people interested in participating in the mentorship program to XYZ.org
• April 1, 20XX, the Deadline for people who do not desire to participate in the mentorship program XYZ.org.
• May 1, 20XX, The review's findings were announced on May 15, 20XX.
• Conference registration deadline

Making Your Abstract Submission

Abstracts must be submitted online using the submission form. Submissions on paper, faxed, or emailed will be refused. Make sure to choose a topic for your abstract from the drop-down option. The presenting author is asked to declare on the form whether they prefer oral or poster presentations. The reviewer and programming committee will make the ultimate selection, which will be affected by the quality and acceptability of the abstract as well as logistics, such as presenting space and time. Check that no modifications are introduced when you copy and paste your abstract into the online submission form if you prepared it in Word.

Increasing  The Number Of People Who Respond To Call For Abstracts

Managing The Recipient List

The last thing you want to be to a potential delegate is a spammer. Consider a salesperson continuously contacting you and bugging you to buy. You would be unimpressed! The same is true with emails. Sending to a large number of individuals who don't want to hear from you may harm the reputation of your conference and result in the receivers labeling your emails as spam, preventing any future emails from reaching them. Build your list carefully, so you don't disturb the metrics you've set up for your call for abstracts. Consider compiling a list of authors and attendees who have already attended your conference. This ensures that the list you send comprises only those who want to hear from you. Also, ensure that it complies with data protection rules such as the GDPR, which applies to anybody who has authority over the personal data of others. If you distribute your call for abstracts to academics who have not provided their consent to receive emails from you, your event will violate GDPR, and you may be punished.

Improve The Click-Rate Through

Make sure your calls to action stand out

Your calls to action (links or buttons to learn more about your conference or submit) must stand out when people get your call for abstracts. A little white space around them can help. You may also make them a different color and position them at the top of the email.

Increase The Click-Through Rate

Using words rather than visuals to communicate the tale

Do not rely on pictures to convey your message. Some businesses have firewalls that prevent graphics from appearing in emails. As a result, ensure that your email performs as effectively without representations as it does with them. Several college systems have installed a firewall regarding email design components to prevent graphics from appearing in emails. If you like to include photographs in your call for abstractions, there may be a lot of space in the email by the time the receiver sees it. And if you've put any vital information in the photos, the reader will notice it.

Conclusion

To maximize your chances of landing a good call in the abstract, your language should be professional, and your writing style should comply with academic norms. Because of the word restriction, contractions may seem enticing, but they should be avoided. If no particular citation standards are provided, it is acceptable to utilize the author's name and title of work (in italics or quote marks) inside the text rather than footnotes or in-text citations. Because many readers are not native English speakers, avoid title puns and stick to straightforward phrase structure. Maintain proper, concise, clear, professional, and, where necessary, scientific language.