Abstracts overview
The Abstracts module lets an event run a full call for abstracts. Authors submit their work, assigned reviewers score it, the organizer decides on each abstract and publishes the results, and accepted authors upload a poster and become event presenters.
This guide is split by who you are:
| You are… | Start here |
|---|---|
| An organizer running the call for abstracts in the admin dashboard | Set up abstracts |
| An author submitting an abstract | Submit an abstract |
| A reviewer scoring abstracts | Review an abstract |
| Anyone with a "why can't I…" question | Troubleshooting |
The people involved
| Who | Who they are | Where they work |
|---|---|---|
| Organizer | Runs the call for abstracts. What each organizer can do depends on their dashboard permissions. | Admin dashboard |
| Author | Writes and submits the abstract, and is automatically its presenting author. Either an attendee already registered for the event, or someone with an abstract-only account. | Attendee portal |
| Reviewer | An event attendee with the Abstract Reviewer role, assigned to one or more topics. | Attendee portal |
| Co-author | A name and affiliation the author types into the abstract. Not a user. | Nowhere |
Who can do what
| Organizer | Author | Reviewer | Co-author | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set up topics, the form and the submission window | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Sign in to the attendee portal | – | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Submit and edit an abstract | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ ¹ | ❌ |
| Score and comment on abstracts | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| See every score and comment | ✅ | ❌ | Only with blind review off | ❌ |
| See their own abstract's score and comments | – | Only if accepted, after results are published | – | ❌ |
| Accept, reject or waitlist an abstract | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Publish results | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Get abstract emails | – | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Upload a poster | ❌ | Only if accepted | ❌ | ❌ |
| Show a poster on the event website | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
¹ A reviewer can't submit abstracts to the event they review for.
When results are published, every accepted author becomes a presenter: they get the Abstract Presenter role and the organizer's acceptance package.
The flow from start to finish
The process runs in five stages. Stages 2 and 3 can overlap: reviewers can start on an abstract as soon as it's submitted, while other authors are still submitting.
| Stage | What happens | It's finished when | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Set up | The organizer runs the setup wizard, assigns reviewers to topics and turns on the submission form. | Submissions are open and every topic has a reviewer. | Set up abstracts, Reviewers |
| 2. Submit | Authors create an account if they need one, fill in the form and submit. Each submitted abstract goes straight to every reviewer of its topic. | The submission window closes. | Submit an abstract |
| 3. Review | Reviewers score each abstract from 1 to 10. The first review locks the abstract and its status becomes Under Review. | Every assigned reviewer has reviewed it. | Review an abstract |
| 4. Decide | The organizer accepts, waitlists or rejects each abstract, one at a time or in bulk by score. Authors can't see decisions yet. | Every abstract you want to announce has a decision. | Submissions and decisions |
| 5. Publish and posters | The organizer publishes results. Authors see their decision and get an email, accepted authors become presenters and upload posters, and the organizer shows posters on the event website. | Posters are collected. | Publish results, Posters |
Authors do not see any decision until the organizer publishes results in stage 5. Until then, an accepted, rejected or waitlisted abstract still shows Under Review to its author. See Results and score visibility.
Key rules at a glance
- Authors can only create, edit and submit while the submission form is enabled and the current time is inside the submission window.
- A submitted abstract stays editable until its first review arrives, the window closes, or results are published.
- An abstract can only be decided once every reviewer assigned to its topic has reviewed it.
- Scores run from 1 to 10. The abstract's score is the plain average of all completed reviews.
- Authors see their score and reviewer comments only if their abstract is accepted and results are published.
- Publishing results happens once and can't be undone.
Read Statuses and lifecycle for the full detail.