Organizing research events takes a lot of work – it can be disappointing when you don’t get as many abstract submissions as you were hoping to receive.
After having facilitated hundreds of poster and abstract submissions processes over the years, we’ve come across a few techniques that can boost your numbers and increase the size of your scientific poster session.
Here are 10 steps you can take to increase the quantity and quality of abstract submissions to make sure your event is as successful as possible.
- Poster Competitions and Prizes
Introducing a competition element with prizes is the most straightforward way to get more abstract submissions. The competition could be as simple as a gift card for best poster or the promise of a lightning talk awarded to the top abstracts.
Our asynchronous judging tool ePostersReview or new release InstaJudge for live events are two tools that can help you facilitate a judging process that is easy and fair.
- Add your scientific conference to public lists
Promote your event in relevant scientific community groups on websites like LinkedIn and even informal channels such as Reddit that have high visibility. You can also inquire about featuring your event in publications that promote conferences in your area or a specific field of inquiry.
- Highlight the benefits of attending
Listing the benefits and amenities offered at your conference will also incentivize people to submit. Emphasizing networking, feedback, and publication opportunities that will help people in their careers adds some extra motivation.
- Relax the submission requirements
Consider a broader theme or shorter required abstract length to lower the barrier to entry without compromising on academic rigor. If there is a submission fee, consider adding a fee waiver option to increase access to people who may not be able to afford the fee.
- Post reminders
PIs are busy people–sometimes they need a little extra push! Sharing frequent reminders on social media and via email can help more people get their abstract in on time.
- Send customized invitations
Depending on context it can also be acceptable to send personalized invitations to institutions and researchers whose work you would like to feature. This is a great time to make use of your academic network and your institution’s relationships with other organizations.
- Extend deadlines (cautiously)
Give researchers more time to prepare their abstract–just make sure you still give yourself enough time to get organized before your event date. Publicly extending the initial deadline by even just a day or two is a great way to increase your submission numbers.
- Share social proof
Showcase past successful poster sessions or testimonials from previous presenters to demonstrate the value of participating in your conference. Nothing like a bit of FOMO to get people eager to participate!
- Promotion with partner organizations
Collaborate with other scientific groups or institutions to reach a wider audience and encourage submissions from a wider pool of applicants. Your combined networks will improve outreach and create new collaboration opportunities.
- Collaborate with a scientific journal
Many conferences work with a scientific journal that will agree to publish your accepted abstracts, giving authors an extra citation in addition to what they present at your conference.
The benefits of more abstracts
Bringing in more abstracts will maximize the impact of your event and boost engagement. Whether you’re trying to go from 10 to 20 submissions or from 100 to 200, we think these tips are a great place to get started.
Happy organizing!