Abstract
The meeting abstract is an important step in the process of disseminating new knowledge. The invitation to present an abstract at a scientific meeting is the first opportunity for an investigator to showcase their findings to an audience outside of their institution. The constructive feedback and generous insights from expert peers are valuable when preparing a manuscript for eventual submission to a journal. Knowing how to get the most out of a meeting abstract presentation is essential to scholars engaged in scientific discovery.
Keywords: Abstract, Manuscript, Publishing
As journal editor and faculty mentor to students, residents, and fellows-in-training, I am often asked the following: “I finished the study and plan to get it published as a full paper – should I bother submitting it as an abstract to a meeting?” My response is always “YES!” The meeting abstract has many benefits to author-investigators, and it is wonderful to see so many in this issue of JMT ready for presentation at ACMT’s Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Vancouver [1]. Knowing how to get the most out of a meeting abstract presentation is essential to a scholar’s continued success in scientific discovery.
Peer Review
The meeting abstract is essentially a “mini” manuscript that needs to go through peer review and scoring before acceptance to a meeting [2–5]. Think of this as a dry run before submitting your full paper to a journal where it will undergo more rigorous and thorough review [5, 6]. Remember, the meeting abstract is the “face” of your research and the first impression of your work. If your abstract is scored high enough to be accepted to a meeting, that is good news, but not necessarily a guarantee your work is ready for a journal (see "feedback" below). If not accepted to a meeting, do not be discouraged or think badly of the abstract selection committee. See what was accepted and then re-read your submission from the perspective of the scoring committee: perhaps the main message was not right for that meeting, or rigor was not clear in the methods, or the results lacked sufficient detail. Drafting an abstract is not creative writing, and it is challenging getting your message into the limited word count for a meeting. If not accepted, see it as an opportunity to regroup and try again with an updated abstract to the next meeting.
Free Feedback
The presentation of a meeting abstract provides investigators with free feedback on their work from peers and like-minded colleagues outside of their institution. Take advantage of all their comments and questions whether presented on stage or in a busy poster room. Perhaps your data would benefit from a different analytic approach, or your conclusion needs adjustment, or a specific limitation deserves candid acknowledgment. Recruit a partner to take notes about everything overheard regarding your work, because it is hard to engage with an audience and take notes when you are the presenting author. I cannot emphasize this enough - everything said about your work needs to be written down, even silly or snarky comments, because those might be previews of how reviewers evaluate your future submission to a journal. When discussing your work with meeting attendees, be direct and ask them, “Where do you think this would have the most impact if published?” Rather than a med tox journal, perhaps a pediatrics journal, a critical care journal, or a public health journal might be more suitable for your study.
Network
The meeting abstract provides an opportunity to meet new collaborators – take advantage of enlarging your network and making connections. Many multi-center collaborations were birthed at scientific meetings when investigators from around the world met over an interesting poster or presentation. If you see another study similar to your own, introduce yourself to those authors. Do not view this as a conflict or competition. Meeting organizers are intentional in accepting several studies on the same topic done in different regions or with different approaches to address knowledge gaps and advance future scholarship in that area. Don’t be shy – share with others what worked and what did not during the course of your study and make plans to work together.
Ticket to Travel
The meeting abstract may be your ticket to travel. Many institutions or departments will support travel for their trainees or faculty if they present an abstract, so keep your eyes open for these occasions where you can take advantage of your employer’s budget. There is no travel ticket with a published paper, but the abstract may be your round-trip ticket to somewhere fun you have never visited.
Reflection
The meeting abstract provides a natural break to reflect on your work after data have been collected and analyzed. Perhaps the null hypothesis was rejected in the way you hoped, or maybe you were disappointed with a negative study. How you might view your study question and the value of that work near the end of the study journey may be very different from how you viewed it during early stages of planning. Be open-minded and think about what went well, what was a struggle, and incorporate those lessons into your meeting presentation, your eventual manuscript (e.g., limitations section), and your future research endeavors.
Manuscript
Start drafting your full manuscript while organizing your poster or slides for the meeting. Doing so is an efficient use of time and momentum. However, as tempting as it might seem, check your excitement and hold off on submitting your manuscript until after you return from the meeting. It is important to remember that meetings are for presenting novel or preliminary findings to a peer group before release to all – the meeting is intended to be a celebration of early news to peers and like-minded colleagues. If those same findings have already been published in the form a full journal manuscript, which reaches a significantly larger audience than the relatively small number who attend a meeting, it is no longer news to the attendees. According to the guidelines at most national meetings, anything published in a journal before the meeting is not eligible for presentation. Scholars should also be warned that submitting a manuscript before the presentation may result in a challenging ride through journal peer review. That is because a manuscript submitted before the meeting was not shaped by the free constructive feedback from attendees, many of whom might be eventual reviewers of that work at a journal. As editor, I have even seen manuscripts of accepted meeting abstracts get an avoidable rejection notice from the journal when submitted too quickly before the meeting presentation. So, to be most efficient, draft your manuscript while preparing your meeting poster or slides, and then wait. One week after returning from the meeting, assemble your team, review all notes, modify your draft, and then submit to a journal. I guarantee your manuscript will be much stronger, and you might even get it published in a better journal that you did not even consider before attending the meeting. Journals value the peer review involved in abstract selection to meetings and the feedback given to authors during the meeting – this is why all journals are pleased to include a “Previously presented at…” note with the published article.
Enjoy this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting. We look forward to seeing your abstract published as a full manuscript in a future issue of JMT.
Acknowledgements
Sincere thank you to Howard Greller, MD, for his generous feedback on earlier versions of this work. His thoughtful attention to detail is always appreciated.
Funding
None.
Declarations
Conflict of Interest
None.
Footnotes
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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