How it works

Our abstract management software is an online platform that allows conference committees to review proposals (abstracts) for inclusion in the conference programme. These proposals are submitted in the form of a short summary of the full presentation including authors. This is referred to as an abstract within the context of the abstract submission and review system.

Authors may submit their abstracts by creating an account on the system and then submitting their abstract/s for review. Pre-defined reviewers may then review the abstracts allocated to them, by submitting a rating. These reviews may be configured to be blind reviews so that the reviewers will not see who the authors are.

After submission and review is finalized, it would be the task of the committee to decide which abstracts to accept for inclusion in the conference programme. Abstracts may also be sent back for amendments if amendments are required by the authors.

The submission and review process is illustrated by means of the following diagrams:

Abstract submission & review

The status that an abstract submission may have includes:

Initial stateabstract has been added but not yet submitted for review

Abstract submittedabstract has been submitted for review

Abstract amendmentsauthor is requested to make amendments and re-submit

Abstract acceptedabstract is accepted and author may be requested to upload paper

Abstract declinedabstract will not be included in the conference proceedings

Paper submission & review

The system can be configured to request papers as part of the original abstract submissions or authors may be requested to upload papers only for accepted abstracts.

Papers submitted for accepted abstracts, may have the following status’s:

Paper submittedpaper has been uploaded and submitted for review

Paper amendmentsauthor is requested to make amendments and re-submit

Paper acceptedpaper is accepted

Paper declinedpaper is declined

Abstract submission

Abstract review

Configuration

Create event

The steps for adding and configuring an event are as follows:

• Create account: Create an account on the CONFTOOLS website.

• Log in: Log in by entering your email address and password if prompted.

• Add event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the ‘Add Event’ button. Add any number of categories into which abstracts can be submitted.

After adding your event you may edit it at any time. Also choose to add additional fields to capture and assign reviewers or committee members by following links in the the event menu which can be accessed after clicking on a particular event.

Edit submission form

It is possible to add any number of additional fields to capture on the abstract submission form:

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List additional fields: Follow the ‘Edit submission form’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all additional fields.

• Add field: Click on the ‘Add field’ button and specify the type of field that you would like to add by completing and submitting the form.

Edit review form

The review form can be customized by adding any additional reviewing criteria that may be required.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List additional fields: Follow the ‘Edit review form’ link in the event menu.

• Add field: Click on the ‘Add field’ button and specify the type of field that you would like to add by completing and submitting the form.

Assign organisers

Organisers have full management privileges and can make the final decision on acceptance of abstracts.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List organisers: Follow the ‘Assign organisers’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all organisers.

• Add organiser: Click on the ‘Add organiser’ button and complete the form.

Assign committee

Committee members can be assigned to sub-sets of abtract submissions and may make the final decision on whether to accept an abstract.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List committee members: Follow the ‘Assign committee’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all committee members.

• Add committee member: Click on the ‘Add committee member’ button and choose to assign the member to the options available.

Note that the committee member will be notified of the assignment and prompted to confirm their new account if one does not already exist.

Assign reviewers

Reviewers can be assigned to sub-sets of abstract submissions and they are required to review abstracts in order to help the committee members make a final decision.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List reviewers: Follow the ‘Assign reviewers’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all reviewers.

• Add reviewer: Click on the ‘Add reviewer’ button and choose to assign the reviewer to the options available.

Note that the reviewer will be notified of the assignment and prompted to confirm their new account if one does not already exist.

Management & reporting

List all abstracts

All abstract submission are displayed in a table format.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List abstracts: Follow the ‘All abstracts’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all abstracts.

• Filter on abstracts: You may filter on specific abstracts by searching for any term using the search box above the table.

• Open abstract: Open an abstract by clicking on its title.

Send bulk email

Bulk email can be sent to sub-sets of abstract owners on the system. An abstract owner is the individual who added his/her abstract on the system.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• Open bulk email feature: Follow the ‘Bulk email’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all abstracts for which a bulk email may be sent.

• Filter on abstract owners: Filter on a combination of ‘status’, ‘category’, and ‘presentation method’ by using the filters above the table.

• Send bulk email: Click on the ‘Send email to list’ button and complete and submit the form.

Export abstracts

One can export the full database of abstract submission in CSV (Comma Seperated Value) format for further processing in a spreadsheet application. Similarly, accepted papers may be exported in order to download to a local PC.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List abstracts: Follow the ‘All abstracts’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all abstracts.

• Export all abstracts: Click the ‘Export all abstracts’ button below the list of abstracts.

• Save file: Choose to save the file to your computer or open directly.

Export papers

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List abstracts: Follow the ‘All abstracts’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all abstracts.

• Export accepted papers: Click the ‘Export accepted papers’ button below the list of abstracts.

• Save file: Choose to save the zip file to your computer and then extract the contents by using any extraction utility.

Print abstract book

This function prints a list of all accepted abstracts.

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• Print book of abstracts: Follow the ‘Book of abstracts’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all accepted abstracts. You may use the filters to generate the book to your preference. You may then choose to print the book of abstracts from the print menu in your browser or generate a pdf.

Submission count

This report summarizes the total submissions for the available categories and presentation methods.

List outstanding registrations

You may use this facility to compile a list of presenting authors who have not yet registered for your event. This is done by integrating with our online registration facility.

First you need to enter and submit your event’s integration code. Then you may send a bulk email to the resulting list of presenting authors who have not yet registered.

Submission & review

Submit abstract for review

Authors can submit abstracts electronically by following these steps:

• Create account: Create a log in account by following the abstract registration link for the event.

• Log in: Log into the system by entering your email address and password.

• Add abstract: Go to ‘My abstracts’ in the menu and click on the ‘Add abstract’ button

• Submit for review: Once you are satisfied with your abstract, you need to submit it to the reviewers by clicking on the ‘Submit for review’ button.

Submit paper for review

If your abstract is accepted, you may be requested to upload a full paper. This will be communicated to you if required.

Make sure to read the prescribed format for paper submission if supplied. The steps to submit a paper are as follows:

• Log in: Log into the system by entering your email address and password.

• Open abstract: Go to ‘My abstracts’ in the menu and open your abstract by clicking on the title.

• Upload paper: Click on the ‘Upload & Submit Paper’ button above your abstract in order to select the document to upload and submit.

Review abstract

Reviewers will be invited by the organizing committee and assigned to a sub-set of abstracts to review. The steps for performing a review are explained below.

• Log in: Log into the system by entering your email address and password.

• Access your review list: View the abstracts assigned to you for review by following ‘My Review List’ in the menu.

• Open abstract: For each abstract that has a required action of ‘Add review’ in the ‘Action required’ column, you may open the abstract by clicking on its title.

• Submit review: Review the contents of the abstract and add your rating and recommendation by clicking on the ‘Add abstract review’ button and completing the form.

List all reviews

All reviews can be displayed in a summarized format. There are lists for abstract and for paper reviews:

Abstract reviews

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List reviews: Follow the ‘Abstract reviews’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all reviews.

• Filter on reviews: You may filter on specific reviews by searching for any term using the search box above the table.

Paper reviews

• Open event: Follow the ‘My Events’ link in the top menu and click on the title of the event you would like to manage.

• List reviews: Follow the ‘Paper reviews’ link in the event menu in order to view a list of all reviews.

• Filter on reviews: You may filter on specific reviews by searching for any term using the search box above the table.

Average scores

This report summarizes the ratings for all abstract submissions and is a tool to aid the committee to make the final decision on which abstracts to accept.

Final decisions

The event organiser and committee members may make the final decision on whether to include an abstract in the conference programme. These decisions may be based on the recommendations from the reviewers if this has been configured.

• Log in: Log into the system by entering your email address and password.

• Access your review list: View the abstracts assigned to you by following ‘My Review List’ in the menu.

• Open abstract: For each abstract that has a required action of ‘Make decision’ in the ‘Action required’ column, you may open the abstract by clicking on its title.
• Make decision: Review the contents of the abstract and any reviews that may have been added in making your decision by choosing from ‘accept’, ‘decline’, or ‘send back for amendments’.