Writing a Conference Abstract (Cheat Sheet)

If you’ve ever tried to write a conference abstract, you’ll know how intimidating the process can be. After all, the abstract is essentially your ‘audition’ to get into the conference; and, if it’s accepted, it will be your ‘advertisement’ in the conference programme. It has to achieve a lot, and in only around 200-300 words. The stakes are high.

A little bit of emotional upheaval is to be expected. In my experience, it goes something like this:

Even though it’s short, a conference abstract has to contain so much that fitting everything within the word limit is like trying to cram four days’ worth of conference outfits into your carry-on luggage.

However, you can make the process a little easier on yourself (at least for your first few abstracts) by following a loose ‘formula’. Of course, every conference is different – and please do read the submission guidelines for the conference that you’re targeting. But in general, abstract reviewers look for:

• contextual information about the state of existing knowledge in your niche area
• the purpose of your presentation (the actual talk or poster)
• a description of your research project & methods
• an indication of your findings (or hypotheses, if you don’t have findings yet)
• the significance & implications of your research

So if you cover those five things, you are well on track. Here’s what your abstract might look like:

The AUT Postgraduate Symposium coming up on Friday 17 August, and it’s a great opportunity to practise writing an abstract for a presentation. Abstracts for the symposium are due on Friday 22 June, and every single abstract will be reviewed by a qualified member of the Graduate Research School. You will get personalised feedback on your abstract, and you will also get a chance to refine and resubmit after the feedback round. It’s a great chance to hone your skills. Contact grs@aut.ac.nz for an abstract form.

You can also come along to our Writing an Abstract for a Conference or Symposium workshop on Friday 1st June. In the workshop, we will cover lots of abstract-writing tips, and we will collaborate to produce a first draft of an abstract within 30 minutes. You can register for the workshop via CareerHub.