How to manage abstract submissions with a zero-dollar budget

Back when I was a PhD Student, I had managed abstracts and peer-reviews for a conference called 3DSIG (a satelitte meeting of ISMB/ECCB) between 2012 and 2015. It wasn’t huge (around 100-130 abstracts), but the amount of work was enormous and we wanted to keep a high standard for quality.

Like many others I patched tools together and it sort of worked… but I wish I had a free software or a way to automate things.

If you’re here, I suppose you’re in a similar situation and are looking for a cost-free solution for managing your abstract submissions and peer-review workflows.

Luckily for you, there are multiple solutions. Let me walk you through them to hopefully give you a headstart and set you up for success.

If you'd like to explore paid options, read our comparison article for the best abstract management softwares.

Aspects to Consider When Managing Abstract Submissions With 0$

The process of collecting, reviewing, and organizing abstracts presents numerous logistical challenges.

There are a lot of manual processes that are inefficient, prone to errors, and consume valuable time that could be dedicated to other aspects of event planning.

With no budget, you'll need to spend time connecting tools together to mitigate these problems or find a software with a free tier which will inevitably have limitations.

It's a question of making trade-offs. When evaluating options to manage abstract submissions for free, think about these aspects.

User-friendliness

Submitters, reviewers and conference organizers need to be able to submit and review easily. If it's complicated for them, it can hinder your whole conference.

From Customization

The ability to tailor submission fields to your specific event requirements is crucial. You need to collect data for different submission types, author information, preferred tracks and more.

Review Management

You'll need to efficiently do the reviewer assignment, and might need to support for single or double-blind review, share and analyze reviewer feedback and calculate a final score. There aren't a lot of automated ways to do it for free, but by mapping your process in advance will help you get there with less hassle.

Decision-Making

You'll need the ability to classify accepted abstracts as accepted or rejected. Typically an Excel file will do the work.

Communication Tools

Integrated messaging features facilitate direct interaction with authors for clarifications or notifications, but this will be hard to get on a free software.

Make sure you have access to an Outlook mailbox or Gmail for free, ideally with a dedicated conference email address. Sometimes your university can provide that.

Abstract Booklet

You might need the capacity to export accepted abstracts into a uniform abstract booklet, ideally in Word format so you can add sponsor information, author index and more.

Some conferences ask submitters to send their abstract already in a Word template, which makes it a bit easier. You will still need to copy-paste each submission into a final document if you want to create a proceedings. That's what I did for the 3DSIG conference. 

Data Privacy

Ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of submitted data can be non-negotiable even for smaller conferences. Make sure that the tools you use respect the scope.

Integration With Other Tools

Will you be able to connect your data with that of event registration, for example to find non-registered presenters? How will yuu publish an online conference program or to push the information on an event mobile app?

5 Ways to Manage Abstract Submissions For Free

There are several ways you can manage abstract submissions for free. Each options below offer distinct advantages, catering to varying levels of technical proficiency and event scales.

Abstract Submission Platforms With a Free Tier

The most efficient method to manage abstract submissions for free is to use a software built for abstract submissions that has a free tier.

Fourwaves

It's modern conference software built for academic and research conferences.

The free tier includes:

• A flexible submission form: you can add an unlimited number of questions and organize them into sections.
• Conditional logic: you can make certain questions visible only to specific presentation types.
• Files and materials: you can collect poster files, PowerPoint presentations, images, or any other files through the submission form.
• Abstract field (with word limit): you can collect abstracts in a dedicated field and define the word limit: 
• Decision: you can categorize abstracts by decision status.
• Author information: you have a dedicated field to collect author information
• Abstract booklet: generate an abstract booklet in Word format. it has an author index and you can sort or group abstracts by whatever you want (presentation time, category session).
• Unlimited users: you can invite all of your colleagues to help you manage submissions.
• Conference program: you can build and publish an online program with sessions and nested presentations.
• Online presentations: you can publish all the presentations online before, during, and after the event.
• Q&A and interactions: participants can ask questions on the presentation page which can spark collaborations.
• Accessible forever: your website and presentations stay accessible online forever which means you can keep an archive of your previous editions for as long as you need.
• Free event website: the free plan comes with a free event website with a customizable home page banner and colors.
• Event registration: you have access to a powerful registration form with unlimited registrations and online payments.

  

It's perfect great for small symposia, colloquiums, annual research days, graduate student conferences and more. It can be used for call for abstracts, call for papers, session submissions, and more.

The main limitation is that it accepts up to 25 submissions, but you can purchase the unlimited submissions add-on for a minimal fee.

If you're looking for a modern solution that will get you up and running in no time, this is the software you need.

The Modern and Free Abstract Submission Software

Manage your abstract submissions for free with almost no compromise.

Get Started.

EasyChair

EasyChair is a popular platform for conference management. While it offers premium paid features, its basic abstract submission and review functionalities are available for free for smaller conferences. The interface is a bit outdated and complex to navigate through especially for first-time users.

It's great for more technical academic workshops, focused symposiums, or organizers comfortable with its specific workflow.

The availability of the free version is to be confirmed as I heard that it is no longer available, but some managed to negotiate.

Self-Hosted / Open Source

Open Conference Systems (OCS)

Open Conference Systems (OCS) was developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), OCS is a free open-source web application designed to manage the entire conference workflow, including abstract submissions. It is widely recognized in academic circles.

It has comprehensive submission forms, multi-stage review process, reviewer assignment, communication tools, scheduling modules.

It's ideal for cademic conferences, scholarly journals, and research institutions seeking a robust, all-in-one solution. One downside is that OCS is no longer maintained, which means you can still use it, but at your own risk.

You can download the software on GitHub: https://github.com/pkp/ocs

OpenConf

OpenConf is a proprietary, web-based abstract submission and peer-review system used by conferences and journals. You can install it on your own server (self-hosted/on-premise) or pay for the hosting service.

It covers the core workflow end-to-end: online submissions, file uploads, review assignment, scoring, accept/reject decisions, email notifications, reviewer bidding, committee discussion, conflict detection, data export, and program creation. It also offers a multilingual interface for submitters and committees.

It’s a good fit for academic conferences and scholarly organizations that want a mature peer-review workflow and the option to keep the system self-hosted.

It’s not open-source, comes with no support, requires you to self-install/maintain (PHP/MySQL), and has some usage limits but if you are a little bit tech-savvy, it could be a great option.

You can download it here: https://www.openconf.com/download/

Free Form Builders and AI Tools

Google Forms + Make.com + ChatGPT + Gmail + Notion

This is not the most easy method, but if you're a little tech-savvy and you want to automate things, this can be a great option that is very powerful. Also, it can be quite fun to set up!

Before we dive into how you can automate abstract submissions for free, let me introduce you to some of those tools.

Google Forms is a free form builder that allows you to capture submission information. You'll probably run into some limitations. For example, you'll need to add multiple fields for each potential author. That will affect the user-friendliness, but hey, every option has trade-offs! You could also use SurveyMonkey or Microsoft Forms.

Make.com is a free tool that allows you to automate tasks. It connects Google Sheets, ChatGPT, Gmail, and more using what they call Scenarios. A scenario is basically a set of actions with a trigger.

Notion is an all-in-one workspace where you can organize documents, build databases, and workflows in one place. It also has a free tier. In this case here, it is used to publish presentations on a public page automatically.

Gmail is a free email service tool. You can set up your own conference email address and use it for communications.

Below is a setup that will help you automate submissions for free

Collect Submissions With A Google Form

Set up a form to collect submission title, abstract, author information, presentation type, and more. The data will go into a Google Sheet, which is basically an Excel file.

Automate Emails and Reviewer Assignments

Using Make.com, you can create a scenario that:

• Watches for new submissions in your Google sheet. Add a "Watch New Rows" (Google Sheet) trigger module. Choose your Google Sheet from your drive.
• Sends an email automatically as soon as there is a new submission.  Add a "Send an email" (Gmail) module. The email should contain key information like key dates for acceptance. You can choose the email received in the Google Sheet to determine where the email will be sent.
• Use ChatGPT to read the submission content and find the best reviewer.  Insert a "Generate a response" (ChatGPT) module. The prompt will take as input the submission information and a hard-coded list of reviewers with their topics of expertise. The output should be only the reviewer name which will be used in the next step.
• Create the review assignment in a dedicated Google sheet. Add an "Add a Row" (Google Sheet) module which will create a reviewer assignment containing the submission information, as well as the reviewer name. You can insert a column for your different score criterias. Reviewers can have access to the sheet and simply filter to see their own submissions and enter their score.
• Push the submission into a Notion database. You can push the submission information automatically to a Notion database. Add a "Create a Data Source Item" (Notion) module. Make sure to push the title, authors, abstract, and topic information as well as status.

Your scenario will look something like this:

Make a Test

You can test your scenario by adding a fake submission through Google form. In Make.com, under the History section of your scenario, you'll be able to see exactly what happened and diagnose any problems.

Give Access to Reviewers

Once everything is up and running, give access to the reviewer assignment Google sheet so that reviewers can access them.

Publish Presentations Online (Notion)

In Notion, go to your data source containing all submissions pushed by Make.com. In the Sharing settings, make the page public.

Choose a Gallery Layout and make sure to filter presentations by status to only show those who were accepted. This will allow you to show presentations on a public facing website with minimal effort. You can even have a search bar.

While this is a bit complex, you can actually get a lot done automatically, including automated reviewer assignments by topic, a public presentation page. Also, you have almost no limitations in terms of number of submissions.

Considerations for Choosing Free Software

Selecting the appropriate free abstract submission software involves careful consideration of your specific event requirements and organizational capabilities.

• Event Scale: For large conferences with complex review hierarchies, dedicated platforms like OCS offer superior functionality. For smaller events, Google Forms might suffice.

• Technical Proficiency: Open-source solutions often require more technical comfort for installation and maintenance. Cloud-based form builders are generally easier to set up.

• Future Growth: Consider if the free solution can scale with your event. While free, some platforms may eventually require an upgrade for advanced features.

• Customer Support: Find a software that is praised for its customer support.

Fourwaves Free Tier: What You Get (And What’s Not Included)

When you organize a conference by experience, you're often a busy professor, student, employee, staff, or basically someone who is not doing that on a full-time basis. You don't have days to set up an automated system that connects different solutions together. Also, you want to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

Fourwaves allows you to get up and running in a few minutes and is a robust, proven solution built for academic and research conferences.

The free plan is also packed with a ton of features, as you can see below.

Key Features Of The Free Tier

• Flexible abstract submission form: Add as many questions as you need to fit your specific needs: ask for presentation type (oral, poster), tracks or topics.

• Drag-and-drop interface: Easily build your submission form with text input, file uploads, multiple choice questions, and more.

• Capture author information: Collect all the information you need from authors including their name, email, and affiliations and if they are a presenter.

• Dedicated abstract field: Submitters can write their abstract using a rich text editor, and you can limit the number of words. No need to provide a template.

• Collect materials (eg. posters): Submitters can upload posters, images, and slides.

• Dashboard: See how many submissions did you collected in real-time, their submission status and and export to Excel (or CSV) and more.

• Decisions: Once you've finished the abstract reviews, classify submissions as accepted or rejected based on the results.

• Publish presentations: Publish the accepted submissions online automatically with title, abstract, posters, and more.

• Conference program: Publish a complete conference program with sessions and nested presentations with author information.

• Conflict checker: identify submissions for which the presenters are double-booked.

• Abstract booklet: export submissions into a uniform abstract booklet in Word format. Group, sort, and decide which information is exported.

• Unlimited organizers: No limit to the number of users. Invite all of your colleagues!

• Event registration (unlimited registrants): host event registrations on the same platform.

Free Plan Limits

There are some limitations to the free tier:

• More complex review workflows. Custom reviewing form, reviewer assignments come with the peer-review add-on.
• Capped number of submissions. You can create unlimited events, but each one is limited to 25 submissions. You can purchase the unlimited submissions add-on.
• Track-specific committees. The free plan comes with the program chair role who has access to all submissions and can build the program. If you want to create specific subcommittees that only have access to specific submissions, you will need the Pro Plan.

Check out the pricing page for all the details.

Conclusion

No budget inevitably means trade-offs. I tried to cover good free options that vary depending on the technical skill levels and the time that can be invested.

This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list and there are other softwares with a free and paid tiers like SciencesConf or Oxford Abstracts. SciencesConf was built by the CNRS, but is not updated as often as other softwares like Fourwaves.