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5 Features of an Abstracts Management System Worth Your Buck

If you’re currently relying on Excel spreadsheets, a DIY configuration, or a dreaded post-it note system to manage your abstracts conference, it’s time to stop. Likewise, if you’ve adopted an abstracts management system but it doesn’t do everything you need it to do, it’s time to stop.

An Abstracts software should fulfill two primary goals for any organization:

• Better organization with time- and cost-savings; and
• One, centralized location for all information

If yours isn’t doing both, you need a better solution. If you’re unfamiliar with what makes some software systems better than others, this article will define the top 5 features of any system. Let’s get started!

1. Submission Management

One of the most overwhelming processes for any organization is submission management. Between the submissions themselves to supplementary documents, graphics, and PDFs, it can be almost impossible to keep track of it all.

The right abstracts software will allow you to customize the proposal form, collect submissions, download all supplementary files at once, and begin the judging process. If your software currently doesn’t do all of this or do it well, it’s time to consider a new system.

2. Personalize Communication

You’ll regularly communicate with entrants, judges, staff members, and others via email. Does your current abstracts software facilitate this?

The best abstracts software makes it simple to customize messages to individuals or targeted groups. Better yet, it keeps all marketing, outreach, and data collection in one centralized location.

3. Streamlined Workflow

If there were just one main reason to invest in abstracts software, it would likely be to streamline every abstracts management process. This means that your system should handle it all from the call for papers process to final submission judging, conference scheduling, and final data collection and analysis.

This streamlines your work from beginning to end and makes it simple to stay on top of everything. If your system isn’t doing this well, it’s time for a new system.

4. Customizable Features

Abstracts software is built to suit a wide variety of organizations and needs. However, this means you must be able to make it your own if you are to succeed and use your software efficiently.

If your abstracts software isn’t easily customizable or if the company charges more for it to be customizable, you should likely move on and adopt another option.

5. No Learning Curve

Many conference managers are wary of making the switch to abstracts software because they believe it’s going to be a steep learning curve. While some systems are, the best systems require no coding or technical knowledge to get started.

Remember, the abstracts software you select should be both intuitive and easy to use. This way, you won’t have to worry about your software and organizing the country. Rather, you can focus solely on your conference and allow your software to do the work for you.

What are You Looking for in an Abstracts Management System?

If it didn’t include these 5 features before, it should now. Your abstracts software should do your work and then some. What is your abstracts software currently doing for you? Chances are, it’s time to make the switch to something better.

Read more: 5 Silly Mistakes People Make when writing an Abstract

Read more: Build a Better Conference with an Abstracts Software

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