How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

How to get to present a paper
How to present a paper orally
Conference communications

Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.

—John Wayne

How to get to present a paper

The first step in presenting a paper is to obtain a chance to do so. Sometimes, you might receive an unsolicited invitation. For major conferences, however, you normally must take the initiative by submitting an abstract of the paper that you hope to present.

Those organizing the conference typically provide abstract submission forms; these usually can be accessed and submitted via the websites of those holding the conferences. The submitted abstracts undergo peer review, and the submitters whose abstracts seem to describe the strongest research are asked to give oral presentations. For some conferences, those whose abstracts represent good work of lower priority are asked to give poster presentations. For other conferences, separate application processes exist for oral presentations and for posters.

Those who decide whether you should present a paper are likely to have only your abstract on which to base their decision. Therefore, prepare the abstract carefully, following all instructions. Word the abstract concisely, so it can be highly informative even if brief. (The word limit sometimes is higher than that for abstracts accompanying published papers, but be sure to stay within the required count.) If figures or tables are allowed, follow all instructions, and do not exceed the number permitted. Organize the abstract well—typically following the same sequence as a scientific paper. Also, write clearly and readably, as those reviewing the abstracts probably will be busy scientists with many abstracts to review and little patience with those that are unclear on first reading. Of course, be sure to submit the abstract by the deadline. Present your research well in your abstract, and you may soon be presenting a paper.

For many conferences, the peer reviewers might not be the only ones seeing your abstract. Often, presentation abstracts are printed in the conference program, posted on the conference website, or both. Those reading them can include conference registrants trying to decide which sessions to attend, fellow scientists unable to attend the conference but interested in the content, and science reporters trying to determine which sessions to cover. All the more reason to provide an informative and readable abstract.