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Empowering potential speakers to submit abstracts kick-starts the submission process and enriches the event planning process by giving your team a diverse pool of presentation ideas to review. Many association and nonprofit events can get anywhere from 20 to 50+ submissions. While you’ll have a lot of options, organizing them for easy review and decision-making can feel challenging.
Event management software for associations solves that pain point by pairing abstract tools with a truly efficient event management experience. It can provide everything you need, such as submission form creation, reviewer assignments, and an efficient scoring system for easy decision-making.
Our latest guide unpacks how these platforms work, shows you where to track real-time submission status, and compares the strongest vendors on the market so you can invest wisely.
What Is Abstract Management Software?
Abstract management software is a tool designed to simplify the submission and review process. A good abstract management software should provide everything you need in one place, such as submission tools, adding review team members, task management, submission scoring, and communication options.
Typically, the best abstract management solutions will come as part of a full event management system (EMS) that offers a full suite of event and conference management features.
For instance, a full EMS would also help with tasks like logistics planning, guest registration, attendee engagement, and exhibitor and sponsor management. This would provide a well-rounded set of tools to make planning your entire event efficient and easy to manage.
Why Is Abstract Management Software Important In 2025?
The importance of abstract management remains high in 2025. Using software with features designed for today’s event needs ensures you deploy efficient and effective solutions that make submissions and reviews as easy as possible for your team and prospective speakers alike. Here are some reasons why investing in a high-quality solution for this task is essential:
Trend Shifts And Advancements In Technology
One of the 2025 trends for abstract submissions is that most speakers are getting used to submitting their abstracts virtually. Advancements in technology are making it much easier to fill in a form that outlines all the information they should include for consideration. It creates a smooth task-based system for everyone involved, so there’s no confusion.
Evolving Needs Of Conference Organizers
Conference organizers also have evolving needs. More event planning teams are working and collaborating virtually, so having a portal where they can communicate and review submissions is the ideal choice. An EMS with abstract management will give team members all the information in an organized display for simple decision-making.
Needs For A Fair Evaluation Process
More organizations are focusing on providing a fair consideration process for every submission. The right software can help by allowing you to assign, manage, and track reviewer feedback to ensure each submission receives fair consideration.
Plus, you can assign multiple reviewers to each submission with a scoring system to get different opinions and average out the results.
What Are The Top Features To Look For In Abstract Management Software?
During your software comparison, you’ll want to ensure the one you choose has the right features to satisfy user needs. Key features to look for include:
- User-friendly interface: The interface should be easy to use and navigate for everyone involved. Association or nonprofit events often require volunteers to help out, so being able to get in the software and know how to navigate it without much training is ideal to make management and reviews as efficient as possible.
- Efficient review and scoring systems: The review system should be easy to manage. Software that provides a scoring system can help with decision-making, ranking each submission on elements like quality and relevance for your upcoming event.
- Customization and integration options: Your submission system should be customizable to your organization and event’s needs. Integrating it with the rest of your event management tools will help add branding to submission forms, upload presentations once approved, and manage communication in one place.
- Data security and compliance: Any high-quality event and abstract management software should make data security and compliance a priority. You want to ensure everyone feels safe using your system and providing any information necessary to review presentation ideas, such as research that hasn’t been published yet.
What Are The Top Ten Abstract Management Software Options In 2025?
Now that you know the key features and elements to look for in abstract management, here are our 2025 picks for the top software options:
1. Cadmium’s EMS, Eventscribe
Eventscribe is a top choice for associations and nonprofits. It offers several helpful features that make abstract management easy. That includes a customizable and flexible submission system, review management, task-based notification system, and in-depth reporting and analytics.
Plus, you get a complete event management system that can assist with all your event planning needs, such as registration, attendee engagement, speaker management, logistics planning, and more.
2. vFairs
vFairs offers an abstract management solution that often stands out for those hosting virtual events. It can help with assigning reviewers, scheduling tasks, and rating submissions. However, some user reviews say it’s a bit clunky, especially when trying to manage smaller events.
3. Cvent Abstract Management
Cvent’s event management software offers abstract management features with its Call for Papers process. Cvent is best suited for corporate event management. Associations with smaller teams or those looking for a lower learning curve may find it overly complex for their needs.
4. Whova Call For Speakers
Whova’s Call for Speakers system can help you create submission forms, rate abstracts, and track progress. It’s a good value for mid-sized conferences. The main downfalls are that some users say that the analytics system is too limited for their needs, and the platform can lack customizability.
5. Ex Ordo
Ex Ordo is a good choice for submissions and reviews during scholarly or research-based events. It offers a smooth peer review and scheduling system. However, it does have limited options for non-academic or research-oriented event planning.
6. Fourwaves
Fourwaves is another top choice for scientific and academic events. Its abstract management feature provides a great collaboration system for review by a scientific committee and dynamic event agenda planning. That said, its features for corporate, association, or nonprofit events will be limited.
7. OpenWater
OpenWater offers a versatile and customizable option for awards, grants, and abstracts. You can complete multi-round reviews, build sessions, and create a detailed conference calendar right on the platform. However, it requires a complex setup with a higher learning curve.
8. Oxford Abstracts
Oxford Abstracts is a system built for academic conferences. Its abstract management system will help you manage submissions, reviews, and presentations in an accessible and straightforward way. The downsides are that the customizability is limited, and the reporting system can be too basic for some.
9. Confex Abstract Management
The Confex Abstract Collection system works well for larger conferences. It can help collect and organize abstracts, full papers, recordings, and manuscripts before events. However, the interface is a bit clunky and can feel dated, which ends up creating a learning curve while using it.
10. Dryfta
Dryfta is a good choice for academic institutions. It offers a centralized system for abstract management, review, and decision-making. That said, it can struggle with large and non-academic events and only allows file exports in PDF and CSV formats.
How Do the Top Abstract Management Software Options Compare?
You can use the table below for a quick side-by-side pros, cons, and features analysis for easier decision-making.
Based on this comparison, you’ll see that each option satisfies the needs of different industries and types of events.
For instance, Eventscribe provides a great option for associations and nonprofit event planning when you need flexible features that you can manage with a small staff. Whereas something like Cvent is best for larger corporations with extensive staff to manage its complexities and get the most out of it.
Therefore, consider your organization’s size, needs, and the features that matter the most to narrow down the right fit.
Why Eventscribe From Cadmium Is A Top Choice For Associations And Nonprofits
Our Cadmium’s EMS, Eventscribe, is built for the specific needs of association and nonprofit event management.
You’ll get an efficient and flexible set of features for abstract management. That includes:
- Customizable submission forms that are compatible with many file formats
- Review assignments and tracking
- Notifications for deadlines, updates, and acceptance
- Intuitive rating system for abstract reviews
- In-depth analytics
On top of abstract management, you get complete event management software for every planning phase. That includes attendee registration, logistics planning, sponsor management, attendee engagement, and more.
Click here to learn more about how Eventscribe can help make event planning more efficient and effective.
