How to Find Medical Conferences Accepting Abstracts

Look for conferences through specialty societies, your institution, mentors, reputable conference listings and, for early-career researchers, student and trainee meetings. Then verify each meeting before you submit anything or pay a fee.

Where to look

• Specialty and professional societies: their websites list annual meetings and calls for abstracts.
• Your department and mentors: they know meetings that value your type of work.
• National and regional meetings, often more accessible for beginners.
• Student and resident conferences.
• Journals' event announcements and society newsletters.
• MRN's [Conference Opportunities](/conference-opportunities) page, which lists conferences with the information MRN has verified; check the terms on each listing.

How to set up a system

1. Note abstract deadlines for the next 12 months in a calendar.
2. Subscribe to alerts from your target societies.
3. Keep a spreadsheet of conference name, dates, location, deadline, abstract limits, fees and format.

How to judge a meeting

• Is it run by a recognised society or institution?
• Are the organisers and scientific committee named and verifiable?
• Is there a clear peer-review process for abstracts?
• Are fees transparent, and is there a history of past programmes?
• Beware of unsolicited emails, vague or multi-topic "mega-conferences", and meetings whose speakers have not confirmed their participation.

Illustrative example

Invented for teaching. A student receives an email inviting her to present at an "international congress" in three weeks. The organiser has no named committee, the venue changes between emails and acceptance is immediate. She instead submits to her specialty society's regional meeting.

Checking whether a call is current

Dates and requirements change each year, so use the official website of the current edition and not last year's page or a third-party listing. If a deadline is extended, the official page usually says so. Save the page or a copy of the call for your records, and contact the organisers with specific questions if anything is unclear.

Common pitfalls

• Choosing a meeting only by location.
• Paying registration before acceptance.

Key takeaways

• Use societies and mentors; verify organisers and process.
• Keep a calendar of deadlines.

This page is general educational information about research methods. It is not medical, legal or regulatory advice; follow your institution's ethics board and your target journal's instructions.