Hi wise and wonderful veterans,

I've just submitted an abstract (my first) for a conference in Jan this morning. I haven't received any email in return to acknowledge receipt, and, I was wondering, is no acknowledgement normal? And also: is it usual practice that the organisers would wait until the deadline for submission before letting potential speakers know their answer?

I had a little search for answers to this before posting, but couldn't come up with anything. Feeling rather wet behind the ears!
Thanks.

Hi Helena

i would say you probably will get some kind of email acknowledgement, but it'd be very rare to get one the same day you submitted it! so i wouldn't worry if you don't get an acknowledgment for a while. some conference websites state that you won't get one, but generally it just takes a while for it to be processed.

and yes, it's very common that you won't hear whether or not your talk has been accepted till after the submission deadline. this is usually to give everyone an equal chance regardless of when they submit. in my own experience it's usually a week or two after the submission deadline that they start to get in touch with people.

so basically, i'd say just relax and try and put it out of your mind for now!

good luck!

Hi Helena,
I've only submitted two conference abstracts so far. The first was for a big international conference and I did get an acknowledgement e-mail. The other was for a national conference and the first e-mail I got from them was after the deadline for submission to say that the abstract had been accepted! And yes it is usual practice to notify speakers of acceptance/decline after the submission deadline (sometimes WAY after!!)

Thank you purple and Ev. Really appreciate your help.