Abstract Submission: Step-by-Step Instructions

Submitting an Abstract

Below is the step-by-step process you will go through when submitting an abstract. To save time, gather all the information you need before you begin. The submission process can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to complete. Your answers will not be saved until you click “Save as draft” or the completed form is submitted. Remember to view the FAQs before you begin.

Step 1: Pay Abstract Submission Fee

Submitting authors are first directed to the ASHG 2025 Abstract Submission Fee product page in the ASHG shop. Log in using your ASHG account login information.
- If you have ever been a member, submitted an abstract, or attended an ASHG meeting, you already have an ASHG account. Your username is your email address. Be sure to review your ASHG account’s profile information and update your information if needed prior to accessing the abstract fee payment site.
- If this is your first time interacting with ASHG, you will have the option to create a free ASHG account regardless of your membership status.
Once logged in on the shop product page, your ASHG membership status and country will determine the balance due.
- Nonmembers will see $75 as the price of abstract submission. While viewing your cart, you can choose to add a membership to your order. By purchasing a membership at the same time, the price of the abstract submission fee will be automatically adjusted to $0 in your cart.
- Current ASHG members and individuals residing in a resource-limited country that is categorized by the World Bank as having a low-income or lower-middle-income economy should see $0 as the price of abstract submission.
- Nonmember NIH employees may receive free abstract submission by using their “@nih.gov” email address in the billing information section.
- If the balance due does not match your expectations, please contact meetings@ashg.org before proceeding with payment.
Click “Add to cart” and confirm that the price shown in your cart is what you expect before continuing.
Click “Proceed to Checkout” and fill in the required fields for payment/billing.
- For those with free submission, you will not be required to add a payment method, but you will need to enter billing information to complete the step and obtain a confirmation email.
Click “Place order” and wait for the page to redirect to your order confirmation. You will receive an email from no-reply@ashg.org at the email address supplied in the billing details with a copy of the order confirmation and receipt. Save this receipt for your records. You can also view the order confirmation details when logged into the ASHG website by navigating to the My Orders tab in the dropdown menu when you click “Hi, [name]” in the top right corner of the ASHG website.
The order confirmation includes a link to access the next step in the abstract submission process. Click the link or copy and paste it into your web browser to be taken to the abstract submission form.

Step 2: Access Submission Form

Access the abstract submission form via the Order Details page or through the link provided in your abstract submission fee payment confirmation and receipt.
Take the time to review the important notifications and resources listed on the Welcome page of the submission form.
- Review the conditions of submission outlined in the Submission Guidelines and Policies and Code of Conduct which all submitters must agree to.
- Review the Abstract FAQs if you have any questions.
- Whitelist or add the email address meetings@ashg.org to your email contacts to ensure your abstract submission confirmation and other notifications will not get blocked by your email provider.
Click “Continue” to move to the Login page. If not automatically logged in, click “Log me in with ASHG.”

- You will see a prompt asking if you wish to leave the site and be redirected. Confirm that you wish to “Leave” and be redirected to see the ASHG login page below. Use the same ASHG account login information used previously in the payment step.

Once successfully logged in, you will be redirected back to the abstract submission page. Click “Continue to form” to move to the Abstract Detail page.

Note that the first (presenting) author cannot be the first (presenting) author of another abstract being submitted. If you have already submitted an abstract, you will not be permitted to continue to the submission form.

Step 3: Enter Abstract Details

Enter the title of your abstract in sentence case format. Title may not exceed 200 characters including spaces.

- Only use capital letters as appropriate (e.g., Genome-wide linkage analysis using SNP genotyping set).
Once a title has been entered, you are allowed to save the draft and resume your submission later up until the submission deadline.
- To save your progress, click “Save as draft” in the bottom right-hand side of the form.
- When you close the window, a pop-up will prompt you to confirm that you wish to leave the site with a warning that “changes you made may not be saved.” If you saved your draft successfully, the bottom of the submission form will state when the form was last saved. If you are sure your draft was saved, click “leave” on the pop-up. If you are unsure, click “cancel” to stay on the submission form and ensure it is saved as a draft.
- At any time before the submission deadline, return to the submission form link and log back in to resume your draft submission.
Enter the abstract body text. Note that abstract body text may not exceed 2,500 characters including spaces. Abstracts are published as submitted, so please check for accuracy and correct any formatting issues before submitting.
- References, figures (such as tables, images, and graphs), and URLs are not permitted in the abstract body.
- Do not include identifying author or institution information as abstracts must go through a blind review process.
- For gene/protein designations, follow these guidelines set by The American Journal of Human Genetics: Human gene names and loci should be written in italicized capital letters and Arabic numerals. Protein product names should not be italicized.
- Note: To see your character count, click the # words text in the bottom right corner of the description box. It will then switch to show your abstract character count.

Enter your abstract’s author block. Keep in mind that the submitter (presenter) must be the first author in the author block. A group/consortium cannot be cited as the sole or first (presenting) author.
- Format the author block as Full Name of Presenting Author (Institutions of Presenting Author separated by commas), Full Name of Co-Author (Institutions of Co-Authors separated by commas).
- For example: Jane Smith (ASHG), Bob Miller (Genetics Lab, ASHG), John Jones (State University, Institute of Human Genomics)
- A maximum of thirty (30) authors can be listed plus any groups/consortia. Co-first and co-last authors are not permitted on ASHG abstracts.
- The author block will not be included in reviews.
Confirm your agreement to the conditions of submission as outlined in the Submission Guidelines and Policies and the Code of Conduct by checking the box. Failure to meet these conditions may result in abstract withdrawal and the opportunity to present at the Annual Meeting forfeited. This agreement is required for all submitting/presenting authors.
Select one (1) abstract topic from the provided list of topics that best fits your abstract. This selection allows the appropriate reviewers to accurately review your abstract submission and helps to categorize presentations. Note that topic categories may be reassigned during review by the Program Committee to ensure appropriate expert review.
Select up to five (5) keywords applicable to your abstract content in order of importance from the provided list of keywords. Keywords help categorize presentations.
Select the curated itinerary theme that best fits your abstract. Your selection will be considered when sessions are selected for feature in curated itineraries.
Select the primary audience expected to attend your abstract presentation.
Provide one learning objective for your abstract, following these guidelines. Learning objectives are required by ASHG’s accreditation bodies and will be provided to attendees seeking continuing education credits.
- Learning objectives must be written using one behavioral, measurable verb and lead to ONE action or outcome.
- The verbs “understand,” “learn,” and “know” are NOT acceptable verbs as they cannot be measured.
- Start the learning objective with the behavioral verb: e.g., Compare genomic literacy…

Step 4: Indicate Prior Publication Status

Indicate whether the work outlined in the abstract has been accepted for presentation at another conference or for publication elsewhere as of the submission deadline.
- If previously published or presented, you are required to name the publication or conference where the work was previously published or presented and the date of such. At the time of assigning plenary and platform talks, the Program Committee will independently verify whether there is a publication available with an acceptance date before June 9. Failure to disclose prior publication will result in abstracts being deprioritized for oral presentation in plenary or platform sessions.
- For abstracts that are previously published, authors are strongly encouraged to describe any advancement beyond published work that will be presented.
Indicate whether the work outlined in the abstract has been deposited to a preprint server prior to the submission deadline. This does not constitute prior publication but is helpful to include for awareness.
- Material posted on a preprint server is NOT considered previously published. For purposes of this policy, “previously published” means: Accepted for peer-reviewed publication or accepted for oral presentation at other conferences.
It is the author’s responsibility to update the submission concerning any acceptances that occur before the submission deadline. You may do so by accessing your speaker portal, viewing your submission, and making edits up until the submission deadline.

Step 5: Apply for ASHG Awards

Abstract submission is a requirement of eligibility for the Trainee Research Excellence Awards and the Resource-Limited Travel Awards. The only opportunity to apply for these awards is at the time of this abstract submission.
Resource-Limited Travel Awards are only available for those first (presenting) authors who either cannot obtain funding for travel from their institution or reside in a resource-limited country that is categorized by the World Bank as having low-income or lower-middle-income economies and would not have the financial capability to travel to the ASHG Meeting without assistance from this award.
Trainee Research Excellence Awards are only available for first (presenting) authors who are ASHG trainee members (postdoctoral and predoctoral students) for the 2025 calendar year. If you are not a trainee member, you must join/renew your membership to be eligible for this award. Ensure additional eligibility requirements are met. You must complete an additional required form due by June 13, and your nominator must complete the online nomination form verifying your primary role in the work described in the abstract by June 16.
If you do not qualify or do not wish to be considered for either award, select “Not Applicable” from the award dropdown response before proceeding.

Step 6: Enter Submitting Author’s Information

On the Presenter Info page, the submitter, who will also serve as the presenting author, must provide their first and last name, email address matching the one used to log in to the submission form, company/institution name, mobile phone number, address, and additional demographic information.
- Enter the address and affiliation information in upper and lowercase as it should be published. Do not use special characters in the name or address fields. If applicable, include international dialing codes for phone numbers.
- Affiliation and address changes you enter will not affect your ASHG membership affiliation and/or address.
- ASHG does not permit co-first author or co-presenting author designations.

The information collected on this step is not included in the review stage and does not affect acceptance in the program.
You are asked to indicate whether your in-person attendance is contingent upon visa approval. This information allows ASHG to send accepted submitters a visa invitation letter for their visa application if applicable.
Submitters may choose to include a secondary contact such as a personal assistant to assist with tasks and communication after acceptance. The only information required for secondary contacts is their name and email.
Once the required fields are filled, double-check that all the information is accurate. Then, click “Complete” to submit your abstract.

Step 7: After Submitting Your Abstract

After clicking “Complete” on the Presenter Info step, you will be shown a confirmation page, which will automatically redirect to the speaker portal. This speaker portal is where you can view your abstract and edit it until the submission deadline. If your abstract is accepted, your speaker portal will be where you are assigned tasks to complete. It is recommended that you bookmark or save this link.
Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation email from meetings@ashg.org with the subject line “2025 ASHG Annual Meeting Submission Received.” This email will also contain your speaker portal link. Save this email confirmation for your records.
- Note: You will not receive a new confirmation email any time edits are made.

Abstracts will be under review June 10-July 31.
Abstract acceptance notifications will be sent to authors in early August.
Accepted abstracts will be published online only in mid-September and will be citable starting at this time. Abstracts will be published as submitted. ASHG does not generally edit abstracts, except for style consistency in titles and first author affiliations.

Revising or Withdrawing an Abstract

Edits: After you submit your abstract, you may revise your abstract until June 9, 2025, 5:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time.
- To make changes to an abstract after it has been submitted, log in to your speaker portal and select the title of your abstract. After the submission deadline, abstracts cannot be revised. Contact us at meetings@ashg.org for assistance with editing if needed. If the presenting author must be replaced, please submit a Presenter Change/Withdrawal Request Form.
Withdrawals: To withdraw an abstract before the withdrawal deadline of September 9, 2025, please submit a Presenter Change/Withdrawal Request Form.
- You will need the abstract title, which can be found in your speaker portal. The last day to withdraw an abstract is September 9, 2025, at 5:00 PM, U.S. Eastern Time. After this date, all accepted abstracts will be included in the meeting program and available as a searchable abstract on the meeting website. Refunds will not be issued for abstracts that are withdrawn, and payment will be required for any resubmissions.

Questions? Email meetings@ashg.org