Abstract submission will open on Wednesday, 7 January.

Purpose of this information

This information is designed to help you prepare an abstract that meets the criteria for FIP congresses. It is intended to be read alongside the call for abstracts, which specifies the congress topic areas, and applies to abstracts for both oral presentations and posters.

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a short statement that gives the reader a comprehensive yet concise understanding of your work. This work could encompass research, such as a study or clinical trial, or it may involve a new or unique service, program, theory, or resource.

An abstract is an opportunity to showcase your work, inform practice and/or education, and establish connections with others in your field of interest. It should clearly convey what you intend to present and engage readers’ interest in learning more about your work; they may decide to attend your presentation, visit your poster, or contact you based on this information.

Who is your audience?

Your abstract will have different audiences:

• Congress delegates (pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, students, educators, policy-maker,s and researchers) use abstracts to select which sessions to attend.
• Reviewers will assess the quality of your abstract and recommend its acceptance — or whether the work should be presented orally or as a poster — or its rejection.
• Journal editors use abstracts to identify papers they might encourage for publication.
• FIP members who cannot attend the congress may access abstracts online.

Abstract content and structure

Required subheadings

Your abstract should contain information under the following subheadings:

• Title
• Background information (Why is your work important? Does it fill any gaps in knowledge or research? What is the context?)
• Purpose (What are the objectives? You may include a short statement of your hypothesis.)
• Method (Explain your methods, such as study design. What was done, by whom, how, and where? What measurements were taken, and how were the data managed?)
• Results (What did you find, discover, or achieve? Not just in subjective terms, but also in the form of data. How significant were your findings?)
• Conclusion (What were your overall findings? What do they mean? How could the methods be improved? Is this work part of a bigger piece of research or strategy? What are the suggestions for future work?)
• Topic area (Refer to the areas listed in the call for abstracts and select the most appropriate so that the congress organisers can place your abstract in the appropriate session.)

Eleven tips

Your abstract is more likely to be accepted if you follow these tips:

1. Focus and clarity: Before you begin, pinpoint the key aspect of your work you want to highlight. Consider what the audience will find most engaging.
2. Examples: Review abstracts from previous FIP congresses to understand the appropriate tone and style. You can find these on the FIP website.
3. Plain English: Be mindful that many readers may not be native English speakers. Avoid wordplay in the title and use straightforward sentence structures.
4. Language: Ensure your language is accurate, simple, clear, professional, and, where necessary, scientific.
5. Keywords: Include keywords relevant to your field of work to facilitate content identification. Conference delegates often scan numerous abstracts to decide which sessions to attend .
6. Abbreviations: Avoid abbreviations. If you must use them, define them in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, at their first occurrence in the text.
7. Conciseness: Remove any unnecessary words and sentences. Use short sentences.
8. Seek feedback: Ask supervisors and colleagues for help with your writing. Ensure your conclusions are supported by your study’s findings.
9. Testing: Before submission, ask someone to read your abstract and explain your work back to you. If they struggle to explain it clearly, your abstract may need revision.
10. Proofreading: Proofread your abstract multiple times.
11. Reviewer perspective: Understand what the reviewer will be looking for.

Submitting your abstract

• Abstracts must be submitted using the online abstract platform, that will open on January 7, 2026.
• Paper or emailed submissions will be rejected.
• Be sure to select the topic area for your abstract from the drop-down menu.
• The presenting author is invited to indicate a preference for either an oral or poster presentation on the form. However, the final decision rests with the reviewer and the Congress Programme Development Group (CPDG) and will be influenced by the quality and suitability of the abstract, as well as logistical considerations such as presentation space and time.

Tip If you have prepared your abstract in Word, ensure that no changes are introduced when you copy and paste into the online submission form.

The review process

After the submission of your abstract, a uniform review process will take place. The goal is not to limit the number of presentations or posters but to ensure that all published abstracts meet minimum professional standards and reflect good work. Reviewers ask the following five basic questions:

1. Does the work address a significant or important issue?
2. Is the work new or has it been published already?
3. Do the methods/approach enable the question asked at the start of the project to be answered rigorously?
4. Have the data/findings been interpreted appropriately?
5. Are the contents of the abstract clear and intelligible?

Note, however, that any accepted abstracts will be cancelled if the presenting author has not registered and paid the registration fee for the congress by 3 June 2026 (23.59 CET). This is the date by which the FIP congress programme materials must be finalised and so authors whose attendance cannot be confirmed by registration will not be scheduled. Their abstracts cannot be presented and will not be published.

Is your abstract ready? Final checklist

• Will your title capture the interest of Congress delegates?
• Does your title accurately describe the subject of your work?
• Is the abstract well written in terms of language, grammar, and spelling?
• Does the abstract convey what the presentation is about and why people should attend?
• Does the abstract clearly state the subject of your project and the questions it aimed to answer?
• Does the abstract describe how the project was carried out?
• Does the abstract indicate the value of the findings and to whom they will be useful?
• Does the abstract provide a concise summary of the findings?
• Is the abstract under 500 words?

Affirmation of originality and copyright transfer statement

• By submitting your work to FIP, you consent to the use of authors’ names, affiliations, and biographical material in connection with the publication of your work.
• The author(s) represent(s) and warrant(s) that they are the sole author(s) of the work, that all authors have participated in and agree with the content and conclusions of the work, and that the work is original and does not infringe upon any copyright, proprietary, or personal rights of any third party. The submitter affirms that the work submitted is original, except for extracts from copyrighted works fully authorised by the copyright holders, and that all statements declared as facts are based on thorough examination and investigation for accuracy.
• Submitted abstracts should not have been published in any other journals or online publications, nor presented at any previous international congresses. However, prior presentation at national meetings does not disqualify submission.
• Submitted abstracts must report new information that has not been previously published or presented at any international scientific meeting prior to the Congress. Note that abstracts previously presented at international meetings will not be accepted unless there is a substantial update of data.
• Identified duplicates will be retracted from all related FIP publications.
• The content belongs to the author(s). However, if the abstract is accepted, the submitter agrees, on behalf of all co-authors, to transfer and assign to FIP the rights to edit, publish, reproduce, distribute copies, and prepare derivative works such as press releases. This includes use in indexes or search databases in print, electronic, or other media.
• The author(s) retain(s) the right, after presentation at the Congress, to subsequently include the work in articles, books, or derivative works that they author or edit, provided such use does not imply endorsement by FIP.
• The submitter signs on behalf of all co-authors and accepts responsibility for compliance with the present rules for submission and presentation on behalf of all co-authors.
  

Summary of important dates

• 7 January 2026
  Abstract submission portal open
• 18 March 2026 (23.59 CET)
  Submission deadline
• 17 April 2026
  Review outcomes communicated to the main author
• 3 June 2026 (23.59 CET)
  Deadline for congress registration

Rules for content and structure

• The main structure should consist of:
  • Introduction
  • Method
  • Results
  • Conclusion
• Abstracts must be written in British English. (If you are not a native English speaker, you are advised to have your writing reviewed by a native English speaker before submission.)
• Abstracts should preferably contain previously unpublished results.
• Abstracts must be no more than 500 words (including spaces), excluding the title and the name(s) and institute(s)/company(ies) of the authors and co-authors.
• All co-authors must be listed.
• All listed co-authors must have reviewed the abstract and accepted responsibility for its contents.
• Abstract titles should not include phone numbers, email addresses, or website addresses.
• No images, tables, or graphs are permitted in the abstract.
• Non-proprietary (generic) drug names must be used wherever possible.
• Active promotion of commercial entities, products, or services is not permitted.

Rules for submission

• By submitting an abstract, the author(s) agrees to allow publication of the content in the FIP Congress mobile app and in publications.
• Authors who are invited to present their work grant FIP permission to store and share their presentations.
• The online submission form must be used.

Most frequent reasons for abstract rejection

• Not properly written or unclear
• No new information provided
• Previously published
• Promotional in nature
• Duplicate of another abstract

The four Cs of abstract writing

Completeness	The abstract summarises the main aspects of your research or work.
Conciseness	The abstract contains no redundant words or unnecessary information.
Clarity	The abstract is easy to read, well-organised, and free of excessive jargon.
Cohesiveness	Different parts of the abstract should be properly linked to ensure a logical and coherent flow.