AbstractWiz vs MeetingHand Abstract Management

AbstractWiz is a web platform for academic conference, workshop and event organisers managing abstract submissions and review. Submissions may be plain text, rich text or files; accepted oral submissions can include uploaded papers. Organisers can add fields or criteria to submission and review forms, invite reviewers and assign work based on reviewers’ preferred expertise areas. Reviews can be hidden from authors. Automated email notices and customizable bulk messages to selected user groups support communication. A dashboard tracks submission and review progress, filtered lists can produce reports, and accepted submissions can be compiled into a customizable book for browser printing. Abstracts can be imported and the database exported to a spreadsheet, though the Free plan excludes import. That plan allows up to 20 submissions at free. Standard costs 270.00 USD once per event, with unlimited submissions and all features. A trial event can be created without card details. The maker says AbstractWiz emerged from Stellenbosch University in 2003; an event license runs from creation of the submission instance through the event’s end.

MeetingHand Abstract Management helps academic event organizers collect, review, schedule and publish submissions. Organizers can configure submission forms with topics, presentation types, rules, deadlines and author fields, and accept text, file or multimedia uploads. Review features include assigning reviewers, recording scores and comments, tracking progress on dashboards and conducting blind peer review. Authors can edit abstracts until the deadline if the organizer enables that permission. Accepted submissions can be scheduled into a multi-track agenda and exported as a book of abstracts. Abstract submission can connect with conference registration through single sign-on, with an option to require payment for submissions. MeetingHand says the system is designed for events with hundreds or thousands of submissions. Pricing depends on registrations or abstracts collected: Free covers up to 25, Pay as you go costs $4.90 a month and is charged according to collected registrations and abstracts, and Small is a prepaid plan at $990 a month for 250. The Medium plan covers 1,000, but no price is listed. The software is web-based. MeetingHand offers human support and a knowledge center; it also notes that its site is not tailored to regulations such as HIPAA or FISMA.