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Abstract Guidelines and Tips

Please be sure your abstract contains the following prior to submission:

A sentence stating the study’s objective (unless this is provided in the title)
A brief statement of methods, if pertinent
A summary of the results obtained
A statement of conclusion (it is not acceptable to state, “the results will be discussed”)

Please follow these guidelines when formatting your abstract:

Use a short, specific title. The title should be entered in title-style capitalization (i.e. Modeling Cytoskeletal Structures with Cytosim). Please do not use a period, or place your title in quotes, use bold, or use ALL CAPS.
Capitalize initial letters of trade names.
Please do not write given or family names, titles, or abstracts in ALL CAPS.
Use standard abbreviations for units of measure; other abbreviations should be spelled out in full at first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis (exceptions: RNA, DNA, etc.).
Please do not include tables, charts, or other figures.
Be sure to proofread your work carefully before submission. Please ensure your abstract and submission details are correct. It will be printed exactly as it appears in the abstract submission system.

The abstract text is limited to 400 words. This limit includes the body of the abstract only. If your abstract exceeds this limit, you will be prompted to shorten it before being allowed to continue. There must be a minimum of 400 characters, NOT including spaces, to submit your abstract.
The abstract title is limited to 200 characters, including spaces.
There is no character limit for your authors or author affiliations.

For helpful tips while writing your abstract, see this video by EMBL:

For even more tips, read How to hook an audience with a good abstract by Brian Plosky, Molecular Cell editor.