How to Create Abstract Submission Forms (Without EasyChair)
EasyChair has been around since 2002. For a long stretch, it was the default tool for academic abstract and paper submissions — and for many conferences, it still is. It's free, it works, and program committees are familiar with it. For large conferences with formal double-blind review workflows, it remains a solid choice.
That said, there are scenarios where EasyChair isn't the right fit — particularly for smaller or mid-sized conferences that need a clean submission experience without requiring a full review platform.
What EasyChair does well
EasyChair is genuinely capable software with a large, established user base:
- Free paper and abstract submission for any conference
- Reviewer assignment and bidding
- Multi-track program committee management
- Export to various formats (BibTeX, PDF proceedings)
For a large international conference with a formal double-blind review process and hundreds of submissions, EasyChair (or its competitors like HotCRP, OpenReview, or ConfTool) is a well-proven choice for the review workflow.
Most academic conferences in the 50-300 submission range, however, don't need that full complexity. They need a clean, configurable form that their submitters can fill out without setting up a dedicated review platform.
Where EasyChair can feel like a mismatch
Account friction for submitters. EasyChair requires every submitter to create an account, even if they've never used it before. For first-time submitters, this can add friction before they've submitted anything — submissions require authentication, so there's no guest link a submitter can use without first creating a profile. Organizers often field "how do I sign up?" emails during the submission window as a result.
Configuration overhead. Setting up tracks, topics, and submission categories involves navigating a fairly deep set of admin menus. If you need custom fields — a research area dropdown, a presenter affiliation field, a figure upload — there's some setup work involved.
No built-in registration or payment. EasyChair handles the submission and review side, not registration and payments. If your conference needs both, you'll need a separate tool — which means two platforms, two attendee databases, and coordination between them.
What abstract submission forms actually need
A good abstract submission form should:
- Be publicly accessible via a link — no mandatory account creation for first-time submitters
- Support custom fields — text, dropdowns, file uploads, multi-select checkboxes for research areas
- Tie to the member record — a submitter who registers and submits an abstract should have one unified record in your system, not two disconnected entries
- Store submissions reviewably — organizers should be able to see all submissions in one place, filter by field values, and export
Building abstract submission forms in Conference Suite
Conference Suite's form builder is designed to address exactly that list for conferences that don't need a full review platform — specifically, small-to-medium academic conferences that want a clean submission experience without the associated setup.
Drag-and-drop field builder — add text fields, textareas, dropdowns, file upload fields, and payment fields in any order. Each field gets a title, description, and required/optional toggle.
Public form links — any form marked public is accessible by direct URL with no Conference Suite account required. First-time submitters fill out a registration card (name, institution, role) alongside the submission fields, and they're added to your member database automatically.
Unified member records — a person who submits an abstract and registers for your conference has one member record. Their submission history, registration status, and payment records are all associated with the same profile.
Submission review dashboard — all submissions are visible to admins in one grid. Filter by field values, download individual submissions, and track which forms have been completed.
Promo codes on registration forms — if your conference offers discounted registration for presenters, you can create a promo code and include it in the submission confirmation message. No separate system needed.
When EasyChair (or a dedicated review platform) is the right call
Conference Suite's form builder covers submission collection and registration. If your conference requires structured peer review — reviewer bidding, paper assignments, conflict of interest tracking, review scores, and meta-review aggregation — a dedicated review platform like EasyChair, HotCRP, or OpenReview is the right tool for that layer.
What Conference Suite addresses is the combination of registration, payment, and basic submission collection — a workflow that often gets assembled from several tools at once. If your conference doesn't need a full review platform, Conference Suite can handle the entire submission and registration side in one place.
Getting started
If you're setting up abstract submission forms for your next conference, read the onboarding guide to see how a typical Conference Suite setup works from account creation to published form.
Or view pricing to see what a full platform subscription costs compared to the sum of the tools you're currently using.
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