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I have received a Call for Presentations for a conference and I have a topic that could be interesting to present.

The Call for Presentations describe the various forms of presentations that one can submit, and then links to a form asking for a title, presenter name(s) and an abstract. This has a deadline around two months before the conference.

Now, to my questions: As I mentioned, I have a topic in mind, but unless my presentation is accepted, I would prefer not spending a lot of time preparing a good presentation of this (technical) subject. Will the decision about whether to accept the presentation be done solely on the grounds of the submitted abstract or will they be in touch before accepting the presentation?

(This is a computer science conference, in case that's germane.)

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    Maybe you could link to the CFP? From your description it sounds like only the abstracts will be used to evaluate presentations for the conference. This is reasonably common, but it means that there will probably be no peer-reviewed papers nor proceeding as part of this conference. On the other hand, that means the work you do to create the talk could easily lead to an independent journal article.
    – Bill Barth
    May 1, 2014 at 16:57
  • If this is a periodic conference, you can look at lists of past presenters and ask one of them what the gauntlet is. Also, the conference should have a person who can address the question directly. You should be able to ask about the process before deciding to participate. Note: the difference between deadline for submission and date of acceptance/rejection can be substantial. You may want to plan your questions to optimize your use of time. May 1, 2014 at 19:22
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    It's a slight tangent, but submitting an abstract by only 2 months before the conference seems a little late for sensible peer review. Be sure before participating that it isn't a predatory conference - scholarlyoa.com/2013/09/12/….
    – L Platts
    May 3, 2014 at 0:01

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Typically you will be asked to submit a short abstract (usually 300 words or less), which will be accepted or rejected. If accepted, make your presentation.

On another note, you should get accustomed to doing time consuming activities that may or may not have any real benefit in grad school...

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It depends on how close you research topic/presentation is to the conference topic. I've never had an abstract turned down, but I present in sessions with topics relevant to my research. Most conferences wan't people to come and present, in general. Worst case scenario, it get's turned down. You will have a head start on the next abstract submission.

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Usually decisions on accepting a presentation are made solely on the basis of content. This is actually somewhat unfortunate, because there's no way to eliminate researchers who give horrible talks :).

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Make sure it is not one of 1000s SPAM mails from not-known-to-anyone or thinking-only-about-how-to-get-your-money societies or fake conference organizers. Vast majority of conference in Computer Science review full papers, not abstracts, and review of presentations is not common at all.

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