You’ve written your abstract — but is it 250 words or 400? Which one is actually correct? If you’ve ever stared at a blank submission form wondering whether your abstract is too long, too short, or somehow both, you’re not alone. This is one of the most consistently confusing parts of academic conference preparation, and the frustration is completely valid.

Most conference abstracts should be between 150 and 300 words. That’s the general range that covers the majority of academic events — but it’s not a universal rule. STEM and sciences typically expect 150–250 words, while humanities and social sciences often allow 200–500 words depending on the format. A poster presentation abstract is usually shorter than one written for an oral presentation or a symposium. Panel abstracts within an interdisciplinary conference may follow entirely different caps than individual submission abstracts at the same event. Virtual and online conferences tend to set tighter limits, often capping submissions at 200–250 words. The only number that actually matters for your specific submission is the one written in that conference’s own submission guidelines — those override everything else.

What makes this genuinely complicated is that abstract word count isn’t just about length. It’s shaped by discipline norms, presentation format, and how a given conference structures its abstract submission portal. A 300-word abstract that fits perfectly in one context gets rejected by the system in another. The PMC Full-Text Archive and NLM Database both index thousands of published abstracts, and even across those, the variation is significant. Tools like the Microsoft Word word count tool or Google Docs word count make it easy to hit a target — the harder part is knowing which target to aim for.

That’s exactly what this guide lays out.

How Long Should a Conference Abstract Be — Direct Answer

Most conference abstracts run between 150 and 300 words. That’s the honest, practical answer for the majority of submissions you’ll encounter.

But that range isn’t a hard rule. It shifts depending on your discipline, the type of presentation you’re proposing, and what the specific conference asks for. A tight STEM abstract for a poster presentation might top out at 150 words. A humanities or social sciences abstract for a panel discussion could reasonably reach 300 or even 500 words.

The single most important number is the one in the submission guidelines. Not this article. Not a general rule you’ve heard before. The abstract submission portal will either give you a hard character/word cap or a stated target — follow that exactly.

If no limit is specified, here’s a reliable default framework:

Oral presentation: 200–250 words
Poster presentation: 150–200 words
Symposium or panel abstract: 250–300 words
Interdisciplinary conference (mixed formats): 200–300 words
Virtual or online conference: Same as in-person equivalents — format doesn’t change the expectation

Use your Microsoft Word word count tool or Google Docs word count (Tools → Word count) to track length as you draft. Don’t eyeball it.

One thing worth knowing: abstracts indexed in databases like the PMC Full-Text Archive and the NLM Database are frequently 200–250 words. That’s not a coincidence — structured abstract formats in biomedical fields were standardized around that length. If your work might end up in those archives, staying within that band is a sensible default.

Short answer? 250 words is the closest thing to a universal safe target. Hit your submission guidelines first. Use 250 as your fallback when guidelines are vague.

How Word Count Changes by Academic Discipline

Discipline matters more than most people expect. A 200-word abstract that’s perfectly appropriate for a biology conference might look thin at a history conference — and vice versa. The submission guidelines often state a maximum, but understanding why different fields land at different numbers helps you actually use that space well.

Sciences and STEM: 150–250 Words

STEM abstracts are short by design. The structure is tight: background, objective, methods, results, conclusion. That’s it. There’s no room for extended theoretical framing or interpretive discussion, because the abstract’s job is to communicate what you did and what you found — fast.

Most STEM conference submission portals cap abstracts at 250 words. Many accept 150. If your abstract is indexed in a resource like the PMC Full-Text Archive or pulled into the NLM Database, that brevity also serves search and retrieval. Long STEM abstracts don’t score extra points. Reviewers often see padding as a sign the work itself isn’t tight.

Oral presentation abstracts in STEM typically run 200–250 words. Poster presentation abstracts sometimes run shorter — closer to 150–200 — because the poster itself carries the detail.

When you’re counting words in Microsoft Word’s word count tool or the Google Docs word count panel, check whether your title is included. Some portals count the title. Some don’t. That discrepancy can matter when you’re right at 250.

Humanities and Social Sciences: 200–500 Words

Humanities and social sciences abstracts are longer. That’s not padding — it reflects how the work actually functions. Argument, theoretical framing, and interpretive context are part of the contribution itself, not just setup.

A philosophy paper or a history conference abstract often needs to sketch a position, situate it in a debate, and signal the intervention being made. That takes words. In these fields, 300 words is a reasonable baseline for a standard oral presentation slot. Panel abstracts and symposium proposals frequently run to 400–500 words, because reviewers need to assess whether the panel as a whole holds together intellectually.

Social sciences sit somewhere in the middle. A quantitative sociology or economics abstract looks more like a STEM abstract — methods, findings, implications, 200–250 words. Qualitative and theoretical work in the same field trends longer, sometimes up to 400 words.

Interdisciplinary conference abstracts in humanities and social sciences usually ask for 300 words. That’s become a kind of informal standard. If the submission guidelines say 300 and you’re at 280, you’re fine. If you’re at 500, you haven’t read the guidelines closely enough.

Which Field’s Standard Should You Follow for Interdisciplinary Conferences

This one genuinely trips people up. You’re presenting work that crosses two disciplines, the conference is interdisciplinary, and the submission guidelines just say “up to 400 words.” Do you write a tight 200-word STEM-style abstract or a fuller 350-word humanities-style one?

Follow the nature of your argument, not just your home department. If your paper makes an empirical claim with data, write a tighter abstract. If it makes an interpretive or theoretical claim, give yourself room to frame it. Reviewers at interdisciplinary conferences are used to seeing both styles. What they’re not used to is an abstract that’s vague because the author tried to split the difference and ended up saying nothing clearly.

When the conference itself spans STEM and humanities — common in fields like science and technology studies, digital humanities, or environmental studies — look at who’s on the program committee. If it skews scientific, lean shorter. If it skews toward cultural or critical theory, lean toward 300 words. The abstract submission portal sometimes gives you a clue too: if it has structured fields (background, methods, results), it’s expecting a STEM-style response regardless of your discipline.

Word Count by Presentation Type — Poster vs Oral vs Symposium

Presentation format matters more than most people realize when sizing an abstract. A 300-word abstract that works perfectly for an oral session can feel bloated on a poster board — and too thin for a multi-speaker symposium proposal. Here’s how to calibrate.

Oral Presentation Abstract

Most conferences ask for 150 to 250 words for a standard oral presentation abstract. That’s the realistic range across disciplines, though STEM conferences often sit at the lower end (150–200 words) and humanities or social sciences papers tend to push toward 200–250.

Your job in this format is to give the review committee enough to judge intellectual merit and fit. That means: research question, method, key finding, and why it matters. Four things. You don’t need a full literature review — reviewers know the field.

Check word count in Microsoft Word (Review → Word Count) or Google Docs (Tools → Word Count) before hitting submit. Abstract submission portals often cut you off hard at the limit, so hitting 252 words on a 250-word cap can strip your last sentence without warning.

If the submission guidelines don’t specify a number, 200 words is a safe default for an oral presentation abstract at most general or interdisciplinary conferences.

Poster Presentation Abstract

Go shorter. Aim for 150 to 200 words, and don’t feel like you’re leaving something out — you’re not.

Poster abstracts serve a different purpose. Attendees use them to decide whether to walk over to your poster during the session. They’re not evaluating methodology in depth; they’re scanning for relevance. Concise wins.

Some conferences — particularly large annual meetings in STEM fields — actually cap poster abstracts at 150 words. If you’re submitting to a conference that archives abstracts in the PMC Full-Text Archive or the NLM Database, keep in mind those records pull directly from what you submit, so tight, clean prose matters beyond the conference itself.

Poster abstracts sometimes appear in printed conference programs with narrow column formatting. Long paragraphs get ugly fast. Keep sentences punchy.

Symposium or Panel Abstract

This one’s more complicated, because symposium submissions usually involve two separate abstracts — one for the overall session and one per individual paper.

The panel-level abstract typically runs 300 to 500 words. It needs to explain the session’s unifying argument, why these papers belong together, and what the collective contribution is. Reviewers are assessing whether the session as a whole earns a slot, not just whether individual papers are good.

Individual paper abstracts within a symposium proposal usually follow the same word count as standalone oral presentation abstracts — roughly 150 to 250 words each.

Virtual conference and online conference formats have added a wrinkle here. Some hybrid or fully online events now ask for shorter panel abstracts (250–300 words) because the submission portal feeds directly into a searchable program database, and brevity helps with discoverability. Always read the submission guidelines for that specific event rather than assuming last year’s format carries over.

If you’re organizing the panel yourself, factor in the total word budget early. A four-paper symposium with a 400-word panel abstract plus four 200-word paper abstracts puts you at roughly 1,200 words of abstract writing — more than most people expect going in.

Short Abstract (150 Words) vs Long Abstract (500 Words) — When Each One Applies

These two ends of the word count spectrum serve completely different purposes. Treating them as interchangeable is one of the most common mistakes researchers make during the submission process.

The 150-Word Abstract

Short abstracts aren’t lesser abstracts. They’re a specific format with a specific job.

You’ll typically hit this range for poster presentations, rapid-fire sessions, and conferences that process hundreds of submissions at once. The abstract submission portal at large STEM conferences — think high-volume annual meetings in biology, engineering, or public health — often caps entries right around 150 words. Sometimes lower.

At 150 words, you have room for exactly four things: the problem you’re addressing, your method, your key finding, and a one-line takeaway. That’s it. No room for literature context. No room for nuance. If your abstract needs a subordinate clause to explain your research question, you’re already in trouble.

Interdisciplinary conferences that use structured abstract formats (Background / Methods / Results / Conclusion) can also fall in this range — the structure does the organizational work, so the word count can stay lean.

One practical check: paste your draft into the Microsoft Word word count tool or use Google Docs word count (Tools → Word count) and look at the words excluding footnotes figure. Some submission portals count differently. Know which number the portal is actually measuring before you hit submit.

The 500-Word Abstract

Five hundred words is a different animal entirely.

This length usually signals one of three scenarios. First, you’re submitting to a humanities or qualitative social sciences conference where the argument itself needs to be visible — committees aren’t just checking whether you have results, they’re evaluating how you think. Second, you’re proposing a full symposium or organized panel, where you need to introduce the theme, describe multiple papers, and make a case for why this grouping deserves a session slot. Third, you’re at a conference — often an interdisciplinary conference or a newer virtual conference format — that explicitly invites extended abstracts as a form of peer-reviewed output, sometimes archived in something like the PMC Full-Text Archive or indexed in the NLM Database.

At 500 words, you have space to situate your work theoretically. You can gesture at methodology with some depth. You can acknowledge a counterargument or a limitation without it eating your entire word count.

But longer doesn’t mean looser. The abstracts that fail at 500 words are the ones that treat the extra space as permission to ramble. A 500-word abstract should still read like it was written under pressure — tight transitions, no filler sentences, every paragraph earning its place.

The Middle Ground: 250–300 Words

Most conferences actually land here. This is the standard range for oral presentations across STEM, social sciences, and many humanities disciplines. The 250-word abstract is short enough to stay disciplined, long enough to show actual substance.

If the submission guidelines don’t specify a word count, 250–300 is your safest default. It fits the reading habits of most review committees, formats well in abstract booklets, and gives you enough room to communicate the work without padding.

When you’re genuinely unsure — and the conference hasn’t published explicit guidance — check whether they’ve posted abstracts from previous years. That sample is more reliable than any general rule, including this one.

Do Online and Virtual Conferences Require a Different Abstract Word Count?

Short answer: usually not. Most virtual and online conferences use the same word count ranges as their in-person equivalents. The format of delivery changed after 2020. The format of submission largely didn’t.

That said, a few things did shift, and they’re worth knowing before you submit.

Virtual Conferences Didn’t Rewrite the Rules — But They Did Tighten Them

When conferences moved online, organizers kept their existing abstract submission portals and templates. A symposium that asked for 250 words in 2019 still asked for 250 words in 2022. The infrastructure was already there. Nobody rebuilt the submission system just because the event was on Zoom.

What changed is how strictly those limits get enforced. Online conference platforms often have hard character caps built directly into the submission form. You hit 300 words, the text box stops accepting input. There’s no wiggle room, no “we’ll overlook an extra sentence.” If the abstract submission portal says 250 words, 251 will literally not save.

So the word count didn’t change. The tolerance for going over it did.

Async Poster Sessions Are the One Real Exception

This is where virtual conferences do something genuinely different. Traditional poster presentations happen in a room — you stand there, you explain your work, you fill in gaps verbally. Online poster sessions are often asynchronous. Attendees browse a PDF or a pre-recorded video with no live presenter to ask.

That changes what the abstract needs to do. Some interdisciplinary conferences and online conferences now ask for a slightly longer poster abstract — sometimes 300 words instead of the standard 150–200 — precisely because the abstract has to carry more of the explanatory weight.

Check the submission guidelines specifically for the poster category. It’ll say.

Discipline Still Drives the Number More Than Format Does

A virtual STEM conference still expects 150–250 words. A virtual humanities or social sciences conference still leans toward 250–300. The delivery mode doesn’t override disciplinary norms.

If you’re submitting to a large interdisciplinary conference held online, look at which section or track you’re submitting to. The biology track and the cultural studies track may post different limits even within the same event portal.

How to Check Your Count Before You Submit

Use the Microsoft Word word count tool (bottom status bar, or Review → Word Count) or Google Docs word count under the Tools menu. Both count the abstract text accurately if you paste it in isolation — don’t include your title or author line, or those words get folded into the total.

Some abstract submission portals display a live counter as you type. Use that as your primary reference. If the portal count and your word processor count differ by one or two words, trust the portal — it’s what the reviewers see.

The Practical Rule

If you’re submitting to a virtual or online conference, treat the word count exactly as you would for an in-person event at that same conference. Find the submission guidelines, find the limit for your specific presentation type, and hit it precisely. The format of the conference doesn’t give you extra room. It just means the hard cap might cut you off mid-sentence if you ignore it.

Where to Find the Word Limit for a Specific Conference

How to Read a Submission Guidelines Page

The word limit for your abstract is almost always published somewhere on the conference website. The problem is that these pages aren’t always organized clearly, and the number you need can be buried inside a PDF, an FAQ, or a dropdown you almost missed.

Start with the call for papers (CFP). That document — whether it’s a webpage or a downloadable file — is where most conferences state the abstract word count directly. Look for a section labeled “Submission Requirements,” “Abstract Guidelines,” or sometimes just “How to Submit.” The number is usually there.

If it isn’t, go to the abstract submission portal itself. Many portals have a character or word counter built in, and some will reject your submission outright if you exceed the limit. That hard cutoff tells you the actual ceiling, even if the CFP page was vague about it.

A few things to watch for when reading a submission guidelines page:

Does the word count include the title? Some conferences count it, most don’t. Check explicitly.
Are keywords counted separately? For poster presentations and some STEM conferences, you’ll submit 3–5 keywords alongside the abstract. These are usually excluded from the word count.
Is there a minimum as well as a maximum? A 150–250 word range is different from “up to 250 words.”
Does the limit differ by submission type? An oral presentation abstract and a panel abstract may have different requirements on the same conference site.

If the submission guidelines page still doesn’t answer your question after a careful read, email the conference organizers. Short, direct question: “Is the 250-word limit for the abstract only, or does it include the title and keywords?” They answer these all the time. It’s not a bother.

One more thing: guidelines can change between conference years. Don’t rely on a PDF from the previous cycle. Always pull the current year’s version.

How to Find Sample Abstracts in PMC Full-Text Archive and NLM Database

Reading real accepted abstracts from your target conference — or similar ones — is one of the most practical ways to calibrate your word count and structure. Two sources make this easy.

PMC Full-Text Archive (PubMed Central) is a free repository of biomedical and life sciences literature. Many published papers include the abstract as submitted or as it appeared in conference proceedings. If you search PMC for your conference name or a topic covered at that conference, you’ll often find abstracts that were published after the work was presented. These give you a realistic sense of how long accepted abstracts actually run — not just what the guidelines say, but what authors actually submitted.

To use it: go to [pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), search by conference name or topic, and filter by publication type. Look for “Meeting Abstract” in the article type filters. You’ll find real examples with real word counts.

NLM Database (the National Library of Medicine’s broader search infrastructure, including PubMed) is useful for the same reason. PubMed indexes thousands of conference abstracts, particularly from STEM and medical fields. Search your conference name in quotes, then add “AND meeting abstract[pt]” to filter by publication type. The abstracts in these records are usually the exact text that was submitted.

Once you find three or four accepted abstracts from your target conference or a closely related interdisciplinary conference, paste them into Microsoft Word’s word count tool or use Google Docs word count (Tools → Word count) to get an exact number. That gives you a real benchmark — not a guess.

This approach is less useful for humanities and social sciences, since those fields are underrepresented in PMC and NLM. For those disciplines, look for published conference proceedings through your institution’s library databases, or check if the conference posts prior years’ program booklets on their site. Those booklets frequently include full abstracts.

How to Measure Your Abstract Word Count — Tools and Software

Getting the word count right isn’t complicated, but it does matter. Submit an abstract that’s 50 words over the limit and some portals will reject it automatically — no human review, just a hard cutoff.

Here’s what actually works.

Microsoft Word

The Microsoft Word word count tool sits at the bottom-left of your screen. It updates in real time as you type. If you want to check just the abstract text within a longer document, select that text first — Word will then show the word count for the selection only, not the full document. That’s the number to use.

One thing to watch: Word counts footnotes and endnotes separately by default. If your abstract has any inline citations or bracketed references, those words do count. Don’t let them sneak past your limit.

Google Docs

In Google Docs, go to Tools → Word count (or use Ctrl+Shift+C on Windows, Cmd+Shift+C on Mac). Same selection trick applies — highlight just the abstract text before opening the tool and you’ll get an isolated count.

Google Docs also has a “Display word count while typing” checkbox in that same menu. Turn it on. You’ll see a live counter in the bottom-left corner. Useful when you’re actively cutting and revising.

Abstract Submission Portals

Many submission portals have their own built-in word counters, and they don’t always match Word or Google Docs exactly. Why? Some portals strip HTML formatting first. Others count hyphenated words differently. A compound term like “evidence-based” might register as one word in Word but two in the portal.

Always paste your abstract into the portal and check the counter there before you hit submit. That number is the one that matters.

A Note on PMC and NLM Databases

If you’re pulling published abstracts from the PMC Full-Text Archive or the NLM Database as reference points for typical length in your field, just be aware those abstracts went through editorial formatting after acceptance. The word counts may differ slightly from what was originally submitted. Use them for general benchmarking, not as exact targets.

Use Google Docs or Microsoft Word to draft and monitor your count. Then paste into the abstract submission portal and confirm the count there. If there’s a discrepancy of more than a few words, trim to match the portal’s figure. That’s the one the reviewers — or the automated system — will see.

Pre-Submission Abstract Checklist

Before you hit submit, run through this list. Takes five minutes. Saves you a rejection.

Word Count

Check it twice. Use the Microsoft Word word count tool or Google Docs word count — not a manual estimate. Some abstract submission portals have their own counters that count differently (they may strip titles or author lines), so know which number the portal is measuring. Match that exactly.

If the submission guidelines say 250 words, don’t submit 251. Some portals hard-cut your text. Others flag it for rejection. Neither outcome is good.

Alignment With the Submission Guidelines

Pull up the official call for abstracts and read it again after you’ve written the abstract. Not before — after. It’s easy to drift. Check:

Is the word limit correct for your specific presentation type? A poster abstract and an oral presentation abstract often have different limits, even within the same conference.
Are there required sections? Some STEM conferences want a structured abstract with explicit headings (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion). Some humanities or social sciences conferences want plain prose.
Did they ask for keywords? A certain number of them?
Is there a specific file format or character limit on the title?

Don’t assume. Read the actual guidelines document.

Content Essentials

Your abstract should answer four things clearly:

What’s the problem or question?
What did you do or argue?
What did you find or claim?
Why does it matter to this audience?

If any of those four are missing or buried, fix it before you submit. At a panel abstract level, reviewers are also checking fit — make sure your framing matches the symposium or panel theme explicitly.

Conference-Specific Fit

This matters more than people admit. An interdisciplinary conference wants you to signal why your work crosses field boundaries. A specialist conference wants disciplinary precision. The same abstract often needs reframing depending on the audience. Don’t recycle without editing.

Final Checks

No typos in author names or institutional affiliations. These are hard to correct post-submission.
If you’re submitting to an indexed conference (one archived in PMC Full-Text Archive or NLM Database, for example), make sure the abstract is self-contained. Readers in those archives won’t have your slides.
For virtual conference or online conference submissions, check whether video abstracts or extended summaries are required alongside the written one. The written word count may be lower precisely because supplementary material is expected.
Read it out loud. Seriously. You’ll catch things you won’t catch reading silently.

Submit the version you’d want reviewed by someone who’s never met you.

FAQ

How long should a conference abstract be?

Most conference abstracts fall between 150 and 300 words. That’s the practical range covering the majority of submissions across disciplines. Some conferences — particularly in the humanities or for extended symposium formats — allow up to 500 words. A few ask for as few as 100. Always check the submission guidelines for the specific conference. The “standard” length doesn’t override what the organizer actually asks for.

Is 250 words enough for a conference abstract?

Yes, and for most STEM conferences, 250 words is the sweet spot. It’s enough to state your research question, method, key findings, and significance without padding. Many oral presentation abstracts are specifically capped at 250 words. If you’re writing for a social sciences or interdisciplinary conference, 250 words may feel tight — but it’s still workable if you’re concise.

Can a conference abstract be 500 words?

It can, but only if the conference explicitly permits it. Extended 500-word abstracts are more common in the humanities, some social sciences conferences, and symposium or panel formats where reviewers need more context to evaluate fit. Submitting 500 words to a conference with a 250-word cap won’t get you extra credit — it’ll likely get your submission flagged or rejected outright.

What happens if my abstract exceeds the word count?

Most abstract submission portals either hard-cut your text at the limit or throw an error that prevents submission. Some just flag it as a warning. Either way, going over isn’t a gray area — reviewers notice, and it signals carelessness. Trim it before you submit.

Does the word count include the title and author names?

Usually not. Most conferences count only the body of the abstract. But this varies. Some portals have separate fields for the title and authors, which makes it obvious. If everything’s in one text box, reread the submission guidelines to confirm what’s being counted.

Do virtual and online conferences have different word count requirements?

Not inherently. A virtual conference typically follows the same abstract length standards as its in-person equivalent. The format of delivery changes; the abstract requirements usually don’t. That said, some online conferences compress timelines and presentation slots, which can push word limits slightly shorter. Check the specific guidelines — don’t assume.

How do I check my abstract’s word count accurately?

The Microsoft Word word count tool (found under the Review tab) and Google Docs word count (Tools → Word count) are both reliable. If you’re pasting into an abstract submission portal, paste into one of these first and check the count there. Some portals count differently — hyphens, symbols, and line breaks can affect the tally. When in doubt, aim for slightly under the limit.

Should my abstract word count differ for a poster vs. an oral presentation?

Often, yes. Poster presentation abstracts tend to run shorter — 150 to 200 words is common — because the poster itself carries the detail. Oral presentation abstracts often go up to 250 or 300 words. Check whether the conference has separate word limits for each submission type. Many do.

Where can I find reliable published abstracts to use as length benchmarks?

The PMC Full-Text Archive and the NLM Database are both good sources. Search for published conference proceedings or journal abstracts in your field and note how long the accepted ones run. That gives you a real-world calibration point, not just a guideline number.

Conclusion: Submit Your Abstract with Confidence by Getting the Word Count Right

Getting the word count right isn’t a minor formatting detail. It’s one of the fastest ways to get disqualified before a reviewer ever reads your argument.

Here’s the short version of everything covered in this guide: most conference abstracts fall between 150 and 300 words. STEM conferences often sit at the lower end. Humanities and social sciences tend to push toward 250–300 words. Symposium and panel abstracts can run longer — sometimes up to 500 words — but only when the submission guidelines explicitly allow it.

Virtual and online conferences don’t generally change those expectations. The format shifted; the abstract standards mostly didn’t.

Before you submit, check the abstract submission portal for the word limit. Not the conference website homepage. Not a previous year’s call. The current submission page, the one you’re actually using. Those numbers can change between cycles, and “I used last year’s limit” won’t get your abstract reconsidered.

Use a real tool to count. Microsoft Word’s word count tool and Google Docs word count are both accurate and free. Don’t estimate. Don’t count manually. Just check.

If your abstract is for a journal archive — PMC Full-Text Archive, NLM Database, anything indexed — there may be additional formatting requirements beyond raw word count. That’s a separate checklist, but worth knowing exists.

One final thing. If the submission guidelines say 250 words, submit 250 words or slightly under. Not 275. Reviewers notice. More importantly, automated abstract submission portals often hard-reject over-length submissions without warning.

You’ve done the research. The abstract is written. Don’t let a preventable word count issue be the reason it doesn’t get seen.