Evaluating abstracts: preparing a research conference.

Refusal to recognize the impossibility of designing a fair scholarly screening system for selecting papers from abstracts results in the use of inappropriate criteria and checklists. Since no checklist can be used universally to identify the rigorous and significant research contributions from abstracts, we suggest that a more flexible and sensible method of screening presentations is to select the maximum number based on the time and space available for presentations, the program objectives, and content needs.