Abstract Submission

Categories

Every stream accepts both oral free papers and e-posters, and each has a competitive and a non-competitive track. The presenting author chooses the format.

Nursing professionals and undergraduate students are not members of the Academy. Their competitive streams are judged separately and carry no IAFM membership requirement.

Eligibility

1. Anyone may submit — registration is not required to submit. The presenting author must, however, be a registered delegate in order to present. Acceptance is provisional and lapses if registration is not completed and paid by 31 December 2026.
2. One presentation per presenting author across the whole conference. You may submit one abstract only, whether oral or poster. There is no limit on co-authorship.
3. Maximum five authors, including the presenting author. The presenting author is underlined.
4. A valid IAFM membership number is required for competitive entry in the Postgraduate and Faculty streams. Entries without one are moved to the non-competitive track.
5. Work must be original and must not have been presented at a previous national conference.
6. An Institutional Ethics Committee approval number must be stated where human subjects, records or identifiable material are involved.

Abstract format

Presentation

Both formats are presented from the screen in the allotted hall. There are no printed poster boards.

E-poster specification

The e-poster is one large poster on a single PDF page. It is shown from the screen: you open it full screen, and zoom into each section in turn as you present. Nothing is printed and there are no boards.

What fits

At 32 pt across three columns this canvas holds roughly 650 words plus two figures or tables — more than a printed A0 poster carries. Write for the space rather than pasting in the full paper.

• Three columns, reading left to right, each a self-contained section
• Group content so that one zoom shows one complete section — this is what makes the poster presentable
• Light background, dark text — the halls are lit for presentation
• Figures at 150 dpi or better at final size, so they hold up when magnified
• Single page, under 20 MB, fonts embedded — PowerPoint does this automatically on File → Save as → PDF

Naming your file

Name the file with your registration ID and nothing else — lowercase, no spaces, no surname, no version number.

fm27-pg-042.pdf

The submission form shows you the exact filename to use. Copy it rather than typing it. Your abstract reference — ABS-27-0142 — is issued when you submit and is used for correspondence only; the final file is named with your registration ID.

This matters on the day. Files named by registration ID sort into running order by themselves, so the desk in your hall opens the next file down the list instead of hunting through two hundred documents called final poster. The same rule applies to oral presentation slides.

Templates

Both are PowerPoint files already set to the correct canvas and type sizes. Replace the placeholder text, insert your figure, and export as PDF.

These templates are for poster presentations only. They are not to be used for oral free papers, which are presented as ordinary slides.

Presenting with zoom

• Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and press Ctrl + L for full screen
• Zoom with Ctrl + and Ctrl −; move with the scroll wheel or by dragging
• Start on the full poster so the audience sees the whole structure, then zoom section by section
• Return to the full view for your conclusion

Selection & judging

Abstracts are scored blind by the Scientific Committee. Nothing is rejected outright — an entry not shortlisted for the competitive track is automatically offered a place in the non-competitive track.

Marking

• Three judges per panel; the median of the three scores is taken.
• A judge does not assess an entry from their own institution.
• Tiebreak — the higher Scientific Content sub-score.
• Score sheets are retained by the Scientific Committee.

Results of the competitive tracks are announced at valediction. The awards conferred by the Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine at its annual conference are separate, and are administered by the Academy.

Before you upload

Run through this once. Most problems on the day come from one of these six.

• One page, 92.7 × 52.1 cm, exported as PDF — not PowerPoint
• Body text at 32 pt or larger. Open the PDF, zoom to a third of the width, and read it from across the room
• Figures sharp when magnified. Zoom in on every image — if it blurs, replace it with a higher-resolution version
• Named by registration ID, lowercase, nothing else
• Under 20 MB, fonts embedded, no password or security applied to the PDF
• Rehearsed — full screen, moving section to section, inside four minutes

Dates