ABSTRACT SUBMISSION PROCESS

Abstracts must be submitted by 11:59pm ET on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. Abstracts will NOT be accepted after this date under any circumstances.

Use your pharmacist.com username and password to access the APhA2026 online abstract submission form. Use an email address you check often and will have access to until at least March 30, 2026. The system will not send emails to alternate email addresses, and you may otherwise miss valuable information and access to your abstracts.

If you need to create an APhA account:

Go to https://www.pharmacist.com, click on Login, then Register. You do not have to be a member to create an account. Enter the email that you will use for notifications for APhA2026.

Upon submission, you will receive a confirmation email with the details of the submission. You may update your abstract anytime until October 1, 2025, at 11:59pm ET.

Once an abstract is saved as final, no changes to the abstract including title, authors, content, or categories will be allowed. The abstract will be considered final and will be published exactly as submitted.

STEPS FOR PREPARING YOUR ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT AUTHORS

Collect all authors’ information (names, affiliations, email addresses, and financial disclosures, etc.) before you begin the submission process. Once the abstract is submitted, no changes to author information will be allowed, e.g., no additional authors may be added.

PRIMARY/FIRST AUTHOR

As the abstract submitter, you are considered the primary/first author and presenting author by default and will be listed first in the abstract’s author block. 

For the purposes of abstract review and eligibility for Poster Awards, select the role that best describes your status at the time the research was conducted. (Refer to Primary/First Author Role below for a list of roles and descriptions.)

CO-AUTHORS

Enter all of your co-authors (up to 9) in the order they should appear on your abstract author block and poster presentation.

If a co-author will take on the role of presenting author in your place (attend the meeting and present the poster, if accepted), select Presenting Author as their speaker role. Any change to presenting author information must be confirmed in writing to APhA by no later than March 1, 2026.

If you are a Pharmacy Resident or Student Pharmacist, you must include your preceptor/advisor on your submission and select Preceptor/Advisor as their speaker role.  

All other co-authors should select Co-author as their speaker role.

ABSTRACT TYPES

Contributed Research Paper

Abstracts must present the findings of original scientific research using quantitative or qualitative analysis that is relevant to practicing pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.

Data collection must be completed by 11:59PM ET on the abstract submission date of Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and must be accompanied by appropriate conclusions and implications. Projects that do not have completed results and conclusions at the time of submission should be submitted as a report in progress (see below).

Innovative Practice Report

Abstracts must describe a new idea or strategy for the delivery of patient care—including those that are new to the practitioner’s region, system, or practice setting—or a creative application of existing techniques or services.

Projects must be completed by 11:59PM ET on the abstract submission date of Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and must be accompanied by appropriate conclusions and implications. Projects that do not have completed results and conclusions at the time of the submission should be considered as a report in progress (see below).

Reports on Projects in Progress

Submissions may be a contributed research paper or innovative practice report that is in progress but not yet complete, summarizing the research or project and the plan for completion.

Investigators must be in the process of collecting data or implementing an innovative practice at the time of submission.

Data collection/projects must be initiated by October 1, 2025 (due to the residency timeline, current pharmacy residents do not need to be in the process of collecting data at the time of submission.)

Data collection/projects must be completed by March 1, 2026; results, conclusions, and implications are expected to be included on the final poster and presented at APhA2026.

Encore Presentations

Abstracts must meet the submission and evaluation criteria for original papers submitted to APhA2026, with the exception that the paper has been previously presented at a local, state, or national meeting within 12 months of the submission deadline. Abstracts must include the original citation.

APhA COMMUNITY

Select the APhA Community(ies) in which you are active or have an interest. Refer to the list of Communities at https://www.pharmacist.com/Membership/Communities.

ABSTRACT RESEARCH AREA

Select the research area that best describes the domain of pharmacy research represented in your abstract. Your selection will determine the composition of the review team assigned to evaluate your abstract.

Practice-Based Pharmacy

This research area includes projects involving pharmacists practicing in a variety of patient care settings such as health-system inpatient, community pharmacy, ambulatory clinic, integrated care setting, long-term care, managed care, and physician office practice. Research projects that address the development and implementation of pharmacist-provided patient care services may be included in this area.

Scientific Research

• Basic Sciences: Research includes wide-ranging basic science research projects from academia, government, and industry. Research topics may include chemical structure/biological activity and chemical structure/physicochemical property relationships; concepts in pharmaceutical technology, biotechnology, and drug delivery; and the basic chemistry on which these areas are founded.
• Clinical Sciences: Research includes unique multidisciplinary interactions between clinical scientists and practitioners committed to expanding knowledge of the safe and effective use of medications. Research projects addressing the development and evaluation of drugs and biologics in health care settings and controlled research environments may be included in this area.
• ESAS: Research is intended for projects in health services research, policy, and administration with application to medications and patient care. This research includes the fields of public health, epidemiology, economics, health services research, outcomes research, biostatistics, medical sociology, law, health care administration and management, operations research, pharmaceutical marketing, marketing research, technology assessment and applications, and public and private reimbursement programs. The audience includes scientists, educators, practitioners, government managers, and other health care system representatives.

ABSTRACT TOPIC

Select a topic that best matches your work. The list of topics is meant to be as inclusive as possible; however, if your abstract does not fit into one of the topics listed, please use the Emerging/Other topic designation. The purpose of selecting a topic area is to appropriately group abstracts for abstract review, poster presentation, and publication in JAPhA.

• Disease Conditions
• Education
• Immunizations
• International
• Medication Management
• Mental Health
• OTC/Self Care
• Pain Management
• Patient Care
• Pharmacy Operations
• Pharmacy Practice
• Radiopharmaceuticals
• Social Determinants of Health
• Technology
• Emerging/Other Topics

PRIMARY/FIRST AUTHOR ROLE

Identify the role of the first/primary author at the time research was conducted.

• Faculty/Preceptor: Individuals who are involved in the education and training of student pharmacists at schools and colleges of pharmacy, and for individuals who precept student pharmacists and pharmacy residents.
• Postgraduate Student/Fellow/Postdoctoral Scholar: Post-doctoral research fellows, graduate students who are pursuing an MS or a PhD degree, or other non-pharmacy advanced degree students are invited to submit abstracts on projects involved in discovery, integration, or application of knowledge in the pharmaceutical sciences to improve patient health.
• Pharmacy Resident: Current pharmacy residents. (Due to the residency timeline, current pharmacy residents do not have to be in the process of collecting data or have completed the project upon abstract submission.) Pharmacy residents must include the resident’s advisor as a co-author.
• Practitioner: Pharmacists involved in delivering, managing, or educating about pharmacist-provided services related to patient care outcomes and/or research are invited to submit abstracts in this category. If you are currently a pharmacy resident, submit under the pharmacy resident category, not under the practitioner category.
• Scientist/Researcher: Researchers involved in discovery, integration, or application of knowledge in the pharmaceutical sciences to improve patient health care are invited to submit abstracts in this category. Individuals conducting research in the pharmaceutical, clinical, or economic, social, and administrative sciences (ESAS) may submit abstracts in this category.
• Student Pharmacist: Student pharmacists who are pursuing a PharmD degree are invited to submit abstracts on projects undertaken during pharmacy-related studies in this category. Student pharmacists must include the student’s advisor as a co-author.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

As the submitter, you are responsible for collecting financial relationship information from all co-authors.  You are required to provide a statement on behalf of all authors that discloses all financial relationships over the past 24 months. For authors who have no financial relationships you must state that they have nothing to disclose.

WRITING YOUR ABSTRACT

An abstract is a clear, concise summary of a project that offers a conclusion based on results.

Abstracts must include the following sections:

• Title (use uppercase and lowercase letters as appropriate; do not use all capital letters)
• Objective(s)/Background (the study’s objective should be the first sentence of the abstract)
• Methods (e.g., design, setting, patients/participants, data collection, analysis plan, and/or other appropriate qualitative methods)
• Results (or preliminary results for reports on projects in progress)
• Conclusions/Implications

Supporting tables or figures may be submitted for all types of submissions.

• The use of tables and figures is optional, but you must either upload a table or figure or check the box stating that you do not have additional files to upload.
• Do NOT reference or call out the tables and figures in your abstract.
• Tables and figures should be self-explanatory and serve to supplement the material in the abstract.
• Label submitted tables and figures. A brief explanatory legend for a table or figure is optional.

Criteria for Evaluating Submitted Abstracts

Abstracts will be evaluated according to the following criteria. 

• Relevance – rationale is clearly defined; makes important contribution to pharmacy practice or theoretical basis of pharmaceutical sciences because it is original/innovative or of vital importance to the profession.

• Originality – new, innovative approaches to move the pharmacy profession forward.
• Clear statement of question(s) to be answered or objective(s) to be met.
• Study/project design – project design clearly stated, appropriate to achieve objectives, and variables controlled. Setting and patient population described.
• Methods and data collection process/analysis clearly described. Source(s) of data, how it is being collected and measured. Data analysis is clearly specified and evaluation procedures target project outcomes and support project objectives. Compare different strategies.
• Results – findings are reported for each study objective or research question. Include data in your results section. (Projects in Progress must report any initial findings or trends/preliminary results. Preliminary results are not required for Pharmacy Resident category.)
• Conclusions are appropriately stated, based on results. (Projects in Progress may not include Conclusions on the abstract; however, Conclusions should be included in the final poster presentation.)
• Implications of findings for pharmacy practice, policy theory, or further research are discussed and should focus on tangible or significant results. Describe how innovation is adaptable to other practice sites/settings. (Projects in Progress must describe potential implications.)

PLAN AHEAD

• Allow adequate time before the submission deadline to submit your abstract and avoid any technology issues that might arise.
• If you are a Student Pharmacist or Pharmacy Resident, work with your preceptor or faculty advisor to ensure that your abstract submission meets all criteria outlined.
• Proofread your abstract before final submission to ensure it is complete, accurate, and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
• Once an abstract is saved as final, no changes to the abstract including title, authors, content, or categories will be allowed. The abstract will be considered final and will be published exactly as submitted.

Tips for Success

• As part of the Objectives section, include background information to justify why this program was created
• Be as specific, descriptive, and thorough as possible about project/study design, methods, data collection and analysis, results, and conclusion/implications
• Describe patient population(s) in detail
• Define time periods; include dates, where applicable
• Do NOT include any identifying information such as authors’ names, affiliations, and/or site names anywhere in the abstract. This information will be obtained during the online abstract submission process.
• Use complete sentences
• Spell out acronyms in full at first mention and abbreviate thereafter
• Use standard abbreviations for units of measure
• Avoid trademark symbols, subscripts, and superscripts
• Avoid the use of jargon