2026 ISMRM Call for Abstracts

The Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) invites abstract submissions for presentation at the 2026 ISMRM & ISMRT Annual Meeting & Exhibition, 09-14 May 2026, in Cape Town, South Africa. It is imperative that all submissions contain new, previously unpublished material. All abstracts must be submitted electronically via the ISMRM website.

During the abstract submission process, you will be given the opportunity to rank your preferred presentation format, including oral presentation, digital posters (“e-posters”) and traditional paper posters. The AMPC will do their best to accommodate your preferences.

Acceptance notices are emailed in February. Detailed design and presentation guidelines will be available on this website after acceptance notices are sent.

Submission Guidelines

What’s New for 2026?

For the 2026 Annual Meeting, we are accepting submissions highlighting “MRI in Clinical Practice.” Details on the submission instructions are below. Continuing from last year, we will also accept Registered Abstracts for the 2026 Annual Meeting.

Rejection of Duplicate Abstracts

Any abstract(s) deemed to duplicate or to contain significant overlap of content, either with work published prior to the deadline or with other abstracts submitted by the same authors, will be rejected. Determination of what constitutes duplication, including abstracts submitted in multiple categories or over multiple years, is at the discretion of the AMPC. Details of identified duplicate submissions will be maintained in our database and may jeopardize submission of future abstracts by the same individuals or institutions. The electronic submission system facilitates easy identification of duplicate text and data.

Failure to Present

All accepted works that are not withdrawn before the 27 February 2026 withdrawal deadline must be presented, in person, by the author or their designee. During the submission process, authors are required to acknowledge that one of the authors will be on site at the Annual Meeting to present this work. If an author or other representative is not present, and the accepted abstract was not withdrawn, the author or co-authors may be prohibited from submitting abstracts to this conference in the following three (3) years.

Categories

Categories and keywords are used (1) to assign reviewers, (2) during program assembly, and (3) to enhance consistency and searchability of abstracts in the program and online proceedings. Select the following to characterize your work:

• Primary category and subcategory (or “category keyword”), from list
• Secondary category and subcategory (or “category keyword”), from list
• General keyword, from list or supply your own keyword

ISMRM is unique in that much of our work crosses boundaries, and authors are encouraged to select different primary and secondary categories and/or subcategories. We will make every effort to assign reviewers based on both the primary and secondary categories and subcategories.

Impact & Synopsis

Each abstract is accompanied by a 40-word impact statement and 100-word synopsis. These should be written in simple, clear language, at a higher level than the main abstract, to be broadly understandable to members who may not be in your direct field. The impact and synopsis must include text only, without equations or images, and be without references or citations to items described in the full abstract. We suggest the use of abstract keywords in the synopsis to improve the searchability of your abstract after publication.

We all pursue research in order to have an impact. But in the day-to-day work, and especially as we come together as a group to exchange our research results, it’s easy to lose sight of the specific end goal. The impact statement allows us to explicitly consider our end goal. We want to convey to each other what motivated our projects, what we did, and why it will matter. Not only will this enhance our conversations together, but thinking this way will also help in any networking situation, framing manuscripts and proposals, and design of future studies for impact.

Keep in mind that “impact” can take many forms; it can be, for example, that other scientists might now think about a problem differently, opening new questions or lines of investigations to be answered; it can be specific applications of the advances in technological capabilities; or new clinical information that can be disseminated and implemented more widely.

The impact of your study might affect several people, or several million people, with both scenarios being important. The question is, what will be different because of the results of your study? Who will care (other than the next post-doc in the lab), and why? Your results do not need to “change the world,” although small changes together do change the world! Beware the positive impact bias! Impact does not mean that something had a positive or expected result. “Why the work will matter” might be that it shows that a pivot or new direction is needed.

The 40-word Impact section will precede the Synopsis in the abstract and will also appear alone in the program. Therefore it should be a stand-alone statement of the potential impact of this work. The Impact section must include text only, without equations or images, and be without references or citations to items described in the full abstract.

• Impact: State how the results might affect other scientists/clinicians/patients. What new questions might now be investigated? What can be done that was not possible before and why does it matter? Try to avoid vague statements and focus on specific potential impact of the results.

The Synopsis section is specific to each abstract type. For ISMRM abstracts, the Synopsis should be entered in the following sections, with a 100-word total limit applied to the 4 sections:

• Motivation: State specifically what motivates the research study; for example, what new knowledge is being sought, what specific step in a clinical problem your research is addressing, and/or for what reason some technical development is needed. Try to avoid broad statements such as “early detection of x disease is important.”
• Goal(s): The goal of this particular study. What specific question is being asked, what technical goal or specific advancement in capability is being sought?
• Approach: The overall approach taken to address the goal, such as the study design to test a hypothesis or type of methodology to advance imaging tools. May include animal model, clinical trial, technology development, or other.
• Results: Core results of the study that show how well you achieved the goals. Note that the Impact section will appear below the synopsis when printed, so you do not need to duplicate text from the Impact section here.

Please view examples of Impact and Synopsis here, and look at the Registered Abstract and MRI in Clinical Practice Abstract directions for their specific Synopsis instructions.

Abstract Preview Images

Presentations will be highlighted using a single figure and information about the authors in an abstract thumbnail. In order to accomplish this, you will be asked for the following:

1. A Preview Figure (thumbnail) for use on program session pages and on preview/teaser pages. It is not part of the abstract review. This figure:
   • Should be a simple & uncluttered representation of your work.
   • Does not have a caption, nor should it have small text within the image.
   • Is legible at small sizes, especially on mobile devices.
   • Will be visible to the public on session pages.
2. The Impact statement will also be included.
3. An Institutional Logo image file can also be included with the Abstract Preview Figure. If you need to acknowledge more than one institution, you must create a single image containing all necessary logos. Alternatively, you may use a project or consortium logo instead of institutional logos.

Abstract Content Guidelines

• Abstracts must be written in English.
• The content may not promote the proprietary interests of any commercial entity. Evident bias in favor of a particular product or company is grounds for rejection. (Reference to the use of a particular company’s products or equipment does not represent bias. Non-data-driven statements of superiority, however, would be considered biased.)
• Content must be restricted to scientific, engineering, and clinical studies, as well as industry issues and operation of devices. Product/company names should be included only to identify the MR hardware/software/peripherals used but not to promote proprietary interests.
• All recommendations involving clinical medicine must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for the recommendations as indications or contraindications in the care of patients.
• All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.
• Abstracts previously submitted to the ISMRM or to another society/journal, but not accepted, may be resubmitted.
• While aids such as ChatGPT or similar may be used to help in writing, authors of the abstracts bear complete responsibility for the accuracy of all data, analysis, and statements within abstracts. Non-human tools should not be listed as authors. Falsification of data or statements is unacceptable and is grounds for rejection of current and future submissions to ISMRM.

Tips for Authors

• Start your submission early. You can complete the user registration, compose your abstract and then upload it at any time before the deadline. We recommend that you complete the user registration EARLY, even if your abstract is not yet complete. This will greatly reduce the load on the abstract system, improving speed of access as the deadline approaches.
• Write a draft of the Impact and Synopsis before starting the rest of your abstract!
• Consider your submission categories and subcategories carefully. Abstract reviewers are assigned based on these categories. It is therefore critical that you select these carefully, as reviewers who are not expert in your topic may not be able to assess its quality appropriately. The categories, subcategories and keywords will also be used to assign accepted abstracts to sessions on the meeting.
• It is encouraged to use different primary and secondary categories and sub-categories wherever work crosses boundaries.
• See the full list of categories, subcategories and keywords here.
• Contact all co-authors prior to submission. It is considered unethical to submit abstracts listing co-authors who have not agreed to the submission. In general, co-authors will expect to read and approve of the content of an abstract, but at a minimum they should be aware of the submission and consent to being listed as an author.
• Review the abstract-writing webinars available here (members only): ISMRM Abstract Writing Webinar Series: An Overview of Crafting Strong ISMRM Abstracts, Session I, ISMRM Abstract Writing Webinar Series: Insights on Clinical & Technical Abstracts, Session II, and ISMRM Abstract Writing Webinar Series: Insights on Clinical & Technical Abstracts, Session III.

Publication of Abstracts

The Proceedings will be published electronically only. The full text of all accepted abstracts will be available online two weeks before the meeting to pre-registered attendees only (24 April 2026). If you wish to have access to the Proceedings before the meeting, you must pre-register.

All submitted abstracts are treated as confidential from the time of submission to the publication date of 24 April 2026.

All copyrights to accepted abstracts become the property of ISMRM. No proprietary information may be withheld by authors.

The deadline is 29 October 2025 at 23:59 UTC.
There will be NO extensions.

Choosing Your Abstract Category

Introduction

Categories, subcategories and keywords are important ways to characterize your work so that the ISMRM can assign reviewers, so that the program committee can sort them into good sessions, and so that other members can find what they are interested in. Submission categories, subcategories and keywords evolve over time and are largely based on past submissions and feedback from both members and the AMPC members. Here we provide guidance to selecting categories, subcategories and keywords for your abstract – we recommend carefully reviewing the options with your co-authors ahead of the abstract submission deadline.

See the full list of categories, subcategories and keywords here.

Category Selection

Before submitting your abstract, you will need to select a Primary Category and Subcategory as well as a Secondary Category and Subcategory. You will also select a general keyword from the list, as well as entering your own keywords if you do not see what you are looking for on the list.

Here we define Categories as the highest-level separation, such as “Acquisition & Reconstruction,” “Neuro,” “Contrast Mechanisms,” or “Musculoskeletal,” which would be numbered 100, 1100, 600, or 1000. For each Category, there are multiple Subcategories, such as “Musculoskeletal: Cartilage,” “Musculoskeletal: Bone,” or “Musculoskeletal: Muscle,” and in all cases the Category and Subcategory are selected together.

1. First you will choose the Primary Category and Subcategory together. For example “Acquisition & Reconstruction: Artifacts” means the Primary Category is “Acquisition & Reconstruction” while the Primary Subcategory is “Artifacts.”
2. Next you will choose the Secondary Category and Subcategory together.  For example “Neuro: Tumor” means the Secondary Category is “Neuro” and the Subcategory is “Tumor.”
3. Please DO NOT duplicate the Primary and Secondary Subcategories.
4. Next you choose general keywords from the list, primarily to help in search, but also used as needed to select reviewers and during assembly.
5. Finally, you may type in any other keywords that you feel will help characterize your abstract, especially for those searching the proceedings.

Best Practices

1. Do not select the same Primary and Secondary Subcategories! This just narrows the number of sessions where your work can fit, and it is highly unlikely that you cannot find at least two appropriate Subcategories.
2. It is fine for your Primary and Secondary Category to be the same, but do select different Subcategories. For example, if your abstract describes a specialized acquisition for tractography, you may select “Diffusion: Diffusion Acquisition” and “Diffusion: Tractography.”
3. Many abstracts include novel methods and applications, so for example the combination of “Contrast Mechanisms: Elastography” and “Body: Liver” might be a great choice.
4. In some cases the options for Categories/Subcategories may be similar or even overlap.
5. If you feel that the exact Category for your work is not represented, please do your best with the available Subcategories, and use additional keywords.
6. You may provide feedback on the Categories to the ISMRM – Categories evolve, and many of the changes are based on member feedback. However, this most likely would not take effect until next year’s meeting.

Duplication

The ISMRM explicitly states that multiple submitted abstracts should not cover the same work.  Please use good judgment – if there is substantial new technical development AND a substantial application or human study, then two abstracts may be justified. A general rule is, if the scope of work can reasonably be presented in a 9-minute oral presentation, then only one abstract should be submitted. Note that trying to use different Categories specifically to separate very similar abstracts is likely to be noticed by the AMPC. In cases where two abstracts from one group are very similar, ISMRM policy is to reject one or both abstracts, so please take this seriously.

Review Assignment

For 2026, reviewer assignment will be based on the Primary and Secondary Categories and Subcategories, keywords, and other analysis of the submitted abstract. In the ideal case, a reviewer’s Category preferences may match both the Primary and Secondary Subcategories.  Alternatively, we will try to select some reviewers whose preferences include the Primary Subcategory, and other reviewers whose preferences include the Secondary Subcategory. The assignment is quite complicated, as we must work with the distribution of abstract Subcategories as well as the distribution of reviewer preferences. Be assured that the AMPC chairs will do their very best to ensure that all abstracts receive an appropriate set of reviewers.