In submitting an abstract for the ISOCARP Congress, authors provide the following:

• Name, position, institutional affiliation (if any) and contact details for each author
• If more than one author, name of corresponding author (all emails will be addressed to this author)
• The title of the proposed paper
• The topic to which the paper most closely relates
• Whether or not the author requests peer review
• A brief synopsis of the paper for printing in the Congress Program  (not more than 50 words)

The abstract itself is in English.  It is text only, with no images, figures or tables.  It is between 300 and 600 words (up to a limit of 4000 characters with spaces).  ISOCARP welcomes papers from all circumstances and traditions, and from citizens, students, practitioners and planning officials as well as researchers and academics.  However, to enable the General Rapporteur to make a reasonable assessment of the appropriateness of the proposed paper for the specific Congress, the abstract should include the following components:
• A brief description of the “problem”:  the project, proposition or research question that is the subject of the paper;  or a brief description of the place, issue or planning approach addressed in the paper.
• Background – for example, basis in theory, policy framework, governance context, economic conditions – for the project or planning work.
• Reference to two or more scholarly or official works, locating the project in a specific discipline, intellectual tradition, and/or planning context.
• An brief indication of the methods used in carrying out the work described in the paper.
• An outline of the principal results, outcomes, findings and lessons.
• Finally, a note about the extent to which the work is (or is not) generally applicable.