Using email for abstracts submitted for conference was unexpectedly labour intensive

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 discriminates against girls

EDITOR —Recent speculation suggested a “utopian vision” for electronic scientific publishing.1 Our experience in organising an international conference may be helpful in outlining the potential, but the current difficulties, of using electronic mail.

The annual scientific meeting of the Association of the University Departments of General Practice in Ireland, which attracted 458 delegates, was held in Dublin in July 1997. The closing day for the submission of abstracts was Friday 14 February, and submission by email was especially encouraged. A total of 334 abstracts was submitted, of which 241 were sent by email (table). The emails arrived in three forms: as a Word attachment (178), part of the email text (7), or an uuencoded document within the email (56). Altogether 49 of the 50 submissions received after the weekend of the closing date were sent by email. A total of 690 email messages relating to …