conference presentation in apa

Citation Help for APA, 7th Edition: Conference Presentations

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General Example & Explanation

Variations - URLs?

Some URLs may be long and complicated. APA 7th edition allows the use of shorter URLs. Shortened URLs can be created using any URL shortener service; however, if you choose to shorten the URL, you must double-check that the URL is functioning and brings the reader to the correct website. 

Common URL Shortner websites include:

More Information

For more information about URLs, see Section 9.36 on page 300 of APA Manual, 7th edition. 

NOTE:  Check your instructor's preference about using short URLs. Some instructors may want the full URL. 

Variations - DOIs?

Some DOIs may be long and complicated. APA 7th edition allows the use of shorter DOI numbers. Shortened DOIs can be located at the International DOI Foundations, shortDOI Service . 

More Information:

For more information about DOIs, see Section 9.36 on page 300 of APA Manual, 7th edition. 

NOTE: Check your instructor's preference for using short DOIs. Some instructors may want the full DOI. 

Variations - Live Hyperlinks?

Should my urls be live.

It depends. When adding URLs to a paper or other work, first, be sure to include the full hyperlink. This includes the http:// or the https://. Additionally, consider where and how the paper or work will be published or read. If the work will only be read in print or as a Word doc or Google Doc, then the URLs should not be live (i.e., they are not blue or underlined). However, if the work will be published or read online, then APA advises to include live URLs. This would allow the reader to click on a link and go to the source.   

For more information, see Section 9.35 on pages 299-300 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

NOTE: Check your instructor's preference about using live URLs. Some instructors may not want you to use live URLs. 

Conference Presentation

Conference sessions and presentations include conference sessions, paper presentations, poster presentations, keynote addresses, and symposium contributions. In brackets after the title, disclose the presentation type as described by the conference. 

For more information about conference sessions and presentations, see Section 10.5 on page 332 of the APA Manual, 7th ed. 

Reeve, D., Rottmann, C., & Sacks, R. (2015, June 14-15). The ebb and flow of engineering leadership orientations [Conference session].

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, Seattle, WA, United States. https://doi.org/10.18260/p.24857

Presenters: Reeve, D., Roffmann, C., & Sacks, R. 

Begin the reference with the presenter's last name. Add a comma after the presenter's last name. Then, add the presenter's first and middle name represented by initials. Add a period after each initial. If the presenter provides a middle name, be sure to add a space between the first and middle initial. If there are additional presenters, add a comma after the middle initials, and proceed to add the other presenters using the same format as described. Add additional presenters in the exact order they are listed in the conference session. Do not change the order of the presenters. Before the last presenter, add an ampersand (&).   

Date(s) of Conference: (2015, June 14-17). 

Next, add the date of the conference. In parentheses, add the year, followed by a comma and the month, followed by the day. If the conference took place over multiple days, list the full date range of the conference with a hyphen between the days. Add a period after the parentheses.  

Title of the Conference Session: The ebb and flow of engineering leadership orientations [Conference session]. 

Next, add the title and subtitle of the conference session. The title and subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. Italicize the title. After the title, in brackets, add a description of the contribution (i.e., conference session, poster presentation, keynote address, etc.). Be sure to use the description that the conference uses. Add a period after the brackets.   

Source Information:  2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, Seattle, WA, United States. https://doi.org/10.18260/p.24857

Complete the reference with the conference location and the DOI or URL. Add the full title of the conference followed by a comma. Then, add the city, state abbreviation, and country where the conference took place. Finally, add the DOI in the form of https://doi.org OR add the URL to the conference paper. Do not add a period after the DOI or the URL.

For more information and examples, see pages 332-333 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

Parenthetical Citation Example:

(Reeve et al., 2015)

Narrative Citation Example:

Reeve et al. (2015) explained .....

If a source has 3 or more authors, list the first author followed by et al. Follow this format even when using the source for the first time in the paper. For more information about author format within parenthetical and narrative citations, see Section 8.17 and Table 8.1 on page 266 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

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APA Citations (7th ed.)

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Conference Sessions & Presentations

Conference sessions and presentations include:

• Paper presentations
• Poster sessions
• Keynote addresses
• Symposium contributions

Include a label in square brackets after the title that matches how the presentation was described at the conference: include all authors listed as contributing, even if they were not physically present.

The date should match the date(s) of the full conference to help readers find the source, even though a session or presentation is likely to cocur on only one day.

Include the location of the conference to help with retrieval.

Conference proceedings published in a journal or book follow the same format as for a journal article, edited book, or edited book chapter.

Template for Conference Sessions & Presentations

Template for Symposium Contributions

Conference Session

Fistek, A., Jester, E., & Sonnenberg, K. (2017, July 12–15).  Everybody's got a little music in them: Using music therapy to connect, engage, and motivate  [Conference session]. Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States. https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html

Peters, I. (2019, September 24-26).  What is quality in open science?  [Conference session]. Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association Annual Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://oaspavideos.org/conference/videos-2019

Parenthetical citations:  (Fistek et al., 2017; Peters, 2019)

Narrative citations:  Fistek et al. (2017) and Peters (2019)

Paper Presentation

Maddox, S., Hurling, J., Stewart, E., & Edwards, A. (2016, March 30–April 2).  If mama ain't happy, nobody's happy: The effect of parental depression on mood dysregulation in children  [Paper presentation]. Southeastern Psychological Association 62nd Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Rutledge, L., LeMire, S., & Mowdood, A. (2015, March 25–28).  Dare to perform: Using organizational competencies to manage job performance  [Paper presentation]. Association of College & Research Libraries 2015 Annual Conference, Portland, OR, United States. http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2015/Rutledge_LeMire_Mowdood.pdf

Parenthetical citations:  (Maddox et al., 2016; Rutledge et al., 2015)

Narrative citations:  Maddox et al. (2016) and Rutledge et al. (2015)

Poster Presentation

Craig, S. (2019, April 10–14).  The cultural importance of obsidian in the upper Gila area  [Poster presentation]. Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM, United States. https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/free-resources/conference-posters/

Parenthetical citation:  (Craig, 2019)

Narrative citation:  Craig (2019)

Symposium Contribution

De Boer, D., & LaFavor, T. (2018, April 26–29). The art and significance of successfully identifying resilient individuals: A person-focused approach. In A. M. Schmidt & A. Kryvanos (Chairs),  Perspectives on resilience: Conceptualization, measurement, and enhancement  [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 98th Annual Convention, Portland, OR, United States.

Parenthetical citation:  (De Boer & LaFavor, 2018)

Narrative citation:  De Boer and LaFavor (2018)

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• How to cite a conference paper in APA Style

Citing a Conference Paper in APA Style | Format & Examples

Published on November 6, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on December 4, 2023.

The format for citing conference papers in APA Style depends on whether the paper has been published, and if so, in what format. Note that a separate format exists for citing dissertations . You can cite a conference paper easily by using our free APA Citation Generator .

To cite a paper that has been presented at a conference but not published, include the author’s name, the date of the conference, the title of the paper (italicized), “Paper presentation” in square brackets, the name and location of the conference, and a URL or DOI if available.

Cite a conference paper in APA Style now:

Table of contents, citing a conference paper published in a journal, citing a conference paper published in a book, frequently asked questions about apa style citations.

Conference papers are sometimes published in journals. To cite one of these, use the same format as you would for any journal article .

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
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• Missing reference entries

Conference papers may also be collected in book form. In this case, you can cite one in the same way as you would cite a chapter from a book .

Include the DOI at the very end of the APA reference entry . If you’re using the 6th edition APA guidelines, the DOI is preceded by the label “doi:”. In the 7th edition , the DOI is preceded by ‘https://doi.org/’.

• 6th edition: doi: 10.1177/0894439316660340
• 7th edition: https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0894439316660340

APA citation example (7th edition)

Hawi, N. S., & Samaha, M. (2016). The relations among social media addiction, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in university students. Social Science Computer Review , 35 (5), 576–586. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316660340

In an APA journal citation , if a DOI (digital object identifier) is available for an article, always include it.

If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a database or in print, just omit the DOI.

If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a website other than a database (for example, the journal’s own website), include a URL linking to the article.

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors . Here’s how it works:

Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).

You may include up to 20 authors in a reference list entry .

When an article has more than 20 authors, replace the names prior to the final listed author with an ellipsis, but do not omit the final author:

Davis, Y., Smith, J., Caulfield, F., Pullman, H., Carlisle, J., Donahue, S. D., James, F., O’Donnell, K., Singh, J., Johnson, L., Streefkerk, R., McCombes, S., Corrieri, L., Valck, X., Baldwin, F. M., Lorde, J., Wardell, K., Lao, W., Yang, P., . . . O’Brien, T. (2012).

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, December 04). Citing a Conference Paper in APA Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-examples/conference-paper/

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APA 7th Edition Citation Guide Conference Presentations and Publications

Conference presentation.

For conference presentations, include the presenters' names, the dates of the entire conference, the title of the presentation, a description of the presentation, the name of the conference, the location of the conference, and a link if it is available.

The description of the presentation is flexible and should be included in square brackets after the title: e.g. [Conference presentation], [Poster session], [Keynote address], [Paper presentation], etc.

Reference Page Format:

Presenter, P. P. (Year, Month Days). Title of the presentation [Description of the presentation]. Title of Conference. City, State, and Country where the conference took place. Hyperlink.

Reference Page Example:

Sanentz, S. N., & Lesk, M. (2015, November 6-10). Toward a semantic stability index (SSI) via a preliminary exploration of translation looping [Poster session]. 78th ASIS&T Annual Meeting: Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community, St. Louis, MO, United States. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2857143

In-text Citation Examples:

Sanentz and Lesk (2015) shared that ... ...( Sanentz & Lesk,  2015 ).

Conference Publication

Conference publications can vary in how they are formatted, generally being published in the form of journal articles, whole books, or book chapters. Determine which option best fits the source you found and cite it as you would a journal article , book , or book chapter . 

Below is an example of a conference publication formatted similarly to a chapter in a book.

Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of article.  In A. A. Editor, Title of conference proceeding. Publisher.  DOI or URL

Erdelez, S., Howarth, L. C., & Gibson, T. (2015). How can information science contribute to Alzheimer's disease research? In  Proceedings of the 78th ASIS&T Annual Meeting: Information science with impact: Research in and for the communit y .  Association of Information Science and Technology. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2857076

Erdelez et al. (2015) shared that ... ...( Erdelez et al.,  2015).

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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Conferences

• General Style Guidelines
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About Citing Sources

For each type of source in this guide, both the general form and an example will be provided.

The following format will be used:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase) - entry that appears in the body of your paper when you express the ideas of a researcher or author using your own words.  For more tips on paraphrasing check out The OWL at Purdue .

In-Text Citation (Quotation) - entry that appears in the body of your paper after a direct quote.

References - entry that appears at the end of your paper.

Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from the APA Manual (7th ed.) .

Conference Sessions, Papers, and Posters

Note: Conference sessions, papers, and posters all follow the same citation style. The only change is in the brackets following the title of the contribution, denoting the format. Use the description provided by the conference, e.g. [Poster presentation], [Key-note address], [Conference session], etc.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Presenter Surname, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

References:

Presenter Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month Day-Day). Presentation title [Format]. Conference Name, Location. DOI or URL of website.

Tip: Include the full run of the conference in the date section, not just the day of the presentation.

(Pearson, 2018)

Pearson, J. (2018, September 27-30). Fat talk and its effects on state-based body image in women [Poster presentation]. Australian Psychological Society Congress, Sydney, NSW, Australia. http://bit.ly/2XGSThP 

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APA Style Guide 7th Edition

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GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS ANd Papers  

Conference Sessions and Presentations

Author Last name, First Initials. (Year and Date of Conference ). Presentation  title  [description]. Name of  conference, location. DOI or URL if available. 

Paper Published in Proceedings 

Author Last name, First Initials. (Year). Article title. In Editor First Initial, Last Name (Ed.)  Name of Proceedings (Page numbers). DOI or URL if available. 

EXAMPLES 

Conference Session

Lippold, S., Rach, J. & Fritsch, A. (2020 February 13-14).  Study program development: Building a bridge          between tradition and innovation - An unusual approach  [Workshop session]. 2020 European Learning          & Teaching Forum, Utrecht, Netherlands . 

Poster Presentation  

Ofori, E. & Wu, D. (2018 February 14-16). Video-based learning: Understanding usability, benefits, and           perception of using online educational videos [Poster session]. 2018 Conference on Higher Education           Pedagogy, Blacksburg, Virginia.    

Pap er Published in Conference Proceedings

Both, L.E. (2019) Why are some people optimistic while others are not?   In C. Pracana & M.           Wang (Eds.),  Psychological Applications and Trends 2019  (pp. 33-37). InScience Press.

          https://doi.org/10.36315/2019inpact008 

NOTES ABOUT AUTHOR, DATE, TITLE, AND SOURCE 

Author 

• List each author alphabetically by the authors last name and first name initial(s) in the order they appeared in the article.  Do not include titles, positions, or ranks in the authors name.
• Include the first 20 authors. If you have more then 20 authors include the first 19 and then et al. for the remaining authors. 
• Separate the authors by commas and the ampersand "&" sign. 
• For conference sessions and poster presentations, in parentheses  put the year first, followed by the month and days of the conference separated by a comma. For Example: (2020, July 18-21). 
• For papers published in conference proceedings, just list the year in parentheses.  

Presentation Title 

• For conference sessions and poster sessions, italicize the title. Include in brackets, the type of session.  
• For papers published in conference proceedings, use regular font. 
• The first word of the title and subtitle is capitalized as are proper nouns but all other words are lowercase. 
• If a title ends with a question mark or exclamation point, use those punctuation marks instead of a period at the end. 

Conference Title

• For conference sessions and poster sessions, use regular font for conference title.
• For papers published in conference proceedings, italicize the conference proceedings title. 
• Capitalize all major words.  
• List the Editors first initial and last name adding (Ed.) for one editor or (Eds.) for multiple editors after the last name, first initials of the last editor listed.  

Page Numbers 

• For conference proceedings, list the page numbers in parentheses. For example (pp. 125-145). 

Publisher 

• For conference proceedings, list the name of the publisher. 

DOIs and URLs 

• Include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if there is one available
• Omit the DOI if an article doesn't have one 
• If an online work has a DOI and a URL, use the DOI 
• Present the DOI as a web address. Precede the DOI number with https://doi.org/                                                           For Example: https://doi.org/100.1177/0013916518806686
• For online only sources without a DOI include the URL if available. 
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If conference proceedings are published:

• regularly (in a journal)  - treat like a journal article
• as a book - treat like a book or book chapter

Conference article in regularly published conference proceedings 

• Use the journal article format  

Conference proceedings published as a book

• When citing the whole book, use the format for an edited book
• When citing a paper from a proceeding book, use the format for a chapter of an edited book

Find more  examples on the APA 7th website.

Reference format

Use these formats for paper presentations, poster sessions, keynote addresses and symposium contributions. 

• Describe the type after the title
• Include all authors even if they are not present
• Use the date(s) of the conference
• Include the location
• Location: include city, state, province or territory, and country. Use abbreviations for U.S. or Australia states. For example, New York, NY, United States

Paper presentation

Poster presentation, symposium contribution.

Find how to cite in text on the  In-text citation  page.

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Conference Sessions and Presentations [APA 10.5]

Parenthetical citaton: (Pearson, 2013)

Narrative citation: Pearson (2013)

Examples - Conference Session

 reference entry.

Fistek, A., Jester, E., & Sonnenberg, K. (2017, July 12–15). Everybody’s got a little music in them: Using music therapy to connect, engage, and motivate [Conference session]. Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States. https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html

  Corresponding In-Text Citations

Parenthetical citation: (Fistek et al., 2017)

Narrative citation: Fistek et al. (2017)

Examples - Paper Presentation

Weijer, I., Ehnberg, K., Grd, D., Kisic, B., Garrido-Lestache, J., & Tsalatsouzy, M. (2013, January 7-11). The influence of joining the European Union on human trafficking [Paper presentation]. European Conference on Information Warfare and Security, Paris, France.

Parenthetical citation: (Weijer et al., 2013)

Narrative citation: Weijer et al. (2013)

Examples - Poster Presentation

Pearson, J. (2018, September 27–30). Fat talk and its effects on state-based body image in women [Poster presentation]. Australian Psychological Society Congress, Sydney, NSW, Australia. http://bit.ly/2XGSThP

Parenthetical citation: (Pearson, 2018)

Narrative citation: Pearson (2018)

Published Conference Proceedings

Conference proceedings published in a journal or book follow the same format as for a journal article, edited book, or edited book chapter.

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Article Published in a Conference Proceeding

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Note:  To cite an article from a conference proceeding, use the same format as a chapter in an edited book or a journal, depending on where the article was published.

Note : Specify the type of presentation in brackets after the title.  For example: [Conference session], [Paper presentation], or [Poster presentation]

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If a conference paper has been published (for example, in a proceedings), the published form is usually either a chapter of an edited book or an article in a journal. Cite it according to the appropriate pattern.

• Proceedings published in book form normally have the title of the specific conference as the title of the book, and have editors. For example: Empowering 21st Century Learners Through Holistic and Enterprising Learning: Selected Papers for Tunku Adbul Rahman University College International Conference 2016 , edited by Geok Bee Teh and Siew Chee Choy
• Proceedings published in journal form might be a special issue of the organising body's regular journal, or a special periodical series may exist to host the conference papers. The presence if volume and issue numbers can help with identifying these.
• You can also check for an ISBN or an ISSN . A book will have an ISBN, while a journal will have an ISSN. Contact the library if you are unsure.

Paper published in conference proceedings, book form:

Paper published in conference proceedings, journal form:

The presentation delivered at a conference may only be available as an informally published work online, or may only have been delivered live and is not available in full. Follow the pattern given below.

Paper or session presented at conference, not formally published in proceedings (also used for Poster Presentations):

• Make every effort to find all of the required details, however you may find that some papers are missing certain details (for example, there may not be a named editor). In this case you can skip this detail and move to the next part of the citation.
• The title of a conference (for example, the Fourth Annual Conference of the Applied Engineering Association) is something that should be capitalised in a sentence, therefore it is capitalised in the titles of the conference proceedings and conference papers. Notice the example given above: Empowering 21st century learners through holistic and enterprising learning: Selected papers from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College International Conference 2016
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APA 7th referencing style

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Conference paper

Poster presentation, cancelled conference paper.

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APA Style 6th Edition: Citing Your Sources

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Unpublished Paper

Contributor Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month of presentation). Title of contribution. In First Initial. Second Initial. Chairperson Surname (Chair), Title of conference. Conference conducted at the meeting of Organization Name, Location.

Paper Presentation or Poster Session

Presenter Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month). Title of paper or poster session. Paper presented at the meeting of Organization Name, Location.

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Conference Sessions & Presentations

Conference sessions and presentations include:

• Paper presentations
• Poster sessions
• Keynote addresses
• Symposium contributions

Include a label in square brackets after the title that matches how the presentation was described at the conference: include all authors listed as contributing, even if they were not physically present.

The date should match the date(s) of the full conference to help readers find the source, even though a session or presentation is likely to cocur on only one day.

Include the location of the conference to help with retrieval.

Conference proceedings published in a journal or book follow the same format as for a journal article, edited book, or edited book chapter.

Template for Conference Sessions & Presentations

Template for Symposium Contributions

Conference Session

Iland, E. D., & Iland, T. W. (2017, July 12–15).  Transition plans that deliver results: Predictors of success  [Conference session]. Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States. https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9832.html

Peters, I. (2019, September 24-26).  What is quality in open science?  [Conference session]. Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association Annual Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://oaspavideos.org/conference/videos-2019

Parenthetical citations:  (Iland & Iland, 2017; Peters, 2019)

Narrative citations:  Iland and Iland (2017) and Peters (2019)

Paper Presentation

Arch, X., & Senior, H. (2023, March 15–18). Building a bridge: A library outreach program for students in transition  [Paper presentation]. Association of College & Research Libraries 2023 Annual Conference, Pittsburg, PA, United States. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2023/ BuildingaBridge.pdf

Mariano, G. (2021, March 17–20).  Small changes in course design instructors can make to help veteran students succeed  [Paper presentation]. Southeastern Psychological Association 67th Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC, United States.

Parenthetical citations:  (Arch & Senior, 2023; Mariano, 2021)

Narrative citations:  Arch and Senior (2023) and Mariano (2021)

Poster Presentation

Craig, S. (2019, April 10–14).  The cultural importance of obsidian in the upper Gila area  [Poster presentation]. Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM, United States. https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/free-resources/conference-posters/

Parenthetical citation:  (Craig, 2019)

Narrative citation:  Craig (2019)

Symposium Contribution

De Boer, D., & LaFavor, T. (2018, April 26–29). The art and significance of successfully identifying resilient individuals: A person-focused approach. In A. M. Schmidt & A. Kryvanos (Chairs),  Perspectives on resilience: Conceptualization, measurement, and enhancement  [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 98th Annual Convention, Portland, OR, United States.

Parenthetical citation:  (De Boer & LaFavor, 2018)

Narrative citation:  De Boer and LaFavor (2018)

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Citing conferences: APA (7th ed.) citation guide

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. It provides selected citation examples for common types of sources. For more detailed information consult directly a  print copy  of the style manual.

Check out APA's Guide to what's new for APA 7 .

Keep track of your document references/citations and format your reference lists easily with Citation management software .

Conference keynote addresses, paper presentations, poster presentations, sessions

Refer to APA's Conference presentation references   or consult the guide directly (Section 10.5, textual works, pp. 332-333).

Presenter, A. A., & Presenter, B. B. (Year, Month day range). Title of contribution [Type of contribution]. Conference name, Location. DOI or URL

Reference list example

Fairey, E. & McKenzie, J. (2012, May 30—June 2). "If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”: Simon Fraser University Library’s liaison librarian service review [Presentation]. CLA 2012 National Conference and Trade Show, Ottawa, ON.

Bodnar, M. (2016, May 30—June 2). Problems as possibilities: A Topic Generation Portal to help instructors efficiently draft assignment topics [Poster presentation]. WILU 2016 Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Reference in text example

(Bodnar, 2016)

(Fairey & McKenzie, 2012)

• Include a description of the presentation in square brackets [ ] after title (e.g., [Conference session], [Paper presentation], [Poster presentation], [Keynote address]).
• If video available, include link at the end of the reference.
• Check out how to format reverse italics as seen in the Bodnar poster presentation example above.
• If only Citing the abstract of a conference presentation , include "abstract" as part of description.
• Refer to How to create an APA Style reference for a cancelled conference presentation .

Conference proceedings

Refer to APA's Conference proceedings references or consult the guide (Section 10.5, textual works, p.332).

Published conference proceedings may be cited either like chapters in edited books (first example) or like journal articles (second example). This will depend on whether the publication is treated as a series (e.g. has an ISBN and an editor) or as a periodical (i.e. it is published annually).

Iyengar, S. S., & DeVoe, S. E. (2003). Rethinking the value of choice: Considering cultural mediators of intrinsic motivation. In R. Dienstbier (ed.),  Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 49 .  Cross-cultural differences in perspectives on the self (pp. 129-174). University of Nebraska Press.

Shennan, S. (2008). Canoes and cultural evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 , 3416-3420. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0800666105

(Iyengar & DeVoe, 2003)

(Shennan, 2008)

• Capitalize the name of the symposium, conference or meeting (Chapter 6, Capitalization, p. 165).

Symposium contribution

Reference of this type of document uses the works that are part of a greater whole format , that is, like a chapter in an edited book or an article in a journal. 

Consult example 63 in the guide (Section 10.5, textual works, p. 333).

Contributor, A. A., & Contributor, B. B. (Year, Month, date range). Title of contribution. In C. C. Chairperson (Chair), Title of symposium [Symposium]. Conference name, Location. DOI or URL

Lane, J. (2013, May 13—15). Teaching as the class clown: What clowning can bring to the classroom and the lecture hall. In C. Kurbis (Chair), Embracing Change at SFU [Symposium]. 13th Symposium on Teaching and Learning, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

(Lane, 2013)

APA 7th Edition - University of Lincoln

• APA style and referencing
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• Book with a single author
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• Official publications and reports
• Webpages and websites
• Advertisements
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Conference sessions include paper presentations, poster sessions, keynote addresses, etc. Use square brackets after the title to describe the type of conference session - e.g. [Poster presentation].

To help readers retrieve the source, include the date for the whole conference and its location. 

Conference proceedings that are published in a journal or book follow the same format as for a journal article , edited book or chapter in an edited book .

See also the guidance on the APA's Style website at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/conference-presentation-references And https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/conference-proceeding-references

Conference session

Parenthetical citation

(Fergus et al., 2008)  

Narrative citation

Fergus et al. (2008)

Reference List   

Fergus, P., Abdulaimma, B., Carter, C., & Round, S. (2014, January 10-13).  Interactive mobile technology for children

        with autism spectrum condition  [Conference session]. Consumer Communications and Networking Conference,

        Las Vegas, NV, United States.  http://doi.org/10.1109/CCNC.2014.6866647    

1.Presenter(s)’ surname(s), comma, followed by their initial(s) with a full stop after each initial (and comma if more than one presenter) 

2. Date of conference in the format of year, month and dates in round brackets followed by a full stop 

3. Title of the conference paper (and subtitle if applicable) in italics, type of contribution in square brackets, followed by a full stop  

4. Conference name and location followed by a full stop. 

5. DOI or URL (if there is one) 

Conference paper presentation

Parenthetical citation 

(Coleman & Oliveros, 2019)

Coleman and Oliveros (2019)

Reference list 

Coleman, A., & Oliveros, A. (2019, March 20–23). Using humor to cope predicts higher emotional and 

       behavioral dysfunction  [Paper presentation]. Southeastern Psychological Association 65th Annual Meeting,

       Jacksonville, FL, United States. 

Format: 

Presenter(s)’ surname(s), Initial(s). (Year, month dates of conference).  Title of conference paper  [Paper

     presentation]. Conference name, location. DOI or URL (if there is one)

Conference paper published in book form

This follows the format of a chapter in an edited book. 

Parenthetical citation  

(Taylor & Lindsay, 2006)  

Taylor and Lindsay (2006)

Reference list  

Taylor, J. L., & Lindsay, W. R. (2006). Developments in the treatment and management of offenders with intellectual disabilities.

       In L. Falshaw & L. Rayment (Eds.),  Division of forensic psychology conference 2006: Invited symposiums  (pp. 23-31).

       British Psychological Society.  

Format:  

Author Surname(s), Initial(s). (Year). Title of paper. In Editor Initial(s). Surname (Ed.(s.),  Conference Title: Subtitle  (page range).

       Publisher. DOI (if there is one)

Conference poster presentations

Parenthetical citation  

(Fothergill & Bromnick, 2016) 

Fothergill and Bromnick (2016)

Fothergill, R. & Bromnick, R. (2016, April 26-28). Intentions to work with older adults: a critical exploration of psychology

       students’ motivations and ambition  [Poster presentation]. British Psychological Society Annual Conference, 

       Nottingham.  http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/24576/   

Presenter Surname, Initial(s). (Year, Month, dates of conference).  Title of poster  [Poster presentation]. Conference

       name, location. DOI or URL (if there is one)

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APA Citation Style, 7th Edition: Posters & Conference Sessions

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Citing Conference sessions, Poster abstracts, and Poster presentations

Conference sessions, poster abstracts, and poster presentations follow a significantly different format than other types of APA references.

• The author of the work is always listed first.
• Next, the FULL date of the conference is listed in the date area, so if a conference is held over several days, you need to list the date the conference starts, through the date the conference ends.
• Next add the title of the work and put it in italics, then add (in square brackets), whether it's a [Poster session], a [Poster abstract], or a [Conference session] and then add a period.
• In the source area share 1) the name of the conference or organization - or both (comma), 2) the name of the city or town the conference was held (comma), 3) the abbreviation of the state or the region (depending on the country) (comma), 4) the country the conference was held.
• Lastly share the URL of the WORK (not the conference in general) as a live hyperlink. 

Examples: 

Conference session : .

Hinck, J., Brewington, J., & Harding, K. (2018, September 12-14). Nurse educators - Making a difference in self and others to strengthen networks and partnerships [Conference session]. National League for Nursing, Chicago, IL, United States.  https://tinyurl.com/37bx7uku  

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Hinck, et al., 2018). 

Poster Abstract :

Jackson, C., McCalmont, J., Ward, J. Solanki, E., Seguin, R., & Perry, C. K. (2017, October 10). Mujeres fuertes y corazones saludables: Adaptation of the Strong Women - Healthy Hearts (SWHH) program for rural Latinas using an intervention mapping approach [Poster Abstract]. 2017 Oregon Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, United States.  https://tinyurl.com/y2panrdm  

(Jackson, et al., 2017). 

Poster Presentation :

NOTE: Because the poster presentations of this conference were presented in a journal, there are actually two ways you could cite this particular poster abstract, either way is acceptable in APA .  

Option 1 - Referencing ONLY the poster abstract itself : 

Leckenby, S., & Acklaghi, H. (2017, November 19-23). Is point-of-care troponin enough in decision making process in emergency departments [Poster Presentation]. ACEM ASM 2017 "Impossible is Just a Perspective" Darling Harbour, Sydney, Austalia.   https://tinyurl.com/cpkjbsu5

(Leckenby & Acklaghi, 2017). 

Option 2 - Referencing the poster abstract within the actual journal & supplement that printed the conference abstract : 

Leckenby, S., & Acklaghi, H. (2018). Is point-of-care troponin enough in decision making process in emergency departments [Poster Presentation]. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 30 (S1), 43-44.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.12962  

Carrie Forbes, MLS

Page References

Citation information has been adapted from the APA Manual (7th Edition). Please refer to page 332-333 of the APA Manual (7th Edition) for more information.

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APA 7th Edition Citation Examples

• Volume and Issue Numbers
• Page Numbers
• Undated Sources
• Citing a Source Within a Source
• In-Text Citations
• Academic Journals
• Encyclopedia Articles
• Book, Film, and Product Reviews
• Online Classroom Materials

Format for conference paper

Library database or free web.

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• Interviews, E-mail Messages + Other Personal Communications
• Social Media
• Business Sources
• PowerPoints
• AI: ChatGPT, etc.

Author last name, first initial. (Date).  Title of contribution  [Paper presentation]. Conference Name, Location. DOI or URL

• Author:  List the last name, followed by the first initial (and second initial). See  Authors  for more information.
• Date:  List the date between parentheses, followed by a period. Provide the complete date(s) of the conference rather than just the date on which the presentation was given.
• Title of contribution:  In italics. Capitalize the first word of the title, subtitle, and proper nouns, followed by a period.
• Conference Name:  List the name of the conference
• Location:  List the location of the conference
• DOI or URL:  Use DOI or URL if available

See specific examples below.

Whipple, S. (2018, March 6-9). Control beliefs as a moderator of stress on anxiety [Paper presentation]. Southeastern Psychological Association 64th Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC, United States.

See  Publication Manual , 10.5.

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Conference Presentations

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource provides a detailed overview of the common types of conference papers and sessions graduate students can expect, followed by pointers on presenting conference papers for an audience. 

Types of conference papers and sessions

Panel presentations are the most common form of presentation you will encounter in your graduate career. You will be one of three to four participants in a panel or session (the terminology varies depending on the organizers) and be given fifteen to twenty minutes to present your paper. This is often followed by a ten-minute question-and-answer session either immediately after your presentation or after all of the speakers are finished. It is up to the panel organizer to decide upon this framework. In the course of the question-and-answer session, you may also address and query the other panelists if you have questions yourself. Note that you can often propose a conference presentation by yourself and be sorted onto a panel by conference organizers, or you can propose a panel with a group of colleagues. Self-proposed panels typically have more closely related topics than conference-organized panels.

Roundtables feature an average of five to six speakers, each of whom gets the floor for approximately five to ten minutes to speak on their respective topics and/or subtopics. At times, papers from the speakers might be circulated in advance among the roundtable members or even prospective attendees.

Workshops feature one or a few organizers, who usually give a brief presentation but spend the majority of the time for the session facilitating an activity that attendees will do. Some common topics for these sessions typically include learning a technology or generating some content, such as teaching materials.

Lightning talks (or Ignite talks, or Pecha Kucha talks) are very short presentations where presenters' slide decks automatically advance after a few seconds; most individual talks are no longer than 5 minutes, and a lightning talk session typically invites 10 or more presenters to participate over the course of an hour or two rather than limiting the presenters like a panel presentation. A lightning talk session will sometimes be held as a sort of competition where attendees can vote for the best talk. 

SIGs (Special Interest Groups) are groups of scholars focused on a particular smaller topic within the purview of the larger conference. The structure of these sessions varies by conference and even by group, but in general they tend to be structured either more like a panel presentation, with presenters and leaders, or more like a roundtable, with several speakers and a particular meeting agenda. These styles resemble, respectively, a miniconference focusing on a particular topic and a committee meeting. 

Papers with respondents are structured around a speaker who gives an approximately thirty-minute paper and a respondent who contributes their own thoughts, objections, and further questions in the following fifteen minutes. Finally, the speaker gets that same amount of time to formulate their reply to the respondent.

Poster presentations ask participants to visually display their ideas on a research poster, which is typically displayed with other research posters in a specific area at a conference. The poster needs to be understandable on its own (without the author) as viewers sometimes look through the posters outside the bounds of the poster session, which is a scheduled period of time where poster authors stand with their posters and engage viewers in conversation about the work. Research posters have long tended to follow common templates for design, but in recent years some scholars have begun challenging these templates for improved usability (for example, the Better Poster campaign as described here  or the APA template based on the original, here.

You can read more about research posters on our resource here .

Presenting the conference paper

Aim to take less time than you are given! If your presentation slot is 15 minutes, aim for 13 or 14 when you practice. A little leeway and a slightly shorter presentation is a courtesy to your audience and to your fellow presenters, and will not at all imply that you are unprepared or unprofessional — in fact, being able to keep well within your allotted time is the mark of a good presenter.

Make sure you speak slowly and clearly, using accessibility aids if available such as a microphone or closed captioning on a slide deck. Many presenters have begun bringing accessibility copies of their talks, which are printed transcripts of the talk using a larger font for audience members who need them. It is also becoming increasingly common for presenters at conferences to share their slides and copies of their talk via a shortened link or QR code found on the bottom of the slides so that audiences may access them later or even while they are in your session.

The conventions for presentation differ based on field. Some fields tend toward reading papers aloud with very little audiovisual accompaniment; others use slide decks; others speak extemporaneously. You can find out more about typical practices in your field by attending conferences yourself and by asking mentors. Generally, you will be able to improve the accessibility of your presentation if you have a visual accompaniment and prepared remarks.

Even in fields where presenters tend to read papers verbatim, it is rarely a good idea to bring a paper from a class or another research paper you have written without editing it for an oral presentation. Seminar papers tend to be too long to read in 15 minutes, and often lead to graduate students surpassing their time limits. Moreover, research papers are meant to be read — they lack the kinds of repetition and simple sentence structure that are more beneficial to listeners. Finally, conference presentations do not serve the same purposes as most class papers — typically in a class, you're expected to show that you have understood the material, but at a conference, listeners are more interested in hearing what contributions you have that might help them in their own research. It's typical to move the bulk of your literature review to an appendix or another document so that you can discuss other scholarship in the area if it comes up in the Q&A, but during your presentation you're left free to focus on your own methods and findings. (Many presenters will even say: "I'm skipping a lot of [X material] for the sake of time, but I'm happy to discuss it later with anyone who's interested.")

Since you will present your paper orally, you may repeat important points and say more about the structure of the essay than a written submission to a journal (or a paper for your undergraduate or graduate courses) would require. This often means signposting orally when you are moving to a new section of the paper or when you are shifting to a new idea. The thesis of your paper should come early in your presentation to give listeners a clear understanding of what is to follow. At this point, you may also overview or forecast your paper and tell listeners how you will move from one argument to the next. It is generally advised to quickly summarize your important points in a bulleted list at the end of your presentation to remind everyone of the two or three most essential arguments or findings.

If you use a slide presentation, you may want to follow the guidelines presented in the OWL resource, Designing an Effective PowerPoint Presentation .