When it comes to citing conference papers, it can be a bit challenging. It requires a specific approach that is different from other types of citations. Luckily, the American Psychological Association (APA) has established clear and extensive guidelines to assist you in correctly citing sources. This article offers an overview of these guidelines, ensuring your citation of conference papers aligns with the APA style.
In a nutshell: APA conference paper citation
- For the APA conference paper citation, the author’s last name is stated first, followed by the initials of the first and middle name if given.
- The brackets indicate the year of publication.
- The title of the paper should be written in sentence case. The first letter of the first word should be capitalized, as well as the first word after a colon or a dash.
- After the phrase “Paper presented at”, the name of the conference is typically included.
- Next, the conference location is disclosed.
More APA examples can be found on this page.
Definition: APA conference paper citation
Conference papers are considered a valuable source of academic information and are often cited in scholarly papers and dissertations. However, because they differ from articles from academic journals, books, and other more traditional academic sources, they require a unique citation format to accurately represent their origin. APA conference paper citation refers to the method of acknowledging or giving credit to authors of conference papers in a standardized manner. According to APA format, in-text citations ensure readers can track down the original source and link it to the research presented.
Formatting APA conference paper citation
When it comes to formatting an APA conference paper citation, certain elements must be included and arranged in a particular order. These elements help readers identify and locate the original source. The different formats of an APA conference paper citation will be illustrated in the following.
In-text citation
In-text citations of conference papers in APA format typically follow the author-date method. This means the author’s last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text.
Format: (Author’s Last name, Year)
Reference entry
The reference entry for an APA conference paper citation should include the:
- Author’s name
- Year of publication
- Title of the paper
- Phrase “Paper presented at”
- Name of the conference
- Location of the conference
Format: Author’s Last name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year). Title of the paper. Paper presented at the Name of Conference, Location.
Examples of APA conference paper citation
Example of an in-text citation
In-text citation for a conference paper by John Smith presented in 2023 would look like this:
- (Doe, 2023)
Example of a reference entry
A reference entry for the same conference paper would be cited like this:
- Doe, J. (2023). The implications of artificial intelligence. Paper presented at the Annual Conference on Future Technology, San Francisco, CA.
FAQs
Even if a conference paper is not officially published, it should still be cited. The format of the APA conference paper citation is the same as the one used for published papers.
If a conference paper has multiple authors, list them in the order in which they appear on the document. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author’s name.
If you found the conference paper online, include the URL at the end of your reference citation. The format of the APA conference paper citation would be:
- Format: Author’s Last name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year). Title of the paper. Paper presented at the Name of Conference, Location. URL
