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How to Cite a Conference Paper in APA 7

APA 7th edition does not have one conference-paper format. A contribution printed in proceedings is a journal article or an edited-book chapter. A talk, poster, or session that was not published that way is a conference presentation with the full meeting dates. A paper inside a chaired symposium uses a different §10.5 shape: the contribution title stays roman and the chairs sit in an In element. This page follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, §10.5, the official conference proceeding references and conference presentation references pages, and the APA Style common reference examples handout last updated 3 March 2026. It is the APA conference guide, not the Chicago conference guide or a generic journal tutorial.

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Quick Answer: How to Cite a Conference Paper in APA

Ask what a reader can recover. If the paper appears in a journal issue or an edited proceedings volume, cite that published object and use the publication year only. If you heard a talk, saw a poster, or opened slides that were never printed as a journal article or book chapter, cite the presentation: italicize the contribution title, name the type in square brackets, give the full conference dates, and add the meeting name and location. If the talk sat inside a chaired symposium, keep the paper title roman and add the chairs and the italic symposium title. In the text, cite the year only — not August 8–11.

APA 7 §10.5 templates
What you openedReference pattern
Paper in a proceedings journalPresenter, A. A. (Publication year). Contribution title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Paper in an edited proceedings bookPresenter, A. A. (Publication year). Contribution title. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Proceedings title (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Whole proceedings volumeEditor, E. E. (Ed.). (Publication year). Proceedings title. Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Talk, session, poster, or keynotePresenter, A. A. (Year, Month Day–Day). Contribution title [Type of contribution]. Conference Name, City, State, Country. https://xxxxx
Paper inside a chaired symposiumContributor, A. A. (Year, Month Day–Day). Contribution title. In C. C. Chairperson (Chair), Symposium title [Symposium]. Conference Name, City, State, Country.
Abstract onlyPresenter, A. A. (Year, Month Day–Day). Contribution title [Conference presentation abstract]. Conference Name, City, State, Country. https://xxxxx
Parenthetical citation(Presenter, Year)
Narrative citationPresenter (Year)

The APA Style presentation page, aligned with Publication Manual §10.5, states the five building blocks this page follows.

APA Style on conference presentations

Provide the names of the presenters in the author element of the reference.
Provide the full dates of the conference in the date element of the reference.
Describe the presentation in square brackets after the title. The description is flexible (e.g., “[Conference session],” “[Paper presentation],” “[Poster session],” “[Keynote address]”).
Provide the name of the conference or meeting and its location in the source element of the reference.
If video of the conference presentation is available, include a link at the end of the reference.

Published Proceedings vs Unpublished Presentation

Students lose marks here because “conference paper” names a meeting, not a source type. APA 7 asks what was published. Computer science, engineering, and some natural-science fields treat refereed proceedings as the archival record — ACM, IEEE, and Lecture Notes in Computer Science volumes are usually chapters or journal articles, not Evans-style talks. Psychology and education more often leave the talk unpublished and later print a journal article. Cite the version you actually used.

Which APA 7 format the conference object actually uses
What you openedTreat it asItalicizeDate in the reference
A paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences or another journalJournal article (§10.1 / §10.5)The journal name and volumeThe publication year only
A paper in Lecture Notes in Computer Science or another edited volumeEdited-book chapter (§10.3 / §10.5)The proceedings or book titleThe publication year of that volume
The whole proceedings bookEdited book (§10.2 / §10.5)The book titleThe publication year of that volume
A talk, poster, workshop, or keynote not printed as either of the aboveConference presentation (§10.5)The contribution titleThe full conference date range
A paper inside a chaired symposium that was not printed as proceedingsSymposium contribution (§10.5)The symposium title, not the paper titleThe full conference date range

The APA Style proceedings page states the three published formats in three sentences.

APA Style on published conference proceedings

Conference proceedings published in a journal follow the same format as journal articles.
Conference proceedings published as a whole book follow the same reference format as whole edited books.
The format for conference proceedings published as an edited book chapter is the same as for edited book chapters.

Conference Presentation: Evans et al. at APA 2019

This is the official APA Style example for a presentation that was not published as a journal article or book chapter. The title is italic. The type sits in square brackets. The date is the whole convention, not the hour of the talk. The location is city, U.S. state abbreviation, and country. A video URL is optional and goes last.

Official APA Style conference presentation

Reference list:

Evans, A. C., Jr., Garbarino, J., Bocanegra, E., Kinscherff, R. T., & Márquez-Greene, N. (2019, August 8–11). Gun violence: An event on the power of community [Conference presentation]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. https://convention.apa.org/2019-video

Parenthetical citation:

(Evans et al., 2019)

Narrative citation:

Evans et al. (2019)

Do not invent a session number, room, or paper ID. APA 7 does not ask for those unless they are part of the title a reader would see in the program.

Conference Session: Davidson at APA 2019

The APA Style common reference examples handout — last updated 3 March 2026 and still labelled Section 10.5 — uses a different official specimen for a conference session. Richard J. Davidson’s title is italic. The bracketed label is [Conference session], not [Conference presentation]. Copy the label the program printed; do not upgrade a session into a paper presentation because the talk felt substantial.

Official APA Style common-reference-examples conference session

Reference list:

Davidson, R. J. (2019, August 8–11). Well-being is a skill [Conference session]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/a5ea5d51/files/uploaded/APA2019_Program_190708.pdf

Parenthetical citation:

(Davidson, 2019)

Narrative citation:

Davidson (2019)

Evans and Davidson were both at APA 2019 in Chicago. The references differ because the program labelled one a conference presentation and the other a conference session. That is the flexibility the Style Center describes — not a license to invent a type.

Symposium Contribution: De Boer and LaFavor at WPA 2018

Publication Manual §10.5 also covers a paper that sat inside a chaired symposium rather than standing alone in the program. The contribution title stays roman, like a chapter title. The chairs take initials-first order after In. The symposium title is italic and is followed by [Symposium]. University reprints of the official example — including Buena Vista and National University — print this De Boer and LaFavor line.

Official APA 7 symposium contribution

Reference list:

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)

Do not force a standalone talk into this shape. Evans and Davidson have no chairs and no In element. Do not drop the chairs from a symposium paper and pretend it was a lone poster.

Abstract Only: Cacioppo at WPA 2019

If you read only the abstract — in a program PDF, an abstract book, or a conference website — say so in the bracketed description. Do not format an abstract as if you sat through the talk or opened a published proceedings paper.

Official APA Style conference presentation abstract

To cite only the abstract of a conference presentation, include the word “abstract” as part of the bracketed description (e.g., “[Conference presentation abstract]”).

Reference list:

Cacioppo, S. (2019, April 25–28). Evolutionary theory of social connections: Past, present, and future [Conference presentation abstract]. Ninety-ninth annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, Pasadena, CA, United States. https://westernpsych.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/WPA-Program-2019-Final-2.pdf

Parenthetical citation:

(Cacioppo, 2019)

Narrative citation:

Cacioppo (2019)

Proceedings Published as a Journal Article: Duckworth et al.

When the proceedings are a journal, stop using the conference-presentation template. Angela Duckworth and colleagues published this paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. APA Style cites it exactly like any other journal article: sentence-case article title, italic journal and volume, issue in roman parentheses, page range, DOI. The meeting name does not appear. The article is real — PMC PMC6876246 — and the DOI resolves.

Official APA Style proceedings-as-journal example

Reference list:

Duckworth, A. L., Quirk, A., Gallop, R., Hoyle, R. H., Kelly, D. R., & Matthews, M. D. (2019). Cognitive and noncognitive predictors of success. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 116(47), 23499–23504. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910510116

Parenthetical citation:

(Duckworth et al., 2019)

Narrative citation:

Duckworth et al. (2019)

Proceedings Published as a Book Chapter: Bedenel et al.

Computer-science and operations-research meetings often print papers in Lecture Notes in Computer Science or a similar Springer series. APA Style treats that paper as a chapter in an edited book: the paper title stays roman, the editors take initials-first order, the series and volume sit in the book title, and pages use pp.. The LION 12 meeting was in 2018; the official APA example uses 2019 because that is the year the Springer volume appeared. Cite the publication year of the object you opened, not the week of the talk.

Official APA Style proceedings-as-chapter example

Reference list:

Bedenel, A.-L., Jourdan, L., & Biernacki, C. (2019). Probability estimation by an adapted genetic algorithm in web insurance. In R. Battiti, M. Brunato, I. Kotsireas, & P. Pardalos (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 11353. Learning and intelligent optimization (pp. 225–240). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05348-2_21

Parenthetical citation:

(Bedenel et al., 2019)

Narrative citation:

Bedenel et al. (2019)

Proceedings Published as a Whole Book: Kushilevitz and Malkin

Cite the whole volume only when you are discussing the proceedings as a collection, not one paper inside it. The editors go in the author slot. This is the official APA Style example for Theory of cryptography, volume 9562 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Official APA Style proceedings-as-book example

Reference list:

Kushilevitz, E., & Malkin, T. (Eds.). (2016). Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 9562. Theory of cryptography. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49096-9

Parenthetical citation:

(Kushilevitz & Malkin, 2016)

Narrative citation:

Kushilevitz and Malkin (2016)

In-Text Citations Use the Year Only

Even when the reference list prints August 8–11, the in-text citation keeps only 2019. That matches every official example on the APA Style conference pages and the 3 March 2026 common-reference-examples handout. Add a locator only when you quote a paginated published paper, for example (Bedenel et al., 2019, p. 230). A presentation with no page numbers does not get a fake slide number unless you are quoting a recoverable slide deck that numbers its slides.

In-text forms from the official examples

One or two authors, parenthetical:

(Cacioppo, 2019); (Davidson, 2019); (De Boer & LaFavor, 2018); (Kushilevitz & Malkin, 2016)

Three or more authors, parenthetical:

(Evans et al., 2019); (Duckworth et al., 2019); (Bedenel et al., 2019)

Narrative, two authors or editors:

De Boer and LaFavor (2018); Kushilevitz and Malkin (2016)

Quoted page from a published chapter:

(Bedenel et al., 2019, p. 230)

Online-Only, Canceled, and Postponed Conferences

Do not write “Virtual conference” as the location. Timothy McAdoo’s APA Style post on canceled conference presentations (16 March 2020) is the official treatment of meetings that moved online, were canceled, or were postponed. Online-only meetings keep the planned city. A canceled meeting keeps the usual §10.5 shape and adds “(Conference canceled)” at the end of the source.

APA Style on online-only and canceled meetings

There is no need to indicate that the conference is online only. Online-only conferences use the same template as in-person conferences.
Use the original planned location of the conference in the reference to aid readers in identifying the conference.
Include the APA Style reference for your presentation in your CV in the usual format shown in Section 10.5, with “(Conference canceled)” added at the end of the source element.
Use the labeling that matches what a user would see in the program or website for the conference.

Official APA Style blog examples (McAdoo, 2020)

Canceled conference:

Boissy, A., Davis, C., & Montori, V. (2020, March 13–22). Keeping healthcare human in the digital era [Conference session]. SXSW Conference, Austin, TX, United States. https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/events/PP98262 (Conference canceled)

Moved online; keep the planned city:

Kullgren, K., Carter, B., Caplin, D., Ramirez, L., Williams, S., Marsac, M., Judd-Glossy, L., & Brown, M. (2020, March 19–21). Pediatric psychology consultation: State of the art and future directions [Conference workshop]. Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference, Dallas, TX, United States. https://societyofpediatricpsychology.org/node/726

Your session canceled; the meeting still ran:

Akamine, A. H. (2019, June 10–15). Immunopathology lab work [Poster session canceled]. 24th World Congress of Dermatology, Milan, Italy. https://www.wcd2019milan-dl.org/news-from-wcd2019/wcd-final-programme-WEB.pdf

If the meeting is postponed, McAdoo says to update the dates and location once the new facts are known and not to mention the postponement in the reference. If coauthors presented your session in your absence, keep a standard reference that names you as planned.

When a Conference Paper Later Becomes a Journal Article

Many talks are revised and then published as journal articles. Cite the version you used, not the version that sounds more impressive.

  • If you read the journal article, cite the journal article. It is usually the more complete, peer-reviewed text.
  • Cite the conference paper or presentation only when that is the version you used, when it contains material the article dropped, or when no article exists.
  • If you are writing the research history, you may cite both and say in the prose that the article grew out of the talk.
  • Never cite a conference abstract as if it were a published paper, and never cite a talk as if it had already appeared in a journal.

Authors, Dates, Titles, and Locations

List every presenter in program order, including people who did not stand at the podium. APA 7 prints up to 20 names in the reference; from 21 names, keep the first 19, an ellipsis, and the final name. In the text, three or more names become et al. from the first citation. Use initials, not full first names.

  • Published proceedings: use the year the journal issue or book appeared, even if the meeting was a year earlier — Bedenel’s LION talk was 2018; the Springer chapter is 2019.
  • Unpublished presentation or symposium paper: use the conference’s full date range, such as (2019, August 8–11) or (2019, April 25) for a one-day meeting.
  • Titles: sentence case. Italicize an unpublished contribution title. Leave a published paper title roman, like a journal article or chapter title. Leave a symposium contribution title roman and italicize the symposium title.
  • Bracketed type: copy the program — Conference session, Paper presentation, Poster session, Keynote address, Conference workshop, Conference presentation abstract, Symposium. Do not invent a type APA never uses.
  • Conference name: spell it out. “CHI” or “NeurIPS” is fine in your prose; the reference wants the official meeting name.
  • Location: city, then state, province, or territory abbreviation, then country — Chicago, IL, United States; Sydney, NSW, Australia. Do not replace that with “Virtual conference.”

Failure Modes Students Actually Hit

  • Using the presentation template for a LNCS, ACM, or IEEE paper that is already a published chapter or journal article.
  • Using the journal template for a talk that exists only as slides.
  • Formatting a chaired symposium paper as Evans — missing the In chairs and italic symposium title.
  • Formatting Evans or Davidson as De Boer — inventing chairs the program never listed.
  • Dropping [Conference presentation] or the matching program label.
  • Leaving an unpublished title in roman type, or italicizing a published paper title.
  • Putting August 8–11 in the in-text citation.
  • Writing “Virtual conference” after a 2020 Zoom meeting. Keep the planned city.
  • Citing an abstract as a full paper.
  • Listing only the first author of a six-author proceedings paper in the reference list. APA 7 still wants every name up to 20.
  • Pasting an ACM or IEEE session URL that dies when you log out. Prefer a DOI written as https://doi.org/....
  • Citing a preprint on arXiv as a conference paper. If you read the preprint, cite the preprint. If you read the proceedings chapter, cite the chapter.

Where to Get the Details

Pull editors, page numbers, and the publisher from the proceedings front matter. Pull the official meeting name, dates, city, and session label from the program. ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, and SpringerLink are how most computer-science proceedings become recoverable. If a DOI exists, use it. If you only have a conference website that will disappear, look for a program PDF or an archived copy before you give up. The 3 March 2026 common-reference-examples handout is the short official reminder that a conference session still belongs in §10.5.

Format the citation, then check the edition

Use the APA generator or the shorter conference-paper worked page, then compare the output with the official §10.5 examples on this guide. Published proceedings, live presentations, and symposium contributions are different templates.

APA 7 citation generatorConference paper citation generatorHow to cite a conference paper in APA

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I italicize a conference paper title in APA 7?
Only when you are citing an unpublished presentation, poster, or session — Evans italicizes Gun violence: An event on the power of community, and Davidson italicizes Well-being is a skill. A paper printed in proceedings stays roman, like Duckworth’s article title or Bedenel’s chapter title. A symposium contribution title also stays roman; the italic title is the symposium, as in De Boer.
What date do I use for a conference paper in APA?
Published proceedings take the year the journal issue or book appeared — Bedenel is 2019 even though LION 12 met in 2018. Unpublished presentations and symposium papers take the full conference date range, such as (2019, August 8–11). In the text, use the year only.
How do I cite a symposium paper in APA 7?
Use the De Boer shape, not Evans. Keep the paper title roman, name the chairs after In, italicize the symposium title, and add [Symposium] before the meeting name. If the program never listed chairs or a symposium title, you do not have a symposium contribution.
What is the difference between a conference session and a conference presentation?
APA 7 lets the program decide. The Style Center uses Evans with [Conference presentation]. The 3 March 2026 common-reference-examples handout uses Davidson with [Conference session]. Copy the label a reader would see. Do not invent a third type.
How do I cite a virtual or Zoom conference in APA 7?
Use the ordinary §10.5 presentation template and the city the organizers originally announced. McAdoo’s APA Style post says online-only conferences do not get an “online” or “virtual” location label.
How do I cite a canceled conference presentation?
Keep the usual presentation reference and add “(Conference canceled)” at the end of the source, as in the official Boissy SXSW example. If only your session was canceled and the meeting still ran, put that in the brackets — Akamine uses [Poster session canceled].
Should I cite the conference paper or the later journal article?
Cite the version you read. If both exist and you used the article, cite the article. Cite the talk or proceedings paper only when that is the text you used or when no article exists.
How do I cite a poster in APA 7?
Same shape as Evans, with [Poster session] or the label the program printed. Italicize the poster title, give the full meeting dates, and add the conference name and location. A URL is optional.
What if the proceedings are a special issue of a journal?
Cite them as a journal article, the way APA Style cites Duckworth in PNAS. You may add a special-issue note in brackets after the article title when that is how the journal presents the issue, but the reference is still a journal article, not a presentation.
Can I cite a conference paper I attended if it was never posted?
If no recoverable program, PDF, video, or proceedings exists, you do not have a reference-list source. Prefer a published version. An unrecorded talk with no program record is closer to a personal communication than to Evans.