How to Cite a Conference Paper in Harvard (Cite Them Right)
Learn how to cite conference proceedings and presentations in Harvard format (Cite Them Right). This guide includes the reference list format, in-text citation examples, and key formatting rules.
Harvard Reference List Format
Here is the standard Harvard format for citing a conference paper in your reference list:
Author, A.A. (Year) 'Title of paper', Conference Name. Location, Date. Place: Publisher, pp. #–#.
Harvard Example for a Conference Paper
A complete Harvard reference for a conference paper, formatted by the official Harvard CSL style definition — the same engine that powers the generator on this site:
Ibrahim, Y. and Wong, L. (2023) “Automated reference checking at scale,” in Proceedings of the Conference on Scholarly Infrastructure. Association for Research Computing, pp. 88–97. doi:10.1000/csi.2023.088.
Matching in-text citation: (Ibrahim and Wong, 2023)
Harvard In-Text Citation
Use one of these formats when referencing this source within your paper:
Parenthetical
(Smith and Jones, 2024)
Narrative
Smith and Jones (2024) presented...
Step-by-Step Guide
- Gather source information: Collect the author name, title, publication date, and URL or DOI for your conference paper.
- Format the reference: Arrange the elements following the Harvard (Cite Them Right) template shown above.
- Create the in-text citation: Add a parenthetical or narrative citation in your paper where you reference this source.
- Add to your reference list: Include the full formatted citation at the end of your paper.
- Double-check formatting: Verify italics, punctuation, capitalization, and hanging indents match Harvard requirements.
Evidence and review notes
Worked examples are generated by citeproc from the published CSL definition, not written by a language model. Editorial guidance and sources in this section were reviewed on 2026-08-14.
CSL style record: harvard.csl
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I cite a conference paper in Harvard?
- To cite a conference paper in Harvard (Cite Them Right), include the author, title, date, and source location. Use our free citation generator for automatic formatting.
- What is the Harvard format for a conference paper citation?
- The Harvard format for a conference paper is: Author, A.A. (Year) 'Title of paper', Conference Name. Location, Date. Place: Publisher, pp. #–#.
- What does the in-text citation look like for a conference paper in Harvard?
- In Harvard, the in-text citation for the example above is (Smith and Jones, 2024)
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