PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Conference proceedings

How to Cite Conference Proceedings in APA 7

In APA 7, conference proceedings are cited the way they were published. Proceedings published in a journal use the journal article format: authors, year, paper title, journal name, volume, issue, pages, and DOI. Proceedings published as a book use the edited book chapter format for one paper (authors, year, paper title, In, the editors, the book title, pages, publisher, and DOI) or the edited book format for the whole volume. A talk that was presented and never published is cited as a conference presentation instead. The in-text citation is the author and year: (Arcia, 2024).

The format

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the paper. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Series title: Vol. X. Title of the proceedings (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the paper's DOI into PERRLA's reference search. For proceedings published in a journal, like the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, PERRLA finds the paper and fills in every author, the year, the title, the journal, the volume, the issue, the pages, and the DOI. Check the authors, the title, and the year against the paper before you save.

For a paper in a proceedings book, the search finds the chapter's authors, its title, the book's title, the publisher, and the DOI, but a chapter's DOI record often leaves out the editors and the page range. Hold the result up against the volume's own page and add them. If the volume is numbered in a series, like Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, choose Book, then Chapter in edited book, then Chapter from a volume in a series. Type the series in Series Title, the number in Volume Number, and the book's own title in Volume Title. PERRLA writes the series, Vol. and the number, and the volume's title in the order APA's proceedings examples use.

Citing the whole volume? Choose Book, e-book, or audiobook, then Volume in a series, and add the editors in the Editor role. PERRLA puts the editors first with (Eds.).

An abstract in a journal supplement comes back from the DOI search as a journal article. Change the issue from Supplement_1 to Suppl. 1, and give a one-page abstract a single page number.

Look up
Paste a DOI, get the reference

10.1177/1071181321651016

Mollica, J., & Schwerha, D. (2021). Exploring the relationship between patient acuity, patient assignments and fatigue among nurses. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 65(1), 1200–1204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1071181321651016

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Is it a journal or a book?

Start with the cover or the landing page, because that decides the format. Proceedings with a volume and an issue number, an ISSN, and a journal-style page are a journal: cite the paper as a journal article. Proceedings with editors, an ISBN, and a publisher are a book: cite one paper as a chapter in an edited book, or the whole volume as an edited book.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 65(1), 1200–1204.

A title with Proceedings in it can be either, so the details matter more than the name. If the talk was never published anywhere, it isn't proceedings at all: cite it as a conference presentation.

2. Authors and year

The paper's authors come first: last name, comma, initials, with an ampersand before the last author. The year is the year the proceedings were published, which can differ from the year of the conference.

Arcia, A. (2024).

Proceedings records often give only the year. You never need the conference's dates for published proceedings.

3. Paper title

Write the paper's title in sentence case, with no italics and no quotation marks. Proceedings and abstract supplements often print titles in title case or in all capitals. Change them to sentence case and keep capitals for proper nouns and abbreviations like AI.

Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course.

4. Editors and book title

For a paper in a proceedings book, write In, then the editors' initials before their last names, then (Ed.) or (Eds.) and a comma. The book title follows in italics and sentence case. When the volume is numbered in a series, APA's proceedings examples give the series, Vol. and the number, and then the volume's own title.

In G. Strudwick, N. R. Hardiker, G. Rees, R. Cook, & Y. J. Lee (Eds.), Studies in health technology and informatics: Vol. 315. Innovation in applied nursing informatics

For a whole volume, the editors move to the front, last names first, followed by (Eds.).

5. Pages, publisher, and DOI

A chapter's page range goes in parentheses after the book title, with pp. and an en dash. Then the publisher, then the DOI as a link. A journal-format paper gives its pages after the volume and issue and has no publisher.

(pp. 505–510). IOS Press. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI240200

Leave out the conference's name, city, and dates. Published proceedings are cited as a publication, so the publication details do the work.

Examples

Proceedings published in a journal

A study of patient acuity and fatigue in 114 Ohio registered nurses, published in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. The proceedings have a volume, an issue, and page numbers, so the paper is cited as a journal article.

  • Parenthetical citation(Mollica & Schwerha, 2021)
  • Narrative citationMollica and Schwerha (2021)

One paper in proceedings published as a book

Adriana Arcia's case study of generative AI in a graduate nursing informatics course, from the proceedings of NI2024, the 16th International Congress on Nursing Informatics in Manchester, England. IOS Press published the proceedings as volume 315 of Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, with five editors.

  • Parenthetical citation(Arcia, 2024, p. 507)
  • Narrative citationArcia (2024, p. 507)

A whole proceedings volume

The same NI2024 proceedings, cited as a whole book. The five editors take the author's place, and (Eds.) follows the last name.

  • Parenthetical citation(Strudwick et al., 2024)
  • Narrative citationStrudwick et al. (2024)

A conference abstract published in a journal supplement

An abstract from a paper session at the Gerontological Society of America's 2023 meeting, published in the meeting's supplement to Innovation in Aging. It's cited as a journal article, with Suppl. 1 as the issue and the title changed from all capitals to sentence case.

  • Parenthetical citation(Hawes & Wang, 2023)
  • Narrative citationHawes and Wang (2023)

In-text citations

Cite a proceedings paper like any journal article or book chapter: the author's last name and the year the proceedings were published.

  • One author: (Arcia, 2024) or Arcia (2024)
  • Two authors: both names every time: (Mollica & Schwerha, 2021) or Mollica and Schwerha (2021)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al. from the first citation
  • A whole volume: the editors, with no Eds. in the citation: (Strudwick et al., 2024)
  • A quote: add the page: (Arcia, 2024, p. 507)

The year is the publication year in your reference, not the conference's year, so the citation and the reference always match.

Common mistakes

  • Arcia, A. (2024, July 28–31). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course [Conference presentation]. NI2024, Manchester, England.Arcia, A. (2024). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course. In G. Strudwick, N. R. Hardiker, G. Rees, R. Cook, & Y. J. Lee (Eds.), Studies in health technology and informatics: Vol. 315. Innovation in applied nursing informatics (pp. 505–510). IOS Press. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI240200Once a paper is published in proceedings, cite the publication you read, not the talk. The presentation format is for work that was presented and not published.
  • Arcia, A. (2024). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course. In Innovation in applied nursing informatics. IOS Press.Arcia, A. (2024). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course. In G. Strudwick, N. R. Hardiker, G. Rees, R. Cook, & Y. J. Lee (Eds.), Studies in health technology and informatics: Vol. 315. Innovation in applied nursing informatics (pp. 505–510). IOS Press.This is what a chapter's DOI record alone gives you. A chapter in an edited book needs its editors and its page range, and a numbered series keeps its volume number.
  • Arcia, A. (2024). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course. InArcia, A. (2024). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course. InThe paper's title is plain text. The italics go on the book's title, or on the journal name and volume for journal-format proceedings.
  • Hawes, F., & Wang, S. (2023). A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GRIEF SUPPORT AND BURNOUT AMONG NURSING HOME STAFF. Innovation in Aging, 7(Supplement_1), 323–323.Hawes, F., & Wang, S. (2023). A comparative study of grief support and burnout among nursing home staff. Innovation in Aging, 7(Suppl. 1), 323.Abstract supplements often print titles in capitals. APA wants sentence case, the abbreviation Suppl. for a supplement, and a single page number for a one-page abstract.
  • Mollica, J., & Schwerha, D. (2021). Exploring the relationship between patient acuity, patient assignments and fatigue among nurses. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 65(1), 1200–1204. SAGE Publications.Mollica, J., & Schwerha, D. (2021). Exploring the relationship between patient acuity, patient assignments and fatigue among nurses. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 65(1), 1200–1204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1071181321651016Journal-format proceedings take no publisher. End with the DOI, the same as any journal article.

Quick checklist

  • Decide first: journal, book chapter, or whole book
  • The year the proceedings were published, not the conference dates
  • Paper title in sentence case and not italic
  • For a book: In, the editors with (Eds.), the italic book title, and the page range
  • A numbered series as Series title: Vol. X. Volume title
  • The DOI as a link, and no conference name or location

Questions students ask

What's the difference between conference proceedings and a conference presentation?

Proceedings are published: a journal or a book collects the papers from a conference. A presentation is the talk or poster itself. Cite proceedings as a journal article, a book chapter, or a book, and cite an unpublished talk as a conference presentation with the conference's dates and location.

How can I tell if proceedings are a journal or a book?

Look at the details, not the title. A volume and issue number and an ISSN point to a journal. Editors, an ISBN, and a publisher point to a book. Many proceedings titles start with Proceedings either way.

Do I include the conference name and location for proceedings?

No. Published proceedings are cited as a publication, so the reference gives the journal or the book, not the meeting. If the conference name is part of the book's title, it stays in the title.

Do I include the series name, like Lecture Notes in Computer Science?

When the proceedings are a numbered volume in a series, yes. APA's proceedings examples write the series in italics, then Vol. and the number, then the volume's own title: Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 9562. Theory of cryptography.

How do I cite an abstract published in a journal supplement?

Cite it as a journal article. Write the supplement where the issue goes, abbreviated as Suppl., like 7(Suppl. 1), and give the abstract's page. Change an all-caps title to sentence case.

What year do I use for proceedings published after the conference?

The year the proceedings were published, from the volume's copyright page or landing page. It can be a year after the meeting. Your in-text citation uses the same year.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 6.17, 6.25, 8.17, 9.8, 9.19, 9.25, 9.29, 9.34, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, and 10.5, and the APA Style website's conference proceeding references page (journal, whole book, and book chapter examples). Example sources verified on October 21, 2026: the SAGE article page for the HFES paper (authors, volume 65, issue 1, pages 1200–1204, DOI); the IOS Press pages for the NI2024 chapter (author, pages 505–510, DOI) and for volume 315 (editors, year, series, and the congress in Manchester, England, July 28–31, 2024), with the volume's DOI checked in Crossref; and the Innovation in Aging page for the GSA abstract (authors, title, volume 7, Supplement 1, page 323, Session 3295, a paper session).

PERRLA builds proceedings references as journal articles, book chapters, or books, with the series, editors, and pages in the order APA uses.

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