PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Conference proceedings

How to Cite Conference Proceedings in MLA 9

In MLA 9, conference proceedings are cited the way they were published. A paper in proceedings published as a journal follows the journal article format: authors, paper title in quotation marks, journal name in italics, vol., no., date, pp., and DOI. A paper in proceedings published as a book follows the format for a work in a collection: authors, paper title in quotation marks, the book title in italics, edited by and the editors, the publisher, the year, pp., and the DOI. The whole volume is cited like an edited book. The in-text citation is the author and the page: (Arcia 507).

The format

Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Paper." Title of the Proceedings, edited by First Name Last Name et al., Publisher, Year, pp. #–#, https://doi.org/xxxx.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 29, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th 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 the authors, the title, the journal, the volume, the issue, the pages, and the DOI. MLA prints the month when the journal gives one, so check Publication Year: if it holds only the year, type the month in front, like 9//2021 for September 2021.

For a paper in a proceedings book, the search finds the chapter's author, 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. Adding it by hand? Choose Book, then Chapter in edited book and All or part of a book chapter. Add the paper's authors as authors and the volume's editors as editors, then the Chapter Title, the Book Title, the Chapter Page Numbers, the year, the publisher, and the DOI. PERRLA writes edited by, shortens three or more editors to the first one and et al., and puts the pages and the DOI at the end.

Citing the whole volume? Choose Book, e-book, or audiobook and All or part of a book, and add the editors with the role Editor. PERRLA puts the editors first and adds editors after the names.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author

Start with the paper's first author: last name, a comma, and the first name as the paper prints it. Two authors: the second name in normal order after and. Three or more: the first author and et al.

Mollica, John, and Diana Schwerha.

Citing the whole volume? The editors take the author's place, followed by editors.

Strudwick, Gillian, et al., editors.

2. Paper title

Put the paper's title in quotation marks and capitalize it in title case. The period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

"Incorporation of Generative AI in an Introductory Nursing Informatics Course."

3. Proceedings title

The proceedings are the container, so their title goes in italics, in title case, followed by a comma. Use the title as the volume prints it. Some proceedings titles name the conference and its dates; keep them when they're part of the title.

Innovation in Applied Nursing Informatics,

Proceedings published as a journal take the journal's name here instead, then vol., no., and the date, as in any journal article.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, vol. 65, no. 1, Sept. 2021,

4. Editors

For a paper in a proceedings book, write edited by and the editors' names in normal order after the title. With three or more editors, give the first and et al.

edited by Gillian Strudwick et al.,

5. Publisher and year

Give the publisher, a comma, and the year the volume came out, which may be later than the conference. Proceedings in a journal skip the publisher, as journal articles do.

IOS Press, 2024,

A book series, like Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, is optional in MLA. You can leave it out.

6. Pages and DOI

Write pp. and the paper's page range. Past 99, the second number keeps only its last two digits unless more are needed. End with the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link and a period.

pp. 505–10, https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI240200.

Examples

Proceedings published in a journal

A study of patient acuity and fatigue in 114 Ohio registered nurses, published in the September 2021 issue of 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.

  • In-text citation(Mollica and Schwerha 1202)
  • Narrative citationMollica and Schwerha found that … (1202).

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 a book with five editors, so the paper is cited like a chapter in an edited collection.

  • In-text citation(Arcia 507)
  • Narrative citationAs Arcia explains, … (507).

A whole proceedings volume

The same NI2024 proceedings, cited as a whole book. The five editors take the author's place, shortened to the first one and et al., with editors after the names.

  • In-text citation(Strudwick et al.)
  • Narrative citationStrudwick et al. collect …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a paper in conference proceedings is the paper's author and the page, with no comma between them.

  • One author: (Arcia 507)
  • Two authors: both last names joined by and: (Mollica and Schwerha 1202)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.
  • The whole volume: the first editor and et al., as in the Works Cited entry: (Strudwick et al.)
  • Name in your sentence: give the page alone in parentheses at the end: Arcia describes how the course used generative AI (507).

Cite the paper's author, not the volume's editors, when you're quoting one paper. The in-text citation has to match the first word of its Works Cited entry.

Common mistakes

  • (Strudwick et al. 507)(Arcia 507)When you quote one paper, cite the paper and its author. The editors lead only when you cite the whole volume.
  • Arcia, A. (2024). Incorporation of generative AI in an introductory nursing informatics course.Arcia, Adriana. "Incorporation of Generative AI in an Introductory Nursing Informatics Course."That's APA. MLA spells out the first name, puts the paper's title in quotation marks and title case, and moves the year near the end.
  • Innovation in Applied Nursing Informatics, edited by Gillian Strudwick, Nicholas R. Hardiker, Glynda Rees, Robyn Cook, and Young Ji Lee,Innovation in Applied Nursing Informatics, edited by Gillian Strudwick et al.,With three or more editors, MLA names the first and adds et al.
  • "Exploring the Relationship …." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2021, pp. 1200–04.… vol. 65, no. 1, Sept. 2021, pp. 1200–04, https://doi.org/10.1177/1071181321651016.Proceedings published as a journal are cited like a journal article, with the volume, the issue, the month the journal gives, and the DOI.
  • pp. 505–510pp. 505–10Past 99, MLA shortens the second page number to its last two digits.

Quick checklist

  • Cite the proceedings the way they were published: journal or book
  • Paper title in quotation marks and title case
  • Proceedings or journal title in italics
  • Book: edited by and the editors, then publisher and year
  • Journal: vol., no., and the date
  • pp. and the page range, then the DOI as a https://doi.org/ link
  • In-text: the paper's author and the page

Questions students ask

Are conference proceedings a book or a journal in MLA?

Whichever they were published as. Proceedings with a volume and issue that come out every year, like the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, are cited as a journal. Proceedings with editors and a publisher, like a volume from IOS Press or Springer, are cited as a book.

Do I include the conference name and dates?

Only when they're part of the proceedings' title, as they often are (Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of …). When the title doesn't name the conference, MLA doesn't need you to add it.

What if the paper was presented but never published?

Then there are no proceedings to cite. Cite it as a conference presentation instead: the presenter, the title in quotation marks, the conference name, the date of the talk, and the city.

Do I include the series name, like Studies in Health Technology and Informatics?

You can, but you don't have to. MLA treats a book series as optional information. If you add it, it goes at the very end, in plain type. PERRLA's All or part of a book and All or part of a book chapter choices leave it out.

How is MLA different from APA for conference proceedings?

Both cite proceedings the way they were published. MLA spells out first names, uses et al. for three or more authors or editors, puts the paper's title in quotation marks and title case, and puts the year after the publisher. In the text, MLA uses the page number (Arcia 507) where APA uses the year.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, containers, optional elements, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answer on citing conference proceedings (posted for the eighth edition; the ninth edition keeps the same core elements: editors and title for the whole volume, and a paper cited like an essay in a collection, with edited by and the page range). Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page; for MLA, re-checked on October 29, 2026: Crossref for the HFES paper (John Mollica and Diana Schwerha, volume 65, issue 1, pages 1200–1204, published in print September 2021), and the IOS Press pages and Crossref for the NI2024 chapter (Adriana Arcia, pages 505–510) and volume (editors Gillian Strudwick, Nicholas R. Hardiker, Glynda Rees, Robyn Cook, and Young Ji Lee; IOS Press, 2024).

PERRLA builds the proceedings entry from the DOI, as a journal article or a chapter, the way the proceedings were published.

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