Referencing conference material
Conference material can include presentations of papers, keynote speeches, and symposium contributions (short sessions where speakers are invited to make presentations about a particular topic).
Difference between a conference session, a paper presentation, and conference proceedings
Referencing a conference session
Write the full date range of the conference, even if the session took place on one of the days.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year, Month date range of conference). Title: Subtitle in italic sentence case [Type of conference contribution]. Conference Name, City, State (if applicable), Country. URL/DOI
Fistek, A., Jester, E., & Sonnenberg, K. (2017, July 12-15). Everybody's got a little music in them: Using music therapy to connect, engage, and motivate [Conference session]. Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States. https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html
Referencing a paper presentation
Write the full date range of the conference, even if the session took place on one of the days.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year, Month date range of conference). Title: Subtitle in italic sentence case [Type of conference contribution]. Conference Name, City, State (if applicable), Country. URL/DOI
Maddox, S., Hurling, J., Stewart, E., & Edwards, A. (2016, March 30-April 2). If mama ain't happy, nobody's happy: The effect of parental depression on mood dysregulation in children [Paper presentation]. Southeastern Psychological Association 62nd Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, United States. https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html
Referencing a symposium contribution
A symposium contribution is a short session where speakers are invited to make presentations about a particular topic.
Write the full date range of the conference, even if the session took place on one of the days.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year, Month date range of conference). Title: Subtitle in sentence case. In A. Surname & B. Surname (Chairs), Title: Subtitle of symposium and location in italic sentence case [Symposium]. Name of Symposium, City, State (if applicable), Country.
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.
Most conference proceedings are published in journals and need to be referenced as a journal article.
However, sometimes they are published in other formats.
The example below shows how to reference a conference paper in a proceedings published online as a PDF.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title: Subtitle in sentence case. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds), Title of conference and location in italic sentence case (pp. page range of paper in proceedings). URL
Flintoff, V., & Flanagan, P. (2010). The ‘ménage à trois’ complexity of external supervision. In L. Beddoe & A. Davies (Eds.), Common threads, different patterns: Supervision conference 2010, Auckland, New Zealand: Proceedings (pp. 8-17). https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/education/about/schools/chsswk/docs/2010-Supervision-Conference-Proceedings.pdf
Examples
Reference list entry
Flintoff, V., & Flanagan, P. (2010). The ‘ménage à trois’ complexity of external supervision. In L. Beddoe & A. Davies (Eds.), Common threads, different patterns: Supervision conference 2010, Auckland, New Zealand: Proceedings (pp. 8–17). https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/education/about/schools/chsswk/docs/2010-Supervision-Conference-Proceedings.pdf
In-text citations
Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.
Narrative
Flintoff and Flanagan (2010) argue that ... (p. 12).
Parenthetical
... (Flintoff & Flanagan, 2010, p. 12).
