Conference proceedings are a great resource for students. And since academics attend conferences to discuss cutting-edge research, proceedings often include exciting new ideas.
But how do you cite a conference paper? In this post, we explain this using Chicago footnote referencing.
Footnote Citations
In Chicago referencing, always give full publication information in the first footnote citation. For a published conference paper, this includes:
n. Author’s Name, “Paper Title,” in Title of Proceedings, ed. Editor Name(s) (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page number(s) for cited section.
In practice, then, the first citation of a conference paper would look like this:
1. Bill Riker, “Innovations in Seating,” in Proceedings of the Third Annual Behavioral Adaptations for Interstellar Travel Conference, ed. Jonathan Frakes (Santa Monica, CA: TNG Inc., 1987), 184.
The format differs slightly for an unpublished paper (e.g., one that you saw presented in person). This is quite rare, but if you need to cite one, you need to include the following information in the first footnote:
n. Author’s Name, “Paper Title” (paper presented at Name, Location and Date of Conference), page numbers (if relevant).
An unpublished paper would therefore be presented like this:
2. Deanna Troi, “Feeling Change: Design Guided by Empathy” (paper presented at The International Conference of Feeling, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, June 20-22 1992, 21.
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For repeat citations of a paper, you can use a shortened footnote format.
Bibliography
The information to include in your bibliography for a conference paper is roughly the same as in the first footnote. However, there are a few differences. For a published paper, the format is:
Surname, First Name. “Paper Title.” In Title of Proceedings, edited by Editor Name(s), page range. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
For an unpublished conference paper, meanwhile, the format is:
Surname, First Name. “Paper Title.” Paper presented at Name, Location and Date of Conference.
In practice, then, we would list a published and an unpublished conference paper as follows:
Riker, Bill. “Innovations in Seating.” In Proceedings of the Third Annual Behavioral Adaptations for Interstellar Travel Conference, edited by Jonathan Frakes, 180-201. Santa Monica, CA: TNG Inc., 1987.
Troi, Deanna. “Feeling Change: Design Guided by Empathy.” Paper presented at The International Conference of Feeling, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, June 20-22 1992.