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MLA 9: cite a published conference paper
Cite a paper in published proceedings in MLA 9, where the full proceedings title carries the meeting dates and city as given.
The proceedings title carries the meeting
In this MLA case the container is the published proceedings, and its complete title includes the meeting context: Proceedings of the Sample Symposium, 1–2 June 2024, London. The paper title is in quotation marks; editor, publisher, year and pages follow. MLA's page on conference proceedings and its citations-by-format page are linked below.
With that container, the works-cited entry is: Stone, Maya. “A Conference Paper.” Proceedings of the Sample Symposium, 1–2 June 2024, London, edited by Leo Rowan, Example Press, 2024, pp. 12–18.
Typing the container in full
The Reviewed abbreviated proceedings title field is used only by the IEEE form, so leave it empty here or fill it for your own record; it does not change the MLA entry. The editor row is required for an MLA conference paper, and so is the page range.
- Choose MLA 9 works-cited entry and Published conference paper.
- Enter Maya Stone as author and Leo Rowan as editor.
- Type A conference paper and A Conference Paper.
- In Containing work or site, type the whole title as printed: Proceedings of the Sample Symposium, 1–2 June 2024, London.
- Fill Example Press, 2024 and 12-18, then press Create reference.
Meeting fields do not reach the MLA entry
The workbench also has Meeting location, Meeting start date and Meeting end date for this source kind. They are kept in the record, and NLM references require them, but the MLA entry does not build the meeting context from them. That is why the dates and city have to be part of the container title, exactly as the proceedings print them. Do not add a date or place the proceedings title does not contain.
The paper in Citelle
In the app, the Conference paper type labels the container Proceedings title, so type the full title there. The Editors section appears for this type only when the looked-up record already lists editors; check the preview for edited by Leo Rowan. Copy in-text gives (Stone 12), the first page of the range, which you change to the page you quote.
In the app, MLA 9 is open in the free version, and Copy citation keeps the italics on the proceedings title when you paste.
Proceedings checks
- Confirm that the paper appears in published proceedings, not just on a program.
- Keep the publication year separate from the meeting year.
- Do not take the meeting city for the publisher's city.
- Keep the proceedings editor out of the author list.
- Copy the proceedings title with its own punctuation; the en dash in 1–2 June 2024 is part of the title as given.
Gather the source details
- Find the published paper and its proceedings record.
- Keep paper author and paper title separate from proceedings editors and title.
- Record publication details and the paper’s pages.
- Retain meeting dates and location when the selected form needs them.
- Author
- Maya Stone
- Title as supplied
- A conference paper
- Publication year
- 2024
- Containing work or site
- Proceedings of the Sample Symposium, 1–2 June 2024, London
- Editor
- Leo Rowan
- Publisher
- Example Press
- Published pages
- 12-18
- Publication place
- London
- Meeting dates
- 1–2 June 2024
- Meeting place
- London
Tools
Sources
Next guide: NLM Vancouver: cite a published conference paper