Conference papers report work presented at academic conferences. Proceedings are the published collection of material from a conference. They may contain full papers, shorter contributions or abstracts, and do not necessarily include every presentation.
Conference research can help you find recent developments, methods and ideas, particularly in computing and engineering. You may need an individual paper for an assessment or a collection of proceedings when exploring research in your subject.
If a paper is on your module reading list, use the link provided there.
Otherwise, start with LibrarySearch. Search for the paper’s title and author. If you cannot find it, try the proceedings title, conference name and year.
For a whole collection of proceedings, search for the proceedings title or conference name and year. Proceedings may appear as books, volumes in a series or material published in a journal.
Search LibrarySearch using keywords for your topic. It can find conference papers and proceedings, but its coverage is not complete.
For a more detailed search, or to explore a particular publisher’s conferences, try the resources below. Choose those relevant to your subject:
IEEE Xplore: conference papers in engineering, electronics and computing.
ACM Digital Library: conference papers in computing and information technology.
SpringerLink: conference volumes and series across several subject areas.
Scopus: abstracts and citation information for conference papers from different publishers. It can help you discover papers and follow references, but does not itself provide their full text.
Full-text access depends on the item and Abertay’s subscriptions or its availability through open access. Abertay uses ACM Digital Library Basic, which provides access to ACM-published research. Some jointly published ACM/IEEE proceedings have different access arrangements; see the ACM entry in Resources A–Z.
Try the official conference website or an author’s university repository. Google Scholar or Semantic Scholar may also help you locate an available copy.
Check which version you have found. A preprint or accepted manuscript may differ from the published paper.
If you still cannot obtain the item, email library@abertay.ac.uk. The Library can help you investigate access options, including whether an inter-library loan would be appropriate.
Conference publications vary. A full research paper, a short report of work in progress and an abstract provide different amounts of evidence and detail.
Review processes also vary between conferences and types of contribution. Check the conference or publisher’s information rather than assuming that a conference paper receives less rigorous review than a journal article.
Authors may later publish an expanded version of the research. Check whether another version adds findings or changes the conclusions, and make clear which version you use.
For broader guidance on assessing a source and its evidence, see Evaluate information.
Check your module or assessment guidance and use the referencing style it requires.
Use Cite Them Right Online for citation and reference examples. Select your required referencing style and choose the example for an individual conference paper or a whole proceedings volume, depending on what you used. Check that the example also matches how it was published, such as in a journal, online or as a book.
For wider guidance on referencing principles, when to cite and where to get help, see Referencing.
For help finding or accessing conference papers and proceedings, email library@abertay.ac.uk.
Include the paper title, author, conference name and year if you have them. If you are searching on a topic, tell us your subject and what you have already tried.
Last modified by Library Services