What is IEEE Style?
The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a professional organization that supports various fields, including engineering, computer science, and information technology. IEEE publishes journals, magazines, and conference proceedings and establishes industry standards across multiple sectors.
The IEEE citation style uses numbered in-text citations enclosed in square brackets, referring to a numerically ordered reference list at the end of the paper. Unlike other styles, IEEE references are not arranged alphabetically but in the order they appear in the text. For detailed guidelines, refer to the IEEE Editorial Style Manual.
The Basics of IEEE Referencing
1. In-Text Citations
- No need to mention the author’s name, publication date, or page number in the in-text citation.
- Instead, place a number in square brackets corresponding to the reference list.
- Bracketed citations should be within the line of text, before punctuation, and with a space before the first bracket.
- Sources are numbered sequentially as they appear in the paper.
- If citing multiple sources, list each number separately using commas or a dash:
- Example: [1], [3], [5] or [1]–[5].
Examples of In-Text Citations:
- “…end of the line for my research [13].”
- “This theory was first proposed in 1987 [1].”
- “Scholtz [2] has argued that…”
- “Several recent studies [3], [4], [15], [16] suggest that…”
- “For example, see [7].”
2. Creating a Reference List
The Reference List appears at the end of the paper, providing full citations for all sources used.
Formatting Guidelines:
✅ Title the page “References,” either centered or left-aligned at the top.
✅ List sources numerically in the order they appear in the paper.
✅ Use a hanging indent, where bracketed numbers are flush left and the rest of the citation is indented.
✅ Author names are formatted as first initial, last name (e.g., A. Al Muhairy instead of Al Muhairy, Adel).
✅ Article titles are placed in quotation marks.
✅ Journal and book titles are in italics.
Here is the IEEE referencing style formatted in a table for better clarity:
| Material Type | Works Cited |
|---|---|
| Book (Print) | [1] D. Sarunyagate, Ed., Lasers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996. |
| Chapter in a Book | [2] G. O. Young, “Synthetic structure of industrial plastics,” in Plastics, 2nd ed., vol. 3, J. Peters, Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964, pp. 15-64. |
| eBook | [3] L. Bass, P. Clements, and R. Kazman, Software Architecture in Practice, 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 2003. [E-book] Available: Safari e-book. |
| Journal Article (Print) | [4] G. Liu, K. Y. Lee, and H. F. Jordan, “TDM and TWDM de Bruijn networks and shufflenets for optical communications,” IEEE Trans. Comp., vol. 46, pp. 695-701, June 1997. |
| eJournal (Database) | [5] H. Ayasso and A. Mohammad-Djafari, “Joint NDT Image Restoration and Segmentation Using Gauss-Markov-Potts Prior Models and Variational Bayesian Computation,” IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 2265-77, 2010. [Online]. Available: IEEE Xplore, http://www.ieee.org. [Accessed Sept. 10, 2010]. |
| eJournal (Internet) | [6] A. Altun, “Understanding hypertext in the context of reading on the web: Language learners’ experience,” Current Issues in Education, vol. 6, no. 12, July 2005. [Online serial]. Available: http://cie.ed.asu.edu/volume6/number12/. [Accessed Dec. 2, 2007]. |
| Conference Paper | [7] L. Liu and H. Miao, “A specification-based approach to testing polymorphic attributes,” in Formal Methods and Software Engineering: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Formal Engineering Methods, ICFEM 2004, Seattle, WA, USA, November 8-12, 2004, J. Davies, W. Schulte, M. Barnett, Eds. Berlin: Springer, 2004, pp. 306-19. |
| Conference Proceedings | [8] T. J. van Weert and R. K. Munro, Eds., Informatics and the Digital Society: Social, Ethical, and Cognitive Issues: IFIP TC3/WG3.1&3.2 Open Conference on Social, Ethical, and Cognitive Issues of Informatics and ICT, July 22-26, 2002, Dortmund, Germany. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 2003. |
| Newspaper Article (Database) | [9] J. Riley, “Call for new look at skilled migrants,” The Australian, p. 35, May 31, 2005. [Online]. Available: Factiva, http://global.factiva.com. [Accessed May 31, 2005]. |
| Technical Report | [10] K. E. Elliott and C. M. Greene, “A local adaptive protocol,” Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, France, Tech. Rep. 916-1010-BB, 1997. |
| Patent | [11] J. P. Wilkinson, “Nonlinear resonant circuit devices,” U.S. Patent 3 624 125, Jul. 16, 1990. |
| Standard | [12] IEEE Criteria for Class IE Electric Systems, IEEE Standard 308, 1969. |
| Thesis/Dissertation | [13] J. O. Williams, “Narrow-band analyzer,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Elect. Eng., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1993. |
This table presents IEEE citation style in a structured format.