IEEE Citation Style Guide
The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) citation style is used primarily in engineering, computer science, and electronics fields.
When to Use IEEE
IEEE style is the standard citation format for:
- Engineering papers and theses
- Computer science research
- Electrical and electronics engineering publications
- IEEE conference papers and journal articles
- Technical standards and patents
Citation Format Overview
IEEE uses a numbered citation system where references appear in square brackets in the text (e.g., [1], [2], [3]). Citations are numbered in the order they first appear in the document.
In-Text Citations
Single citation:
According to recent research [1], machine learning...
Multiple citations:
Several studies [1]–[3] have shown that...
Non-consecutive citations:
Previous work [1], [5], [7] demonstrates...
Reference List Format
References are listed numerically at the end of the document in the order they first appear in the text.
Common Source Types
Conference Paper
Format:
[#] Initials. Surname, "Title of paper," in Conference Name, City, State/Country, Year, pp. pages.
Example:
[1] J. Smith and M. Johnson, "Deep learning for image recognition," in IEEE Conf. Computer Vision Pattern Recognition, San Francisco, CA, 2024, pp. 123-130.
Journal Article
Format:
[#] Initials. Surname, "Article title," Journal Abbrev., vol. #, no. #, pp. pages, Month Year.
Example:
[2] A. Lee et al., "Neural network optimization techniques," IEEE Trans. Neural Netw., vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 567-580, Apr. 2024.
Technical Standard
Format:
[#] Standard Title, Standard Number-Year.
Example:
[3] IEEE Standard for Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, IEEE 802.11-2020.
Book
Format:
[#] Initials. Surname, Book Title, Edition ed. City, State/Country: Publisher, Year.
Example:
[4] D. Patterson and J. Hennessy, Computer Organization and Design, 5th ed. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2014.
Website
Format:
[#] Author. "Page title." Site Name. URL (accessed Month Day, Year).
Example:
[5] IEEE. "Publication services and products." IEEE.org. https://www.ieee.org/publications (accessed Jan. 15, 2024).
Important IEEE Rules
- Author names: Use initials followed by surname (e.g., J. Smith)
- Multiple authors: List all authors; use "et al." only for more than 6 authors
- Titles: Paper/article titles in quotation marks; book/conference titles in italics
- Journal abbreviations: Use IEEE standard abbreviations
- Month abbreviations: Use Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., Dec.
- DOI/URL: Include DOI when available; use "doi: 10.xxxx/xxxxx" format
Special Cases
arXiv Preprints
Include arXiv ID after the citation:
[6] R. Chen, "Quantum computing algorithms," arXiv:2301.12345, Jan. 2023.
Patents
[7] J. Inventor, "Patent title," U.S. Patent 1,234,567, Jan. 15, 2024.
External Resources
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