IEEE

Engineering

Cite a source in IEEE now

IEEE is the numbered style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which publishes in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics. This page follows the IEEE Reference Guide, revised in 2025.

Every example is a real source, checked where it was published. Check the finer points against the guide your course or journal uses. Review formatting support and known limitations.

IEEE references, part by part

Real sources, set as Citation Creation sets them in IEEE. Choose one to see what each part follows.

[1]

J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick, “Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid,” Nature, vol. 171, no. 4356, pp. 737–738, Apr. 1953, doi: 10.1038/171737a0.

In your text: [1]
With pages: [1, pp. 737–738]

[1]: Each reference starts with its number in square brackets, set in a column of its own. The numbers run in the order you first cite the sources.
J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick,: Each given name is cut to its initials, which come before the surname: James D. Watson is J. D. Watson. Name every author up to six, with “and” before the last.
“Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid,”: An article’s title goes in double quotation marks, with the comma inside them. As in the guide’s examples, only the first word, the first word after a colon and names take capitals.
Nature,: The journal’s name is in italics and is usually shortened word by word, as in IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. A name of one word, such as Nature or Science, is never shortened.
vol. 171, no. 4356, pp. 737–738, Apr. 1953,: Volume, issue and pages follow the journal, each with its short label, and the date comes after them. The page range takes an en dash, and the month is shortened, as Apr.
doi: 10.1038/171737a0.: The DOI comes last, after “doi:”, and the reference ends with a full stop. Only a reference that ends with a web address has no full stop.

[1]

H. Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1960.

A chapter of it: [1, Ch. 2]

H. Lee,: As for every IEEE author, the given name is cut to its initial and comes first: Harper Lee is H. Lee.
To Kill a Mockingbird.: A book’s title is in italics, with capitals on its main words, and a full stop follows it. An article’s title takes quotation marks instead.
Philadelphia:: IEEE gives the city, the state for a city in the US, and the country, then a colon: Cambridge, MA, USA. We print the place as you type it, so enter Philadelphia, PA, USA.
J. B. Lippincott, 1960.: The publisher and the year end the reference. IEEE shortens a publisher’s name where it can, as in Cambridge Univ. Press.

[1]

World Health Organization, “Climate change.” Accessed: Oct. 15, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health

In your text: [1]

World Health Organization,: When an organisation wrote the page, its name stands where a person’s would, written in full. IEEE’s form for a web page puts a full stop after the author, where we print a comma.
“Climate change.”: The page’s title goes in quotation marks, with a full stop inside the closing mark.
Accessed: Oct. 15, 2026.: After “Accessed:” comes the date you read the page: the month shortened, the day, then the year. IEEE writes a day below 10 as one figure, Feb. 1, 2009, but we print Feb. 01, so delete the 0.
[Online]. Available:: These words introduce the web address, in the order IEEE gives for online sources: the date you read it, [Online]. Available: and the address.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health: The address ends the reference. It is the one ending that takes no full stop in IEEE.

IEEE in-text citations

On the line, in brackets

Put the number on the line, in square brackets, before the comma or full stop that follows it.

as demonstrated in [2].

The number as a word

Use the number as a word in your sentence. Write “in [1]”, not “in reference [1]”.

According to [1], the structure has two chains.

Naming the authors

Name an author only where the sentence needs one, with et al. from three authors.

Smith [4], Brown and Jones [5], Wood et al. [7]

No year in your sentence

The number identifies the source, so leave the year out unless the date matters to your point.

Watson and Crick [1] proposed

No author, or a group

In your text the number stands for the source, so nothing changes. In the list, a source with no author begins with its title, and a group such as the World Health Organization is named in full.

“Apple iPhone,” Apple Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA. Accessed: Feb. 25, 2013.

A figure you reuse

IEEE asks authors who reuse a figure from an IEEE publication to put the number of its source at the end of the caption. A figure from another publisher ends with the credit line that publisher gives.

Fig. 3. Measured antenna gain [4].

Before you hand it in

Numbered in the order you cite

The first source you cite is [1], the next [2]. A source you cite again keeps its first number, never ibid., and the reference list runs in number order.

Each source in its own brackets

Cite several sources at once as [2], [5]. The 2025 IEEE Reference Guide writes a run out in full, [1], [2], [3], [4], where older IEEE guides gave [1]–[4].

A page goes inside the brackets

Point to part of a source after its number: [3, pp. 5–10] or [1, Fig. 2]. Write in [1, Fig. 2], not in Fig. 2 of reference [1]. The source is listed once, however many parts of it you cite.

Short journal and conference names

IEEE shortens names word by word, as in IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. and Proc. 1996 Robot. Automat. Conf. A one-word name such as Nature stays whole. We print the name as your source gives it, so shorten it yourself.

Six authors, then et al.

List up to six authors. From seven, give the first and et al.: T. Brunschwiler et al.

Web pages end with the address

A web page gives the date you read it after “Accessed:”, then “[Online]. Available:” and its address, with no full stop after the address.

Common abbreviations in IEEE references

IEEE shortens the name of a journal or a conference one word at a time, from the list in its Reference Guide, and leaves out small words such as of, the and on. A name of one word, such as Nature or Science, stays whole.

A word that is not on the list is spelled out, unless it ends in -ology or -graphy: cut those after -ol. or -gr., as Endocrinol. and Oceanogr. One short form can serve several words: Computer, Computing and Computational are all Comput.

The kind of publication

Transactions: Trans.
Proceedings: Proc.
Conference: Conf.
International: Int.
Symposium: Symp.
Annual: Annu.
Journal: J.
Letter(s): Lett.
Magazine: Mag.
Review: Rev.
Society: Soc.

The subject

Engineering: Eng.
Computer(s): Comput.
Computational: Comput.
Communications: Commun.
Electronic: Electron.
Electrical: Elect.
Information: Inf.
Intelligence: Intell.
Machine: Mach.
Learning: Learn.
Systems: Syst.
Technology: Technol.
Science: Sci.
Applied: Appl.
Applications: Appl.
Physics: Phys.
Research: Res.
Processing: Process.
Robotics: Robot.
Automation: Automat.
Automatic: Autom.
Biomedical: Biomed.
Network, Networking: Netw.
Software: Softw.

IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control: IEEE Trans. Autom. Control
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering: IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.
Proceedings of the 1996 Robotics and Automation Conference: Proc. 1996 Robot. Automat. Conf.

Watch the near pairs: Automatic is Autom. but Automation is Automat., and Electrical is Elect. but Electronic is Electron. In a conference name, Workshop and Meeting stay whole, and a number is written as 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

We print a journal or conference name in full, as you type it or as we find it from the DOI. Shorten it with this list.

How Citation Creation handles IEEE

Sources are numbered in the order you add them. List the places your paper cites them on the Writing order tab, free with an account, and the numbers follow the order you first cite them. A source cited again keeps its number.
Cite several sources in one place on the Writing order tab and each prints in its own brackets, in number order: [1], [2].
A page, chapter, section or figure you add goes inside the brackets: [1, pp. 5–10], [1, Ch. 3], [1, Fig. 2].
June, July and September are shortened to Jun., Jul. and Sep., as in the IEEE Reference Guide.
Check three things by hand. Et al. prints in italics, where IEEE sets it upright. A day below 10 in an accessed date gets a 0, as Oct. 01, which IEEE leaves off. A source with no date prints none, where IEEE writes (n.d.).

Cite a source in IEEE now

How to cite each source in IEEE

Website Book Journal Article Newspaper Article Book Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Report Video Podcast/Broadcast Magazine Article Software Dataset Patent Legal Case Legislation Bill Regulation Hearing Standard Treaty Conference Paper Manuscript Review Book Review Classic Work Reference Entry Dictionary Entry Encyclopedia Entry Periodical Collection Interview Speech Song Musical Score Graphic Figure Map Performance Event Pamphlet Preprint Document Post Blog Post Personal Communication Generative AI

Quick Facts

Full Name:: IEEE
Citation Format:: Numeric
Style Class:: In-Text Citations
Fields:: Engineering
Documentation:: View style guidelines

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