IEEE citation style is a numbered system used in electrical engineering, computing and related fields. Sources are numbered in the order you first cite them, shown in square brackets in the text, and listed in that same order at the end.
This page covers in-text citations, reference list rules and examples for the source types engineering and computing writers use most. It follows the IEEE Reference Guide; where a journal or university gives its own instructions, those take priority. Names and titles in the examples are invented for illustration.
IEEE in Four Rules
- Number sources in order of first citation: [1], [2], [3].
- Reuse the same number every time you cite that source again.
- List references numerically, not alphabetically.
- Write author initials before the surname: J. K. Patel.
In-Text Citations
Place the bracketed number inside the sentence punctuation, usually right after the claim or the author's name. The number can also act as a noun.
| Situation | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| One source | [n] | Earlier work reduced latency by half [4]. |
| Several sources | [n], [m] | Several studies report this effect [2], [5], [9]. |
| A range | [n]–[m] | Similar designs appear in [3]–[6]. |
| Number as a noun | in [n] | The method in [7] was extended. |
| Specific part | [n, p. x] or [n, Fig. x] | [8, p. 12] or [8, Fig. 3] |
| Naming the author | Surname [n] | Okoro [2] proposed a simpler model. |
Reference List Rules
- Title the list "References" and order it by citation number.
- Start each entry with its number in square brackets.
- Give initials before surnames; list up to six authors, and for seven or more give the first author followed by "et al."
- Put article, chapter and paper titles in quotation marks, in sentence case.
- Italicize journal, book and conference proceedings titles, and abbreviate journal and conference names using IEEE's standard abbreviations.
- Abbreviate months, such as Jan., Feb. and Sept.
- Include a DOI where one exists.
Journal Articles
[1] J. K. Patel, M. Osei, and L. Brandt, "Adaptive beamforming for indoor millimeter-wave links," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 3110–3122, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.xxxx/xxxxxxx.
[2] A. Okoro, "Energy-aware scheduling in edge clusters," IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 45501–45514, 2023, doi: 10.xxxx/xxxxxxx.
The pattern is author, "article title," abbreviated journal, volume, issue, pages, month and year, DOI. Online-only journals without issue numbers simply omit that element.
Conference Papers
[3] S. Lindgren and R. Haddad, "Lightweight intrusion detection for IoT gateways," in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. (ICC), Rome, Italy, 2023, pp. 1–6.
[4] T. Nakamura et al., "A benchmark for low-resource speech recognition," presented at the Annu. Conf. Speech Technol., Lisbon, Portugal, Sept. 2022.
Use "in Proc." for papers published in proceedings and "presented at" for papers presented but not published.
Books and Chapters
[5] H. Mwangi, Embedded Systems Design, 3rd ed. London, U.K.: Example Press, 2021.
[6] C. Reyes, "Signal integrity in high-speed boards," in Practical PCB Engineering, D. Koh, Ed. New York, NY, USA: Example Press, 2020, pp. 211–240.
Give the edition only from the second onwards. Include city, state or country and publisher.
Standards, Theses and Patents
Standard: [7] IEEE Standard for Example Network Protocols, IEEE Std XXXX-2022, 2022.
Thesis: [8] D. A. Mensah, "Low-power sensor networks for remote patient monitoring," Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Elect. Eng., Univ. of Manchester, Manchester, U.K., 2022.
Patent: [9] P. Ivanova, "Thermal management device for battery packs," U.S. Patent X XXX XXX, Mar. 5, 2024.
For standards, use the exact title and designation printed on the standard itself.
Websites, Software and Datasets
Web page: [10] Example Foundation. "Installation guide." Example Docs. Accessed: Oct. 2, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://docs.example.org/install
Dataset: [11] M. Alvarez, "Urban traffic sensor readings, 2019–2023," Example Data Repository, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://data.example.org/traffic
Include an access date for web content that may change. Cite software and datasets by version and repository where possible.
Using IEEE in a Thesis or Long Report
In a long document, keep one numbered sequence for the whole thesis unless your university asks for a separate list per chapter. Reference managers such as Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley include IEEE output styles, but check the result: abbreviations, capitalization and conference names often need manual correction.
Common IEEE Errors
| Error | Correct approach |
|---|---|
| Alphabetical reference list | Order by first citation |
| Surname first: Patel, J. K. | Initials first: J. K. Patel |
| Numbers without brackets | Always use square brackets: [3] |
| Article titles in title case | Use sentence case inside quotation marks |
| Full journal names | Use IEEE abbreviations, such as IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. |
| A new number for a repeated source | Reuse the original number |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Each source gets a number in square brackets in the order you first cite it, such as [1], and keeps that number every time it is cited again.
No. It is ordered by citation number, so the first source cited is [1].
Up to six. For seven or more, give the first author followed by et al.
Article titles go in quotation marks in sentence case. Journal and book titles are italicized.
Use a dash between bracketed numbers, such as [3]–[6], and commas for separate sources, such as [2], [5].
Include one whenever the source has it. It helps readers locate the exact version.
It is standard in electrical and electronic engineering, computer science and many technology journals and courses.
Yes. Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley all offer IEEE styles, but check journal abbreviations, title capitalization and conference details by hand before submitting.