Skip to Main Content

IEEE Style Citation

Welcome to the IEEE Citation Guide!

IEEE Style is commonly used in Engineering and Computer Science courses, for citing references in papers. 

There are 2 parts to documentation in IEEE Style:

  • In-text Citations - brief numerical link to main entry in references
  • References - detailed list of sources 

Get a printable manual (48 pages) at IEEE Reference Style Guide for Authors.

Consult the IEEE Author Center, for more resources.



General Guidelines

In-text citation

  • In-text citations are shown as numbers within square brackets: [2]
  • Each source that you cite is assigned a number according to the order it appears in your text.
  • If you cite the same source more than once, use the same number rather than creating a new reference. 
  • Use “et al.” when three or more names are given for a reference cited in the text.

Reference list

  • Reference numbers are aligned to the left margin and form a column of their own.
  • Use "et al." to signify that a document has more than six authors.
  • All references, except those ending with URLs, will end with a period, including those with a DOI.
  • Check the IEEE Editorial Style Manual for official abbreviations. Many commonly used terms as well as specific IEEE journals should be abbreviated in the references.

Attribution

Thank you to Concordia University Library in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal for giving us permission to reuse content from their IEEE citation guide. "IEEE citation style" by Concordia University Library is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0