16 August,2023
Table of Contents
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the world’s largest professional association of engineers and technical professionals. With more than 427000 members from 190 countries, IEEE is dedicated to advancing research and development in electrical, electronics, computer science, software, AI, and all other tech fields. Furthermore, the IEEE standard recognizes seminal research and sets consensus standards across different tech industries.
The global nature of the institution and its role as a standard-setting body makes it essential for setting a communication standard. The IEEE referencing and paper formatting rules make it easy for professionals across the globe and different disciplines to follow, understand, and extend each other’s works. In recent years, citing in IEEE has become much easier thanks to automated IEEE citation generators.
In this article, we will take a comprehensive look at the IEEE citation and referencing format. But, before doing so, let us find out how the IEEE format makes research & communication easier.
The IEEE format for citations and formatting finds heavy usage in technical writing & research. It finds primary usage in technical writings in the electronics, engineering, telecommunications, computer science, and information technology domains.
Like its counterparts, the IEEE citations and formatting style makes it easier:
Proper citations and formatting are essential for exchanging ideas. Structure and organization make it easier to follow and understand what’s being said, propose, or analyzed. And thorough referencing prevents plagiarism and acts as tokens of appreciation for academics whose ideas helped in a study. Furthermore, proper references to information sources improve the quality and credibility of any work.
Substantial citations and detailed reference lists act as excellent guides for would-be researchers. They can trace the genealogy of an idea or inference as they decide the origins, motivations, logic, & evidence that birthed it. References help researchers immensely and help them to develop an idea further.
The above are key reasons why proper citations & formatting are so crucial in any paper. The IEEE format for referencing and structuring serves this purpose for any technical write-up in any domain that follows it.
Now, let’s start digging in by closely examining IEEE citation guidelines.
IEEE citations or in-text citations are noted in the text using Arabic numerals in sequence. Numbers are enclosed in square brackets and placed beside the text using information or ideas from that source. This number links to the appropriate reference entry. Once a source has been cited in the paper, the same number appears anywhere the source finds mention.
IEEE in-text citations do not distinguish between electronic and printed sources. The reference list, however, points out the format of the source (More about this later).
Remember à Every reference number must be enclosed within square brackets and appear on the same line as the text. It should be placed before any punctuation with a single space before the opening bracket. The number can also appear inside a sentence.
Here are some examples:
“…as per existing research [1].”
“The idea was put forth in ground-breaking research [2].”
“Shultz [3] argued for…”
“Numerous eminent studies [4, 5, 6, 13] showed that..”
IEEE intext citations can be treated grammatically as either footnote numbers or nouns.
Footnote numbers:
As shown in Roberts [4] [6]
For more information, see [7] [9] [15]
.. as told earlier [3], [12]-[19], [20]
Trevor et al. [5] note that…
As found in [4] …
According to [1] and [9],
This is in stark contrast to [5] and [10]
Richard [8] shows us that…
Arthurs et al. [16] argue that…
Mark and Mervin [12] present …
NOTE that it is not essential to mention author surnames in in-text citations. IEEE citation rules forbid it unless the author’s name is critical to understanding the information or points presented.
If there are more than six authors, mention the name of the first author and then write et al. in the reference list.
Here is another look at how to cite a singular source:
Use the same reference number when mentioning the same source more than once. Just repeat the earlier citation number and, if necessary, mention the same name throughout the paper.
If you cite ideas, information, or findings from different instances of the same source, mention the page numbers. Use abbreviations to show what exactly you are referring to. Follow the formats below à
Separate each reference number with a comma when citing multiple sources in a single citation. If listing several consecutive reference entries, mention the first and last references with a dash in between.
At the end of the document appears the reference list. The reference list should provide complete details about every source referenced in the text or document. All reference list entries must be arranged as per the appearance of their in-text citations, not in alphabetical or sequential order.
Only one reference list entry is enough for a single resource. Following are some formatting tips for developing a reference list in the IEEE format.
The essential aspects of the source metadata to be used are listed belowà
Here are some examples à
As clear from above, IEEE reference entries have three key parts à
If you struggle with IEEE citations or the IEEE reference format, MyAssignmenthelp.com offers you one of the fastest and most accurate IEEE reference generators online.
Now, let us look at the IEEE citation formats for various sources.
In-text citations for any source in the IEEE format involve writing Arabic numerals in square brackets and putting them at the end of a sentence that uses information from that source.
Citations stay the same for all kinds of sources. Let us look at the referencing formats for the most cited sources.
Note the punctuation. Also, abbreviate the names of states and countries where published. Mention at most six author names; if there are more, write et al.
[#] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, “Title of the paper in sentence case,” presented at Italicized & Abbreviated Conference Name in title Case, Location of Conference, Month and day, year.
A. A. Author and B. B. Author, “Article title in sentence case,” Italicized & abbreviated journal title in title case, vol. xxxx, no. xxxx, pp. starting page-ending page, DOI or URL or database name in title case
[#] A. A. Author, Italicized book title in title case. Place of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. Available: DOI, URL, Provider, or Database name in title case
[#] Italicized title of the standard in the sentence case, standard number, and date. Available: DOI or URL or Database name in title case
If there’s any missing information, omit it from the reference entry. However, all online articles must have an URL, DOI, or database name, even if no author is mentioned.
There are no special rules in these cases. Every source must have its separate reference list entry. Follow citation and referencing rules as per the nature of the work.
As mentioned, if there are no page numbers, add as much information as necessary to help readers find the source. Add URL or DOI or database name, journal & article name, chapter name, etc., as applicable.
If the translator’s name is mentioned, then add “trans.” (translated by) and the translator’s name after the work’s title, separated by a comma.
[#] A. A. Author, “Thesis/dissertation title in sentence case,” M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation, Abbreviated department name, abbreviated institution name, institution location, publication year.
Add (type of medium) and URL if online.
IEEE formatting rules are the same for any document. The focus is on readability, grammatical correctness, and consistency with IEEE styling. We investigate IEEE formatting rules in the following headings.
Any equation or math notation that’s not common knowledge to domain professionals must be cited. Weave the citation into the narrative by mentioning the source of the citation and then adding the equation. You can also add the citation number after adding the equation.
A comma should appear at the end of the equation, after which you should add the equation number.
Some specific rules for mathematical notations are as follows:
Capitalize the first letter of both the first and last words. Also, capitalize every noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, and even subordinating conjunction. Capitalize all abbreviations except those of units. All articles, coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions must be lowercase unless they are the last word of the title, in which case, their first letter must be capitalized.
Any preposition of more than three letters must be capitalized.
Numbered headings are preferred but not essential. Whatever the choice, be consistent.
Use conventional styles such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri, and set the font size to ten.
For A4-sized papers, side margins= 13 mm., top margin= 19 mm. and bottom margin = 43 mm.
There’s no need to mention the page number in your manuscript or document. For footers, use the main font style with size 9. Left justify the footnote.
Plagiarism is an acknowledged and blatant duplication of ideas & information from somebody else’s work. It can destroy academic & professional reputations permanently and have severe legal & financial repercussions. Furthermore, plagiarized research can have deadly and far-reaching consequences.
Citations and references are the best way to show acknowledgment for the ideas & information that inspired a work. They also help readers locate the sources of that information.
And, with that, we wrap up this guide to IEEE referencing and formatting. Hope it comes in handy when working on your next technical paper.
If you are struggling with referencing, we have our own IEEE citation format generator that you can use for FREE. At MyAssignmenthelp.com, we also have expert teams of academic writing professionals who can craft impeccable IEEE format papers, AMA style papers, etc., as per requirements.
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The IEEE citation is a referencing style laid down by the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers. It is the most used citation style, followed by the electrical, electronics, computer science, IT, and other technical domains.
All books, whether single or multiple authors, should have unique citation numbers. In the reference list entry of the book, write down all the authors’ names using the initials of their first name and their surname in full, up to six authors. Use et al. after the sixth author’s name if there are more than six.
Here’s a look à
[#] A. A. Author, “Title, section, or webpage name in sentence case,” Website name in Title Case, complete publication, or modification date. URL if available
Take a look à
[#] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, “Title of the paper in sentence case,” presented at Italicized & Abbreviated Conference Name in title Case, Location of Conference, Month and day, year.
Craft reference list entries for patents in the following mannerà
[#] A. A. Rightsholder, “Title of the patent in the sentence case,” U.S. Patent xxxxx, Abbreviated month and date of issuance, issuance year, URL if available
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