Style

IEEE

Used In

Engineering

In-text Format

[1], [2], [3]

Published by

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

What Is IEEE Citation Format?

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) citation format is the standard for engineering, computer science, and technology disciplines. It uses a numbered reference system: sources are numbered in the order they first appear in the text, and the same number is reused when that source is cited again. The reference list is ordered by number, not alphabetically.

Primary disciplines: Engineering, Computer Science, Technology

IEEE Citation Examples

Journal Article

[1] J. A. Smith and J. B. Doe, "The impact of AI on networks," IEEE Trans. Neural Netw., vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 112–128, Mar. 2023. doi: 10.1109/TNNLS.2023.123456.

Book

[2] M. Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success, 1st ed. New York, NY, USA: Little, Brown, 2008.

Conference Paper

[3] R. Jones et al., "Deep learning for image recognition," in Proc. IEEE Conf. Comput. Vis., Seattle, WA, USA, 2023, pp. 1–8.

Website

[4] World Health Organization. "Mental Health." Accessed: Jan. 10, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/mental_health

Generate Your IEEE Citation Free →

Key IEEE Rules

Number references in order of appearance [1], [2], [3]
Reuse the same number when the same source is cited again
Author initials before last name: "J. A. Smith" not "Smith, John"
Abbreviate journal names per IEEE standard abbreviations
For 3+ authors, list all unless very long — then first author "et al."
Reference list ordered by number, not alphabetically
Conference: use "Proc." for Proceedings

IEEE vs Other Formats

APA 7

IEEE uses numbered [1] in-text; APA uses (Author, Year). IEEE reference list by number; APA alphabetical

Vancouver

Both use numbered references, but Vancouver is for medical/biomedical; IEEE for engineering/technology

Supported Source Types

✓ Journal articles✓ Conference papers and proceedings✓ Technical reports✓ Patents✓ Books and textbooks✓ Websites and online resources✓ Software and datasets✓ Standards documents

Generate Citations in Other Formats

APA 7 →MLA 9 →Chicago 17 →Harvard →Vancouver →

📋

Generate IEEE Citations

Free citation generator with live preview. Supports 8 source types.

Start Generating →

Need Expert Help?

✍️Writing — have an expert write your paper in IEEE format

📐Formatting — get your existing paper formatted in IEEE

🔍Editing — proofreading and citation checking

Get Expert Help →

Sample Papers

See IEEE citations in action — download expert-written sample papers.

Browse Sample Papers →

IEEE Citation Format Citation Generator