IEEE Referencing Guide

IEEE citation format overview

This guide follows the official IEEE Reference Guide, updated 28 March 2025. References are numbered in the order they first appear. Reuse a source's number whenever you cite it again.

Use the IEEE reference generator

1. Books
2. Journals
3. Technical reports and papers
4. Standards
5. Webpages
6. Images
7. Videos
8. Social media
9. Modern sources and AI guidance

IEEE in-text citation examples

Put the number in square brackets before the sentence's punctuation: The results support this approach [1]. A citation can also form part of your sentence, such as “The method in [1]”. Do not use a superscript number or an author-date citation.

A locator identifies the relevant part: [1, p. 8], [1, pp. 8–12] or [1, Fig. 2]. The current IEEE guide writes out consecutive reference numbers individually: [1], [2], [3].

IEEE reference-list format

List one source per number, in citation order. Use initials before surnames. List all authors when there are six or fewer; for more than six, give the first author followed by et al. Preserve proper nouns and acronyms when writing titles in sentence case.

A normal reference ends in a full stop. A reference ending in a URL does not add a full stop to that URL; a DOI introduced by “doi:” does take the normal final full stop.

1. Books

Printed books

Give the author, italicised book title, edition if not the first, publisher's city and country (and state for a US city), publisher and year.

Book titles use initial capitals for their significant words. Use the publisher abbreviation specified by IEEE where applicable. Do not treat a later reprint as a new edition.

Chapters in edited books

Put the chapter title in quotation marks, followed by “in”, the book title, the editor's initials and surname, publication details and the chapter's full page range.

Use “Eds.” for several editors. A whole edited book instead puts its editor or editors at the beginning, followed by “Ed.” or “Eds.”

Online books

Retain the book's publication details. Add “doi:” and the DOI when available. Otherwise use the online availability information appropriate to the source, such as “[Online]. Available:” and its URL. Include an access date when needed to identify the version consulted.

Reference a book · Reference a chapter

2. Journal articles

Use the article title in quotation marks, the abbreviated journal title in italics, volume, issue, page range, month if available, and year. The page range identifies the whole article; your in-text citation can point to one page within it.

Use “p.” for one page and “pp.” for several. Keep full page numbers, rather than shortening 104–128 to 104–28. Use the recognised journal abbreviation; the generator cannot reliably invent one from a journal's full title.

Online articles and DOIs

Add the DOI after the publication details, for example , doi: 10.1234/example.2024. This DOI is illustrative. If an article has an article number instead of pages, use “Art. no.” and that identifier. If no DOI is available, use the article's direct URL with “[Online]. Available:”.

Reference a journal article

3. Technical reports and papers

Identify the author, quoted report title, issuing organisation, its location, the report or paper number, and the date. Report numbers are important identifiers: copy them from the source rather than replacing them with a journal volume.

For an online report, add its DOI or online availability details. Conference papers have their own format, including the conference or proceedings name; use section II.C of the official guide rather than treating every technical paper as a report.

4. Standards

Use the standard's italicised title, identifying number and date. Include the organisation and other publication information when required to identify it. Cite the particular edition or amendment you used.

For an online version, add “[Online]. Available:” and the URL. Section II.P of the IEEE guide gives print and online examples.

5. Webpages

Give the credited author, quoted page title, website name, access date and URL. Keep the site name in ordinary type. Credit an organisation as author when it is responsible for the page; do not invent a personal author.

Use the access date on which you actually consulted the page. If the item is a journal article or report hosted on a website, use that source's format instead of treating it as an ordinary webpage.

Reference a webpage

6. Images and figures

For a figure taken from an article or book, reference the source containing it and add the figure or page locator to your citation, such as [3, Fig. 2]. An image published on a webpage can be located through that page's reference. Describe the creator and work where relevant to your discussion.

Reference the publication or webpage containing the image, and identify the image by its figure number or caption.

7. Online videos

The official online-video format gives the owner or creator, location if available, italicised video title, release date in parentheses, access date, “[Online Video]” and the URL.

Use the video you actually watched, including its release or upload information. A person's name and a platform username are not automatically interchangeable.

8. Social media

IEEE references for social posts use the online-source pattern. Identify the author and quoted post, the platform, access date and direct URL.

The IEEE Reference Guide includes worked examples for these source types.