IEEE Citation Style 2026: Complete Guide for Engineering and Computer Science Papers

The IEEE citation style is the dominant citation standard for engineering, computer science, electronics, and related technical fields. Maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world's largest technical professional organization, IEEE style appears in thousands of journals and conference proceedings worldwide. This guide covers IEEE citation rules with examples by source type, as updated in the IEEE Reference Guide 2023 (current edition in 2026, revised annually).

This is the authoritative practitioner reference, checked against the official IEEE Author Center and the IEEE Reference Guide.

What IEEE Style Is, and When to Use It

IEEE style is maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey. IEEE publishes the IEEE Reference Guide and the IEEE Editorial Style Manual, used by IEEE journals (IEEE Transactions, IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Access) and conferences (ICC, INFOCOM, ICASSP).

Official source: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org
IEEE Reference Guide (PDF): https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/IEEE-Reference-Guide.pdf
Current edition verified: IEEE Reference Guide 2023 (revised annually).

Disciplines using IEEE:

• Electrical and electronic engineering
• Computer science and software engineering
• Telecommunications and networking
• Signal processing
• Power and energy engineering
• Control systems and robotics
• Mechanical engineering (some programs)
• Aerospace engineering (some programs)
• Biomedical engineering (often Vancouver too)

If your discipline is engineering or computer science, IEEE is the expected default. Other engineering styles (Harvard, APA) may also be accepted in some programs.

Core IEEE Rules

IEEE style has distinctive conventions that mark it apart from APA, MLA, Chicago and Vancouver.

In-text citations: numbers in square brackets

Citations use numbers in square brackets [1], [2], [3] in the text, assigned in order of first appearance.

Reading speed declines with age in monolingual adults [1].

Multiple consecutive citations:

Several studies have explored this effect [1], [2], [3].

Or with hyphens for ranges:

Several studies have explored this effect [1]-[3].

After the first citation, the same number is used for any subsequent reference to that source.

Smith et al. demonstrated this effect [1]. They later replicated it in a multicenter trial [2]. The cognitive reserve hypothesis [1] explains the partial compensation.

Reference list: numbered, in order of first appearance

The reference list is numbered in the order sources first appear in the text, NOT alphabetical (similar to Vancouver, opposite of APA/MLA/Chicago).

[1] J. Smith and A. Jones, "Reading speed and aging in monolingual adults: 
    A longitudinal study," J. Cogn. Aging, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 234-251, 
    Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1037/example.1234.

[2] C. Brown, M. Davis, and J. Smith, "Multicenter replication of cognitive 
    decline in monolingual aging," IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng., 
    vol. 32, pp. 589-602, 2024, doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2024.example.

Author names: initials before surname (unique to IEEE)

IEEE is unique among major citation styles in placing initials BEFORE the surname (rather than surname first):

J. Smith, A. Jones, and C. Brown.

For 6+ authors, use first author + "et al.":

J. Smith et al., "Article title," ...

Article titles: in quotation marks, sentence case

Article titles are in double quotation marks, sentence case (first word and proper nouns only capitalized).

"Reading speed and aging in monolingual adults: A longitudinal study"

Journal titles: italicized, abbreviated

Journal titles are in italics and abbreviated (IEEE uses its own abbreviation list, similar but not identical to NLM):

J. Cogn. Aging
IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng.
Commun. ACM

IEEE provides a list of common journal abbreviations: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org

DOI mandatory when available

Modern convention: DOI is mandatory when available, formatted with prefix "doi:":

doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2024.example

Or as URL:

doi:10.NNNN/example

Reference List: Examples by Source Type

Journal article (standard)

[1] J. Smith and A. Jones, "Reading speed and aging in monolingual adults," 
    J. Cogn. Aging, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 234-251, Mar. 2023, 
    doi: 10.1037/example.

Format: [n] author(s), "article title," journal abbr., vol. X, no. Y, pp. ZZ-ZZ, month year, doi.

Conference paper

Conference papers are heavily emphasized in IEEE (many breakthroughs are first published in conferences, not journals).

[2] J. Smith, "Working memory in older adults," in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. 
    Cogn. Neurosci., Toronto, ON, Canada, Mar. 2024, pp. 234-241.

Format: [n] author(s), "paper title," in Proc. Conference name abbr., location, month year, pp.

For conference papers in IEEE Xplore:

[3] J. Smith, "Working memory in older adults," in 2024 IEEE Int. Conf. 
    Cogn. Neurosci. (ICCN), 2024, pp. 234-241, doi: 10.1109/ICCN.2024.example.

Book

[4] L. Sherwood, Human Physiology, 4th ed. Brussels, Belgium: De Boeck, 2019.

Book chapter (edited volume)

[5] M. Dupuis, "Chronic pain assessment," in Treatise on Pain, 3rd ed., 
    R. Rey, Ed. Paris, France: Maloine, 2021, pp. 234-256.

Technical report

[6] J. Smith and A. Jones, "Reading speed analysis in aging populations," 
    MIT Comput. Sci. Lab., Cambridge, MA, USA, Tech. Rep. CSL-2024-01, 
    Mar. 2024.

Standard

[7] IEEE Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic, IEEE Std 754-2019, 2019.

Patent

[8] J. Smith, "Method for cognitive testing in aging populations," 
    U.S. Patent 12 345 678, May 15, 2024.

Thesis or dissertation

[9] M. Garcia, "Cognitive reserve and bilingualism in aging," Ph.D. 
    dissertation, Dept. Psychol., Univ. California, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2022.

For master's thesis: M.S. thesis instead of Ph.D. dissertation.

Webpage

[10] World Health Organization. "COVID-19 dashboard." WHO. Accessed: 
     May 19, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://covid19.who.int/

The "[Online]" marker indicates a digital source. The access date is required for webpages (more frequently than for other styles).

Software / GitHub repository

[11] J. Smith, "Cognitive aging analysis toolkit." (2024). [Online]. 
     Available: https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World

Dataset

[12] J. Smith. "Cognitive aging dataset 2010-2022." Open Science Framework. 
     (2023). [Online]. Available: doi:10.NNNN/example

AI-generated content (emerging IEEE guidance, 2023-2024)

IEEE has issued preliminary guidance treating AI as a tool. Cite the AI model as software:

[13] OpenAI. "ChatGPT (Mar 14, 2024 version)." [Online]. Available: 
     https://www.example.com

For substantive AI use, document prompts and outputs in an appendix. IEEE has stated that AI cannot be listed as an author (similar to ICMJE). Disclose AI use in the methodology section per your conference or journal policy.

Online article (not a journal)

[14] D. Goldstein. "Reading scores recover post-pandemic." The New York 
     Times. May 22, 2024. Accessed: May 19, 2026. [Online]. Available: 
     https://www.example.com

Manuscript Formatting (for IEEE Journal Submission)

For thesis writing, IEEE doesn't prescribe page layout (your university's handbook governs). For IEEE journal submission, use the official IEEE LaTeX or Word template.

Common IEEE journal conventions

• Double column layout (standard IEEE)
• Font: Times New Roman 10pt body, 9pt for captions
• Line spacing: single
• Title: 24pt centered
• Abstract: 100-250 words, italic
• Keywords: 5-10, alphabetical
• Body: numbered sections (I. Introduction, II. Related Work, ...)
• References: numbered in order of first citation in text, double-column layout

IEEE templates

IEEE provides official templates for LaTeX (Overleaf) and Microsoft Word:

• LaTeX: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org
• Word: same page, .docx templates for journal and conference

Use the official template; do not create your own.

Key Differences vs Other Citation Styles

Common Mistakes That Hurt Acceptance

Five mistakes that supervisors and reviewers flag most often.

Using surname-first author format: IEEE uses initials BEFORE surname (J. Smith), unlike APA, MLA, Chicago which use surname first. Most common APA-to-IEEE carryover.

Not abbreviating journal titles: IEEE journal titles are abbreviated (J. Cogn. Aging, not Journal of Cognitive Aging). Use the IEEE abbreviation list.

Alphabetical reference list: IEEE is NUMBERED in order of first citation, not alphabetical. Common error for APA/MLA users.

Italicizing article titles: article titles are in quotation marks, NOT italicized. Only journal titles are italicized.

Forgetting [Online] marker for web sources: webpages and online-only sources should be marked [Online]. Mandatory in IEEE Reference Guide.

Reference Managers and IEEE

Most reference managers support IEEE:

• Zotero (free, open source): "IEEE" style built-in, regularly updated
• Mendeley (free, by Elsevier): excellent IEEE support
• EndNote (paid, by Clarivate): comprehensive IEEE styles
• Overleaf (LaTeX, free for basic): bibtex with IEEEtran.bst style or cite.sty package
• Folio Student: applies IEEE layout automatically for engineering thesis projects

For LaTeX users, the IEEEtran BibTeX style is the standard:

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\bibliography{references}

Pre-Submission Checklist (IEEE)

• All in-text citations use [n] format in square brackets
• Same number reused for subsequent references to the same source
• Reference list numbered in order of first citation (not alphabetical)
• Author names: initials BEFORE surname (J. Smith, not Smith, J.)
• Up to 6 authors listed; 7+ uses first author + et al.
• Journal titles abbreviated and italicized
• Article titles in quotation marks, sentence case
• DOI included as "doi: 10.xxxx/example" or as URL
• [Online] marker for web sources
• Access date for time-sensitive content (webpages, dashboards)
• AI use disclosed per conference/journal policy
• Final proofread for IEEE Reference Guide 2023 compliance
• IEEE template used if submitting to a journal (not your own format)

For full coverage of related citation standards, see our academic style guides reference. For deep coverage of other styles, see our APA 7 guide and Vancouver style guide.

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FAQ

Is IEEE Reference Guide 2023 still current in 2026?
Yes. The IEEE Reference Guide is updated annually (sometimes biennially). The 2023 version is the most recent stable reference. Verify on the IEEE Author Center for any 2024-2026 updates: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org.

Why does IEEE put initials before the surname?
Historical convention in engineering literature. Initials-first format is also used by some physics journals (e.g., Physical Review). This contrasts with APA, MLA, Chicago (which use surname-first), and Vancouver (which uses surname + initials). Use IEEE format consistently when writing in IEEE style.

Do I need to abbreviate journal titles in IEEE?
Yes. IEEE journal titles are abbreviated according to the IEEE journal title abbreviation list (https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org). This is different from NLM/Vancouver abbreviations though many overlap. Use the IEEE list to verify.

How do I cite a conference paper from IEEE Xplore?
Use this format:

[n] J. Smith, "Paper title," in 2024 IEEE Int. Conf. Cogn. Neurosci. (ICCN), 2024, pp. 234-241, doi: 10.1109/ICCN.2024.example.

Include the doi field, the conference acronym in parentheses, and the page numbers.

How do I cite a standard in IEEE?
Cite the standard with its number and year:

[n] IEEE Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic, IEEE Std 754-2019, 2019.

For other organizations' standards (ISO, ANSI, etc.), use a similar pattern adapted for the organization.

How do I cite ChatGPT or another AI tool in IEEE?
IEEE 2023-2024 guidance treats AI as a software tool. AI cannot be listed as an author. For citation:

[n] OpenAI. "ChatGPT (Mar 14, 2024 version)." [Online]. Available: https://www.example.com

Document AI use in the methodology section per your conference or journal policy. Most IEEE journals now require explicit AI disclosure.

Should I use [1] or (1) for in-text citations?
IEEE uses square brackets [1], not parentheses (1). Use [1], [2], [3] in the text and matching numbered entries in the reference list. Vancouver and IEEE both use numerical citations but with different bracket conventions.

How many authors before "et al."?
Six. List the first six authors in full, then "et al." for seven or more. Similar to Vancouver convention.

What's the difference between IEEE and ACM citation styles?
Both are numerical and widely used in computer science. IEEE is more common in electrical engineering, networking, signal processing; ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) is more common in pure computer science (theoretical CS, HCI, programming languages). Use whichever your venue or supervisor specifies. ACM has its own style guide separate from IEEE.

Can I cite preprints (arXiv) in IEEE?
Yes. Cite arXiv preprints with the arXiv ID:

[n] J. Smith and A. Jones, "Reading speed and aging," arXiv:2024.04.12345 [cs.AI], Apr. 2024.

Some IEEE journals require peer-reviewed publication; check your venue's specific policy.

How do I cite software or a GitHub repository in IEEE?
Use a generic web source format:

[n] J. Smith. "Cognitive aging analysis toolkit." (2024). [Online]. Available: https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World

Include the access date if the content is updated frequently.

Does IEEE require an italic or non-italic journal title?
Italic. IEEE italicizes journal titles (unlike Vancouver). Article titles are in quotation marks, not italic.

What's the deadline for the next IEEE Reference Guide update?
The IEEE Reference Guide is updated approximately annually. Check the IEEE Author Center (https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org) for the most recent version. Updates typically include new media types (e.g., AI tools, datasets) and refinements to existing rules.