Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) style examples

The IEEE citation style is now widely used in electrical, electronic and computing publications. IEEE provides instructions for authors for each type of publication such as journals, magazines, newsletters, and standards.

IEEE is a numbered style with two components:

1. In-text references where references are numbered [1] in the order of appearance in the article
2. A reference list, displayed at the end of the article which provides full details of all references cited in-text. The references are ordered as they appear in the in-text references (in order of citation, not in alphabetical order).

There are variations of the IEEE style. The following are examples of references in the IEEE transactions, journals, and letters: information for authors <http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/auinfo03.pdf>. Further examples in this style can be found in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers site <http://www.ieee.org/portal/site>.

Examples on this page:

• in-text references
• books
• sections / chapters of books
• papers from conferences
• journal articles
• theses or dissertations
• electronic sources:
  • electronic book
  • online journal article
  • electronic conference paper
  • website
• reference list - sample format

In-text references

Using this system, references are numbered in the order in which they are first cited in the text. If the same reference is cited later in the text, the same number is given. For example

"The theory was first put forward in 1987 [1]" 

"Scholtz [2] has argued that......." 

"Several recent studies [1], [3], [4], [15], [16] have suggested that..." 

Books

Elements of the citation:

Author(s) First name or initials. Surname, or name of organisation, Title of book followed by fullstop if no edition statement, or comma if there is an edition statement, ed., Edition (except the first). Place of publication City: Publisher, Year of Publication.

In addition, to the above citation details, provide page numbers if you have quoted specific facts or materials e.g. pp. 28-30.

Sections / chapters of books

Elements of the citation:

Author(s) First name or initials. Surname, "Title of the chapter," in Title of the book, ed., Edition (except the first) vol., volume if available, Ed. editor if available, Place of publication: Publisher, Year of Publication, pp. Chapter/s or First and Last pages of the article.

Example:
G. K. Knopf and A. S. Bassi, "Biological-based optical sensors and transducers," in Opto-mechatronic Systems Handbook: Techniques and Applications, Hyungsuck Cho, Ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2003, pp. 195-210.
Note: Fictitious example

Papers from conferences

Elements of the citation:

Author(s) First name or initials. Surname, "Title of paper," in Title of the Conference, Editor/s firstname last name if available, Ed. Place of publication: Publisher if available, Date of publication, pp. first and last pages of the paper.

Example:
A. H. Cookson and B. O. Pedersen, "Thermal measurements in a 1200kV compressed gas insulated transmission line," in Seventh IEEE Power Engineering Society Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition, 1979, pp. 163-167.

Journal articles

Elements of the citation:

Author(s) First name or initials. Surname, "Title of article," Title of journal, vol. volume, (issue number), pp. first and last pages of the article, Date of issue month if available year.

Note: IEEE journal titles are abbreviated according to the List of IEEE Transactions, Journals and Letters <http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/tjmnames.pdf>.

Example:
K. P. Dabke and K. M. Thomas, "Expert system guidance for library users," Library Hi Tech, vol. 10, (1-2), pp. 53-60, 1992.

Theses or dissertations

The following example is taken from the IEEE Computer Society Style Guide <http://www.computer.org/author/style/index.htm>

Elements of the citation:

Author(s) First name or initials. Surname, "Title of thesis," Type of thesis PhD dissertation or doctoral dissertation or master's thesis, Department, University, Place, State, Country, Year of Publication.

Example:
S. Birch, "Dolphin-human interaction effects: frequency mediated psychophysiological responses in biological systems," doctoral dissertation, Dept. Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Victoria, Australia, 1997.

Electronic sources

Electronic book

Elements of the citation:

Author(s) First name or initials. Surname. (year, month). Title of article. Title of Journal. [Type of medium]. volume number (issue number), pp. pages. Available: site/path/file

Note: the dates where months are included the following abbreviations can apply: Write May, June, and July in full. Abbreviate the other months: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Use a slash for bimonthly issues (Aug./Sept. 2000) and a hyphen or en dash for a quarterly (July-Sept. 2000) as recommended by the IEEE Computer Society Style Guide <http://www.computer.org/author/style/index.htm>.

Example:
J. S. Fulda. (2000, Mar.). The Internet as an engine of scholarship. ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society. [Online]. 30 (1), pp. 17-27. Available: http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/572217.572222

J. Farrell. (2007, May). In Wikipedia we trust? Cosmos Online [Online]. Available: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1339

Example:
X. Yang. (2003, Aug.). NIRA: a new Internet routing architecture. Presented at ACM SIGCOMM FDNA 2003 Workshop. [Online]. Available: http://www.isi.edu/newarch/DOCUMENTS/yang.nira.pdf

The following is a suggested example based on information available from the IEEE transactions, journals, and letters: information for authors (pdf 921kb). Please contact the appropriate academic staff member to clarify any referencing issues you may have.

Elements of the citation:

Author. (year, month). Title. [Type of Medium]. Available: site/path/file

Example:
(2007, Mar.). Dr Jean Armstrong: Brief Biography [Online]. Available: http://www.ecse.monash.edu.au/staff/jeana/aboutarmstrong.html

Reference list - sample format:

References must be listed in the order in which they were cited (numerical order) not in alphabetical order.

Sources of further information

IEEE Computer Society, " IEEE Computer Society Style Guide," Nov. 2004; http://www.computer.org/author/style/index.htm

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., " IEEE Transactions, Journals, and Letters: Information for Authors," Jan. 2003; http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/auinfo03.pdf

University of Melbourne Library, "IEEE Style," Jan. 2005; http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/cite/ieee/

Using the IEEE referencing system (pdf, 59kb), http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/current-students/download/using-ieee-system.pdf

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