Published January 29, 2021. Updated August 10, 2021.

To cite in IEEE style, it is helpful to know basic information about your source, including author name(s), the title of the source and/or article, date published, and page numbers (if applicable).

This guide will show you in-text citations and full reference examples in IEEE style for the following source types:

• Website

• Book

• Journal article

• Newspaper or magazine article

• Electronic report (e.g., PDF)

• Online video

• Online image

If you wish to easily cite in IEEE, check out the Chegg Writing citation generator.

Formatting citations in IEEE style

The IEEE citation style has two parts:

1. In-text citation number.

2. Reference list.

In-text citation number

When you cite information from a source in your work, place a number inside square brackets. In-text citations are arranged sequentially in the text.

You can also cite more than one source at a time:

• Example sentence [1, 2]

• Example sentence [1–3]

• Example sentence [1, 2–4, 9]

The number corresponds to the source’s number in the reference list.

Grammatical treatment

Note that, grammatically, references may be treated as if they were footnote numbers, e.g.:

… as mentioned by Smith [1] and by Jones [2].

Alternatively, they may be treated as a noun, e.g.:

… as mentioned in [1] by Smith and in [2] by Jones.

Reference list

Place the reference list at the end of your paper and title it “References.” References are listed in the order the sources are mentioned in your paper; they are not listed in alphabetical order.

For example:

Citing a website in IEEE style

In the reference, the author’s name should list their first name initials (and middle, if shown), followed by their full middle name.

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing a website [#].

The results demonstrate teens are suffering from depression [4].

Reference list basic format and example:

Citing a book in IEEE style

In the reference, the author’s name should list their first name initials (and middle, if shown), followed by their full middle name.

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing a book [#].

Side effects began appearing about 2 weeks after the trial began [3].

Reference list basic format and example:

Citing a journal article in IEEE style

The title of journals should be abbreviated according to the IEEE editorial style manual (2016); see examples below. Also, in the reference, the author’s name should list their first name initials (and middle, if shown), followed by their full middle name.

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing a journal article [#].

Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers [7] …

Reference list basic format and example:

Citing a newspaper or magazine article in IEEE style

In the reference, the author’s name should list their first name initials (and middle, if shown), followed by their full middle name.

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing a newspaper or magazine article [#].

Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers [6] …

Reference list basic format and example:

Citing an electronic report (e.g., PDF) in IEEE style

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing an electronic report [#].

Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers [7] …

Reference list basic format and example:

Citing an online video (e.g., YouTube) in IEEE style

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing an online video [#].

There are several approaches to washing hands, including the one shown in this video [3].

Reference list basic format and example:

Citing an online image in IEEE style

In-text citation basic format and example:

This is a sentence citing an online image [#].

There are several approaches to washing hands, including the one shown in this image [3].

Reference list basic format and example:

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