Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE) Style

Professional English 2
Marco Meza

1
 Purpose of IEEE Style

• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Style
• Primarily used for publications in:
• engineering,
• electronics
• telecommunications,
• computer science
• information technology.
 In Text Citation

• IEEE style encloses citation numbers within the text of a paper in

1
square brackets [1] rather than as superscripts or in bracketed
form (Jones 98), e.g.
One technical writer seems to think, even though IEEE is not an easy style to
learn, it is the most useful for prospective engineers to embrace [1].
 Author-Name Substitution

• Reference numbers are used to replace the names of authors,

where possible.
• Exception:
• if citing a theory, e.g., one should definitely give the name of the person
to whom the theory is ascribed. (e.g. Newton, Einstein)
 Citation Placement
• The note numbers must be placed directly after the
reference as opposed to the end of a sentence or
clause, unless it would normally fall there.
• Final punctuation should be placed outside of the
square brackets.
 Multiple References

• Separate citation numbers with commas but no spaces.

• [3],[5]
• If there is a sequence of three or more citations in a reference, a
single range should be used with a hyphen to separate the numbers
• e.g. “Similar conclusions were reached by [3], [4], [5].”
• might be: ……..were reached by [3-5].”
 Reference List

• List of sources at the end of the work

• Reference List
• All sources used in assignment in Numerical not Alphabetical Order
• Double space within and between entries
• Indent text after entry 2 or 3 spaces to right of closing square bracket.
• Appendices
• Each appendix should have its own reference list
 Reference List
• 1. Books
• 2. Journals
• 3. Electronic Sources
• 4. Personal communications
 Referencing – Books (IEEE)
• Book - [Citation Numbers] Author's Name, Title of book[, edition,
editors, translators]. Location: Publisher, Date.
Citation Numbers
• IEEE style encloses citation numbers within the text of a paper in
square brackets [1] rather than as superscripts1
• Each citation number in the reference list is also enclosed in square
brackets.
 Referencing Books –Single Author

• First initial and last name

[3] D. Jones, Technical Writing Style, Toronto: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
 Referencing Books
Multiple Authors

• For each author, use initials followed by surname.

• List the authors in the order given in the source.
[7] D. Beer, R.F. Martin, and P. Fingle, Photosensory Transduction, New York:
Willey, 1993.
*Note that commas go between each name, and also that "and"
comes before the last name in the list.
 Referencing Books (IEEE)

• Date:
• 1997. "n.d." [for "no date"]
• Enter ONLY the year
• If the source gives several dates, use the most recent one.
• Book Title:
• Enter the full title, as given on the copyright page
• Capitalize all words in the title, except for "of," "and," "for," "in" etc.
 Referencing – Journals (IEEE)
• [Citation Number] Author name[s], "article title,"journal
title , volume number, issue number, month (abbrv.),
pages, publication year.
 Referencing Journals cont.(IEEE)

• Only include information pertinent to your source

• For example
• many professional and academic journals do not have an issue month
• In that case, or when it seems unnecessary, do not include it in your citation.
• [1] K.A. Nelson, R.J. Dwayne Miller, D.R. Lutz, and M.D. Fayer, "Optical generation
of turntable ultrasonic waves," Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 53, no. 2, Feb., pp.
1144-1149.
 Referencing – E- Sources (IEEE)
• Give:
• Author, title, type of medium (enclosed in brackets), volume and issue
number (if on-line journal), page number (if relevant or given), and the
year and the month of publication (in parentheses)
• Then give the full internet address or the name of the online
service provider prefaced by "Available at “
• If not an on-line journal, also put [cited year month day] before
"Available at"
 Referencing – E- Sources (IEEE)
EXAMPLES

• [10] A. Harnack and G. Kleppinger, "Beyond the MLA Handbook: Documenting

Electronic Sources on the Internet." Kairos, [Online serial] 1 (2), (1996 Sum),
Available at HTTP: http://english.ttu.edu.kairos/1.2/
• [11] P. Curtis, "Mudding: Social Phenomena in text-based virtual realities,"
[Online document] Aug. 1992, [1996 Aug 30], Available at FTP:
parcftp.xerox.com/pub/MOO/papers/DIAC921992
 Personnal Communications 1

• Personal communications encompass

• conversations
• letters
• interviews
• e-mails
• telephone conversations
• IEEE style states citing
• only published works
• forthcoming published works
• unpublished material available to scholars in a library, a depository, or an archive
 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS

• For interviews or other "non-recoverable" information

• no citation number is necessary
• An attempt to identify the author is really necessary in the text
itself
• "In a personal interview with Bill Gates, he suggested that he would soon
rule the world.“
• "In a letter to the author, Professor Mueller detailed his experiences with
using this data collection software."
Thanks