IEEE Online Sources
The examples in this guide provide an overview of the IEEE system as they may appear in a references page. The examples are meant to be illustrative and do not encompass every possible situation. If you have questions about citing particular types of sources or dealing with particular situations, you should consult the IEEE Reference Guide located online or contact a librarian, in person or via chat.
- In all references, the given name of the author or editor is abbreviated to the initial only and precedes the last name. Use commas around Jr., Sr., and III in names.
- List names of all authors, up to six names. If there are more than six names listed, use the primary author’s name followed by et al. For non-IEEE publications, et al. may be used if names are not provided.
- References may not include all information; please obtain and include relevant information. Do not combine references. There must be only one reference with each number.
- If there is a URL included with the print reference, it can be included at the end of the reference (see Notes About Online Resources below).
- All references, except those ending with URLs, will end with a period, including those with a DOI. However, if a reference contains both a DOI or accessed date, as well as a URL, place the DOI after the URL and end with a period.
- Note that when citing IEEE Transactions, if the issue number or month is not available, research IEEEXplore to update the information.
- For any reference that cites two months for the same issue, the two months should be separated by a slash (e.g., Jul./Aug.), followed by the year of publication.
- The numbering of references is employed by citing one reference per number.
- All citations of figures and tables in-text must be in numerical order. Citations to figures in-text always carry the abbreviation “Fig.” followed by the figure number. The abbreviation is used even when it begins a sentence.
Notes About Online References
There are various options for including a URL in a reference. Follow the order of details and whether a period needs to be placed at the end of the reference. The style of the accessed date is “Accessed: Abbrev. month and day, year.” The placement of the accessed date within the reference should match how it is provided in the final author-submitted version.
- Accessed date. [Online]. Available: URL, DOI (add period at end).
- Accessed date. [Online]. Available: URL (no period at end)
- Accessed date, DOI (add period at end).
- URL, DOI (add period at end).
- (no accessed date), DOI (add period at end unless hyperlink).
- URL (no period at end)
Guidelines for Breaking URLs:
- Break after slash or double slash.
- Break “before” the hyphen that is part of an address, but do not break after; do not add hyphens or spaces; do not let addresses hyphenate.
- Break “before” a tilde (~), a hyphen, an underscore (_), a question mark, or a percent (%) symbol.
- Break before or after an equal sign or an ampersand (follow the same rule for the “at” (@) symbol).
