IEEE reference style
Free IEEE citation generator.
IEEE style, from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is a numbered system: each source gets a number in square brackets, [1], in the order you first cite it, and the reference list is in that numbered order.
Paste a DOI, a link, an ISBN or a title. The generator finds the source's details, lets you check and edit them, then writes the reference entry; you add the number when you place it in your list.
The style
How IEEE citations work.
Used in: Engineering, computer science, information technology and other technical subjects.
IEEE in-text citations
- Cite with a number in square brackets, inside the sentence: …as shown in [2].
- Number sources in the order you first cite them, and reuse the same number every time you cite a source again.
- Several sources: [1], [4]. A run of three or more: [3]–[5].
- Put locators inside the bracket: [6, p. 7], [6, Fig. 5], [6, Sec. IV].
- Naming the author is optional; the number still follows: Akbari and Kolokotsa [2] report…
The reference list
- Title the list "References" and order it by number, each entry starting with its number: [1].
- Give authors as initials then surname: Y. LeCun. Up to six authors are listed; with seven or more, give the first and "et al."
- Put article, chapter and webpage titles in double quotation marks, in sentence case, with the comma inside: "Deep learning,"
- Italicise book, journal and conference titles, in title case.
- Journals: vol. X, no. X, pp. X–Y, Mon. Year. Give DOIs as "doi: 10.xxxx". Webpages end with the URL and "(accessed Mon. Day, Year)."
IEEE citation examples
Journal article
[1] Y. LeCun, Y. Bengio, and G. Hinton, "Deep learning," Nature, vol. 521, no. 7553, pp. 436–444, May 2015, doi: 10.1038/nature14539.
In text: [1] · LeCun et al. [1]
Book
[2] J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Books, 2003.
In text: [2]
Book chapter
[3] L. Moreno, "Green roofs in dense districts," in Cooling the City, R. Patel, Ed. London, U.K.: Routledge, 2021, pp. 45–68.
In text: [3]
Webpage
[4] World Health Organization. "Depressive disorder (depression)." WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression (accessed Nov. 4, 2026).
In text: [4]
The journal, book and webpage examples are real sources; the chapter is an illustrative example from the style rules.
Common IEEE mistakes
- Numbering references alphabetically, or giving a reused source a new number.
- Writing full first names or surname first ("LeCun, Y."); IEEE uses "Y. LeCun".
- Using author–date citations, (1) or superscripts instead of [1].
- Writing ranges as [3-5] or [3, 4, 5] instead of [3]–[5].
- Writing DOIs as https://doi.org/ links or "DOI:" instead of "doi: 10.xxxx".
FAQ
IEEE citation questions.
Is this IEEE citation generator free?
Yes. You can create citations without an account, up to 20 an hour. EssayMate students can also cite from inside the essay editor, where references are numbered for them.
Why doesn't the reference have a number?
IEEE numbers depend on the order you first cite your sources, which only you know. Add [1], [2] and so on as you place the entries in your reference list; the copy button includes the number you choose.
Do IEEE book references need a city?
IEEE asks for the place of publication (City, Country: Publisher). The lookup services don't always give it, and the generator never guesses, so add the city when you know it.
Should I abbreviate journal names?
IEEE's own journals have official abbreviations (IEEE Trans. Power Syst.). For other journals the full name is acceptable.
Writing the essay too?
EssayMate finds real sources and cites them while it writes.
Give it the brief and it delivers a cited essay as a Word or PDF file, in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard or IEEE.