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IEEE citation generator
Format an IEEE reference and its [1] in-text citation from the source details you type in.
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IEEE style is the numbered citation format of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Each source gets a number in square brackets, and the reference list follows the order in which sources first appear. Pick the source type, type in the details you have, and this free IEEE citation generator returns the formatted reference, the in-text citation and a list of anything still missing.
What IEEE format citation is and who uses it
IEEE format is used in electrical and electronic engineering, computer science, telecommunications and related technical fields, in journals, conference papers, lab reports and student projects. It is a numeric style: you cite with a bracketed number such as [1] in the text, and the reader finds the full entry under the same number in the reference list. Author names are written with initials first (J. A. Rivera), article titles go in quotation marks in sentence case, and journal and book titles are set in italics. Journal names are normally abbreviated, for example Trans. for Transactions and J. for Journal.
IEEE reference patterns with worked examples
Journal article: A. A. Author and B. B. Author, "Title of article," Abbrev. Title of Journal, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx, Abbrev. Month year, doi: xxx. Example: J. A. Rivera and M. L. Chen, "Thermal drift in example sensor arrays," J. Example Stud., vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 45-67, Mar. 2021. Book: A. A. Author, Title of Book, xth ed. City, Country: Publisher, year. Example: J. A. Rivera, Introduction to Example Circuits, 2nd ed. Springfield, IL, USA: Example Press, 2019. Conference paper: M. L. Chen, "A sample routing method for mesh networks," in Proc. Example Conf. Netw., 2020, pp. 10-15. Website: J. A. Rivera. "Page title." Example Site. Accessed: May 2, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.example.com/page
How to use this IEEE reference generator
Choose the source type, then fill in what you have: authors, title, the journal, publisher, conference or site, the date, and any volume, issue, pages, DOI or URL. Only the title is required. The tool formats the details you enter. It does not look sources up, open links or search a database, so it cannot supply a missing year or page number. Where something the pattern needs is absent, you get a bracketed placeholder such as [year] and a note under Missing details telling you what to find. It also keeps the journal name as you typed it, so enter the abbreviated title if you know it. Writing for a health or science course? Try the AMA Citation Generator or the CSE Citation Generator.
Common IEEE citation mistakes
Sorting the reference list alphabetically: IEEE lists sources in the order they are first cited. Giving a source a new number each time it is cited, when it should keep its first number. Writing out first names in full. Putting the journal title in quotation marks and the article title in italics, when it is the other way round. Leaving out vol., no. or pp. before the numbers. Using an author and year in parentheses in the text. Placing the bracketed number after the full stop: it belongs inside the sentence, as in [1]. Any IEEE citation maker can only be as correct as the details typed in, so compare names, numbers and spelling with the source itself.
Questions
How do I cite in text in IEEE format?
Put the source number in square brackets inside the sentence, before the punctuation: as shown in [1]. Use the same number every time you cite that source. Several sources are written as [1], [3] or as a range such as [2]-[4].
How many authors do I list before using et al.?
List every author when there are up to six. With seven or more, give the first author followed by et al. Names are written as initials plus surname, and the last two names are joined with the word and.
How do I cite a website in IEEE?
Give the author or organization, the page title in quotation marks, the site name, the date you accessed it, the label [Online]. and then Available: followed by the URL. If the page has no named author, begin with the page title.
Do I need a DOI in an IEEE reference?
Add the DOI at the end of the entry when the source has one, written as doi: followed by the number. If you do not have it, the entry ends after the date. The tool will not make one up.
Is an IEEE reference list in alphabetical order?
No. References are numbered in the order they first appear in your text, and the list follows that numbering.
Does the tool find my source for me?
No. It formats what you type and flags what is missing. Copy the details from the source itself, then check the result against the IEEE Reference Guide or your instructor's guide.