The most accepted referencing format for this discipline is IEEE style: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Style Manual and Referencing Guide.
In-Text Citations Using IEEE Style
IEEE style uses a citation-sequence system for in-text references.
- Place a number in square brackets at the end of the sentence, before the punctuation, that contains the information that you are citing [1].
- This number corresponds to the order in which the source first appears in your paper. As you write your paper, number your sources consecutively.
- E.g., if you have already cited four sources, and you now wish to refer to information from a new source, then you would place a [5] at the end of the sentence.
- Each source corresponds with only one number.
- E.g., Later, if you refer to information from the fourth source cited, you would place a [4] at the end of the sentence.
- When using author names in the sentence, use et al. when more than three authors are listed.
- Note that you can use the reference number in text as you normally would (following the author name or at the end of a sentence), can you can also use a reference number as a noun.
- E.g., “As stated in [2]…”
References Page Using IEEE Style
General Guidelines
- Centre the heading "References" at the top of the page.
- Number each source sequentially by the order it is first cited in your paper.
- Numbers should be flush left in square brackets and should for their own column (all lines of each citation are equally indented).
- Abbreviate journal titles – no specific style is recommended
Formatting Guidelines
Author names
- Initials precede surnames
- Use a period and space between and after initials
- Separate each author by a comma and the last two authors by “, and”
Titles of articles, chapters, books, etc.
- Capitalize first letter only; do not capitalize first word after colon.
- Titles of journals, books, and websites are italicized
- All other titles are enclosed in quotation marks and are not italicized.
Examples
The IEEE style guide has extensive examples for a variety of sources. In addition, Dalhousie University has a helpful list of examples.
Updated December 2023