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Citation Styles for the Sciences

IEEE Style

IEEE Stye is the citation style most commonly used in the field of Engineering, and is maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

For citation help not found on this guide, look to the official guide linked down below

Citing References

References in text

It is not required to cite in-text references. If you do decide to cite them, they should appear within the sentence, in square brackets, and within the punctuation required.

In practice

 ... as shown by Johnson [7], [9], [10]; as mentioned previously [1], [4], [5], [7], [9], [10]; Williams [7] and Taylor [10]; Brown et al. [4]

References within a reference

Always check the reference for "ibid." or "op. cit" - these acronyms reference a citation used previously and should not be included in your citation.

Within the line, repeat the previous reference number and ensure to renumber the reference section. If the "ibid." or "op cit" offers new page numbers or other information, use the following to format the citation:

In practice

[7, Th. 4]; [7, Lemma 1]; [7, pp. 12-15]; [7, eq. (9)]; [7, Fig. 1]; [7, Appendix B]; [7, Sec. 2.5]; [7, Ch. 9, pp. 12-15]; [7, Algorithm 4]

Note: questions about style and formatting references can be found in the official guide

Periodicals (Journals)

Periodicals are defined as anything that is published periodically. This includes journals, magazines, and newspapers. In the style of IEEE, it is assumed that a periodical is understood to be a journal unless stated otherwise.

Format

J. K. Author, “Name of paper,” Abbrev. Title of Periodical, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx, Abbrev. Month, year, doi: xxx. [Online].                                   Available: site/path/file

J. K. Author, “Name of paper,” Abbrev. Title of Periodical, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx, Abbrev. Month, year.

With Article ID

Be aware that an article ID may erroneously be placed as page number in source files. If a page number looks strange [e.g., there is only one long number, the range is not sequential, or there is a volume number with page range of 1–XX (with XX being a number)], this may be an indication that this is an article ID.

In practice

J. Zhang and N. Tansu, “Optical gain and laser characteristics of InGaN quantum wells on ternary InGaN
            substrates,” IEEE Photon. J., vol. 5, no. 2, Apr. 2013, Art no. 2600111.

Early Access (Pre-print)

Must cite the version directly from the publisher, not the one found on arXiv. Citation should also include DOI as this information will not change

In practice

F. Vatta, A. Soranzo, and F. Babich, “More accurate analysis of sum-product decoding of LDPC codes using a
           Gaussian approximation,” IEEE Commun. Lett., early access, Dec. 11, 2018, doi:
           10.1109/LCOMM.2018.2886261.

Patents

Online

Use or request the day of the month when referencing a patent. Use “issued date” if multiple dates are given.

Format

Name of the invention, by inventor’s name. (year, month day). Patent Number [Type of medium]. Available: site/path/file

In practice

Musical toothbrush with adjustable neck and mirror, by L. M. R. Brooks. (1992, May 19). Patent D 326 189 [Online]. Available: NEXIS                 Library: LEXPAT File: DESIGN

Screwless clip mounted computer drive, by D. Williams. (2005, Apr. 26). U.S. Patent 6,885,550 [Online]. Available:                                                    http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/6,885,550                  

Physical

Format

J. K. Author, “Title of patent,” Country Patent xxx, Abbrev. Month, day, year

In practice

J. P. Wilkinson, “Nonlinear resonant circuit devices,” U.S. Patent 3 624 125, Jul. 16, 1990.

T. Mei and T. Yang, “Circuit and method for average–current regulation of light-emitting diodes,” U.S. Patent 7 898 187 B1, 2011, Mar.               1, 2012.

S. P. Voinigescu et al., Direct m-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) operating in saturated power mode,” U.S. Patent Appl.                  20110013726A1, Jan. 20, 2011.

K. Klionovski, “Broadband dual-band microstrip antenna,” (in Russian), RU Patent Utility Model 167296, Dec. 27, 2016.

Standards

Online

Format

Title of Standard, Standard number, Corporate author, location, date. [Online]. Available: http://www.url.com

Title of Standard, Standard number, date. [Online]. Available: http://www.url.com

In practice

Frequency Response and Bias, NERC Reliability Standard BAL-003-0.1b, May 2009. [Online]. Available: http://www.nerc.com/files/BAL-               003-0_1b.pdf

Physical

Format

Title of Standard, Standard number, Corporate author, location, date.

Title of Standard, Standard number, date.

In practice

Parameter Values for Ultra-High Definition Television Systems for Switzerland, Production and International Programme Exchange,                   Rec. ITU-R BT.2020-2, International Telecommunications Union, Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 2015.

IEEE Criteria for Class IE Electric Systems, IEEE Standard 308, 1969.

Handbooks

Format

Name of Manual/Handbook, x ed., Abbrev. Name of Co., City of Co., Abbrev. State, year, pp. xxx-xxx.

In practice

Transmission Systems for Communications, 3rd ed., Western Electric Co., Winston-Salem, NC, USA,1985, pp. 44–60.

Motorola Semiconductor Data Manual, Motorola Semiconductor Products Inc., Phoenix, AZ, USA,1989.