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COMP 282: Data Structures & Algorithms

IEEE Citation Style

IEEE Style: The Basics

IEEE Citation Style has two basic elements:

In-Text Citations

  • After quoting or paraphrasing a source, refer to the source with a number enclosed in square brackets, e.g. [1]
  • Number your sources in the order you use them

Example:

Without intentional countermeasures, algorithms inherit the biases of their creators, as well as the societal and historical contexts in which they are developed [3].

References List

  • Appears at the end of your paper or presentation
  • Provides the full details of each reference you have used, sorted in numerical order
  • The information you include in each citation will depend on the type of resource

Example (eBook):

[3] T. Baer, Understand, Manage, and Prevent Algorithmic Bias: A Guide for Business Users and Data Scientists. Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2019. [Online]. Available: Safari Books Online.

General Rules

In-Text Citations

  • Assign Reference Numbers to sources in the order you use them in your paper or presentation
  • Each source should have only one Reference Number. If you reference the same source at different points, continue using the original Reference Number.
  • If multiple sources are references in the same sentence, separate the references with a comma, e.g. [1], [3], [5]

Reference List

  • Reference List appears at the end of your paper or presentation
  • Begin on a new page titled References
  • Sort references numerically, not alphabetically
Formatting
  • Each reference should use a hanging indent, with the bracketed number aligned with the left side of the page
  • Titles of individual articles, papers, documents, etc. should be in quotation marks
  • Titles of longer sources such as books, journals, conference proceedings, etc. should be italicized
Author Names
  • List author names as first initial(s) and last name, e.g. A. Author or A. A. Author
  • Multiple Authors (up to 3):
    • A. Author, B. Author and C. Author
  • Multiple Authors (4 or more):
    • A. Author et al.
  • Editors: Use the same rules as author names, followed by Ed. (single editor) or Eds. (multiple editors)
    • A. Editor, Ed.
    • A. Editor and B. Editor, Eds.

FAQ

How do I cite electronic vs. print resources?

Electronic Sources vs. Print or Analog Sources

  • E-Resource Citation = Print Citation + Retrieval Information
    • Citations for online or electronic sources are very similar to their print counterparts, but require some additional information to ensure that others can access them if needed (referred to as "retrieval information")
  • Retrieval Information (eBooks):
    • [Format]. Available: Database Name.
    • Compare these examples:
      • Print Book: [1] L. Bass, P. Clements, and R. Kazman, Software Architecture in Practice, 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 2003.
      • eBook: [1] L. Bass, P. Clements, and R. Kazman, Software Architecture in Practice, 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 2003. [Online]. Available: Safari Books Online.
  • Retrieval Information (most other electronic resources):
    • [Format]. Available: Database Name (where applicable), internet address. [Accessed: date of access].
    • Compare these examples:
      • Print Journal Article: [2] P. H. C. Eilers and J. J. Goeman, "Enhancing scatterplots with smoothed densities," Bioinformatics, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 623-628, March 2004.
      • Online Journal Article: [2] P. H. C. Eilers and J. J. Goeman, "Enhancing scatterplots with smoothed densities," Bioinformatics, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 623-628, March 2004. [Online]. Available: www.oxfordjournals.org. [Accessed: Sept. 18, 2020].

How do I cite tables and figures?

Immediately after the table or figure in question, include "Source: [#]" and assign it a Reference Number just as you would any other in-text citation.

Example: 

Sample graph for demonstration

Figure 1
This is a sample caption.
Source: [5]

More about citing tables and figures.

NOTE: If you wish to reproduce a figure from an external source in a published document, (including a thesis, dissertation, and/or journal article), you must first obtain permission from the copyright holder. Read more about copyrighted figures.

Why are some URLs shortened and others aren't?
If a database or website is very well-known and commonly used in the industry, then it is acceptable to list the URL to the source's main entrance, (usually the domain name), rather than linking to the individual page. Here is a list of acceptable URLs. If it's not on that list, then include the full URL instead. 

Helpful Tools

Citation Managers

Citation managers help you keep track of resources and cite them during the research process. They usually feature browser extensions that let you quickly save resources as you browse the web. All of these citation managers have built-in support for IEEE Style.

Citation Generators

Citation Generators work if you need a quick one-off citation, but unlike Citation Managers, they usually don't let you organize or save your citations for later. 

IEEE Examples by Source Type

Journal Article (Accessed Through Database)

Includes full-text databases such as EBSCO, ProQuest, and IEEE Xplore.

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, "Title of article," Title of Journal, vol., no., p. page numbers, month year. [Format]. Available: Database Name, internet address. [Accessed: date of access].

Example:

[1] H. Ayasso and A. Mohammad-Djafari, "Joint NDT image restoration and segmentation using Gauss–Markov–Potts prior models and variational Bayesian computation," IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 2265-77, 2010. [Online]. Available: IEEE Xplore, http://www.ieee.org. [Accessed Sept. 10, 2010].

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Journal Article (Accessed Through Website)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, "Title of Article," Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, pp. page number/s, month year. [Format]. Available: Internet address. [Accessed: date of access].

Example:

[2] P. H. C. Eilers and J. J. Goeman, "Enhancing scatterplots with smoothed densities," Bioinformatics, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 623-628, March 2004. [Online]. Available: www.oxfordjournals.org. [Accessed Sept. 18, 2004].

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Journal Article (Print)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author. "Title of article," Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, pp. page number/s, Month year.

Example:

[3] J. R. Beveridge and E. M. Riseman, "How easy is matching 2D line models using local search?" IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 19, pp. 564-579, June 1997.

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All examples adapted from the Murdoch University IEEE Style Guide.

eBook

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, Title: Subtitle, #th ed. Place: Publisher, Year of publication. [Online]. Available: Source.

Example:

[4] L. Bass, P. Clements, and R. Kazman, Software Architecture in Practice, 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 2003. [Online] Available: Safari Tech Books Online.

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Print Book

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, Title: Subtitle, #th ed., vol. #. Place of publication: Publisher, Year, pp. page number/s.

Example:

[5] T. Jordan and P. A. Taylor, Hacktivism and Cyberwars: Rebels with a cause? London: Routledge, 2004.

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Book Chapter

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, "Title of chapter," in Book Title: Subtitle, #th ed., vol. #, E. Editor, Ed/s. Place of publication: Publisher, Year, pp. page number/s.

Example:

[5] G. O. Young, "Synthetic structure of industrial plastics," in Plastics, 2nd ed., vol. 3, J. Peters, Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964, pp. 15-64.

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All examples adapted from the Murdoch University IEEE Style Guide.

Conference Paper (Accessed Through Database or Website)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author,  "Title of paper," in Proceedings of the Title of Conf.: Subtitle of conference, Month Date, Year, Location. [Format]. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Available: Database Name, internet address. [Accessed: date of access].

Example:

[7] J. Lach, "SBFS: Steganography based file system," in Proc. of the 2008 1st Int. Conf. on Information Technology, IT 2008, 19-21 May 2008, Gdansk, Poland. [Online]. Available: IEEE Xplore, http://www.ieee.org. [Accessed: 10 Sept. 2010].

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Conference Paper (in Print Proceedings)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, "Title of paper," in Title of Published Proceedings: Proceedings of the Title of Conf.: Subtitle of conference, Month Date, Year, Location, A. Editor, Ed. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. pp. page numbers.

Example:

[8] L. Liu and H. Miao, "A specification based approach to testing polymorphic attributes," in Formal Methods and Software Engineering: Proc.of the 6th Int. Conf. on Formal Engineering Methods, ICFEM 2004, Seattle, WA, USA, November 8-12, 2004, J. Davies, W. Schulte, M. Barnett, Eds. Berlin: Springer, 2004. pp. 306-19.

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Conference Proceedings (Print)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Editor, Ed., Title of Conf.: Subtitle of conference, Month Date, Year, Location. Place of publication: Name of Publisher, Year.

Example:

[9] T. J. van Weert and R. K. Munro, Eds., Informatics and the Digital Society: Social, ethical and cognitive issues: IFIP TC3/WG3.1&3.2 Open Conf. on Social, Ethical and Cognitive Issues of Informatics and ICT, July 22-26, 2002, Dortmund, Germany. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 2003.

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All examples adapted from the Murdoch University IEEE Style Guide.

Website or Electronic Document (With Author)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, "Document title," Webpage Name, Source/production information, Date of internet publication. [Format]. Available: internet address. [Accessed: Date of access].

Example:

[10] J. Geralds, "Sega Ends Production of Dreamcast," vnunet.com, para. 2, Jan. 31, 2001. [Online]. Available: http://nl1.vnunet.com/news/1116995. [Accessed: Sept. 12, 2004].

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Website or Electronic Document (No Author)

Standard Format:

[#] "Document title," Webpage Name, Source/production information, Date of internet publication. [Format]. Available: internet address. [Accessed: Date of access].

Example:

[11] “A ‘layman’s’ explanation of Ultra Narrow Band technology,” Oct. 3, 2003. [Online]. Available: http://www.vmsk.org/Layman.pdf. [Accessed: Dec. 3, 2003].

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All examples adapted from the Murdoch University IEEE Style Guide.

Dataset (DOI Available)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, Title of Dataset, vol. #, Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. [Format]. Available: DOI. [Accessed: Date of access].

Example:

[12] M. Ambrose, Air Infiltration Results for 129 Australian Dwellings, vol. 1, Canberra: CSIRO, 2018. [Dataset]. Available: https://doi.org/10.25919/5ca54346ef256. [Accessed: July 4, 2019].

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Dataset (No DOI)

Standard Format:

[#] A. Author, Title of Dataset, vol. #, Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. [Format]. Available: Internet address. [Accessed: Date of access].

Example:

[13] United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Prognostics Data Repository, Washington, DC: NASA, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/tech/dash/groups/pcoe/prognostic-data-repository/. [Accessed: July 4, 2019].

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All examples adapted from the Murdoch University IEEE Style Guide.

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