For guidance with IEEE style, please use the IEEE Author Center. This site provides links to the complete IEEE Editorial Style Manual, as well as the helpful IEEE Reference Guide.
For a brief overview of IEEE style, please visit Purdue Owl.
You may also need to consult the Chicago Manual of Style for guidance on grammar and usage, which UNW subscribes to online and maintains a style guide. For spelling reference, IEEE uses the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. For your convenience, these databases are linked below.
Examples for common publication types follow.
References are cited within the text by placing brackets around the sequential number assigned to the source based on its first use in the paper. Grammatically, they function as footnotes and appear within punctuation.
Author [#] or [#]
Ogrodnik [1] reported …
...according to van Schewick [2] and as mentioned earlier [1]. Further evidence is illustrated in [3], [4], and [5].
A. A. Author, Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
1. P. J. Ogrodnik, Medical Device Design: Innovation from Concept to Market. Boston, MA, USA: Academic Press, 2012.
2. B. van Schewick, Internet Architecture and Innovation. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2010.
A. A. Author and B. B. Author, Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year.
A. A. Author, B. B. Author, and C. C. Author, Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year.
Note: List author names up to 6. For books with more than 6 authors, use the first author’s name and et al.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
3. G. Kharmanda and A. El Hami, Reliability in Biomechanics, vol. 3. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2016.
Corporate Author, Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
4. IEEE History Center Staff, The US Federal Government and Innovation - A Brief History. IEEE-USA, 2011.
A. A. Chapter Author, "Title of chapter," in Title of Book: Subtitle, A. A. Editor, Ed. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year, ch. #, pp. #-#.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
5. J. Maeda, "The cycle of exclusion," in Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design, K. Holmes, Ed. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2020, ch. 3, pp. 27-39.
A. A. Author and B. B. Author, Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
A. A. Author, B. B. Author, and C. C. Author, Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
Note: List author names up to 6. For books with more than 6 authors, use the first author’s name and et al.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
6. D. C. Mowery and N. Rosenberg, Paths of Innovation: Technological Change in 20th-Century America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge U.P., 1998. [Online]. Available: https://login.ezproxy.unwsp.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=54596&site=ehost-live&scope=site
A. A. Editor, Ed., Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
A. A. Editor and B. B. Editor, Eds., Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, and C. C. Editor, Eds., Title of Book: Subtitle. City, ST, Country: Publisher, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
Note: List editor names up to 6. For books with more than 6 editors, use the first editor’s name and et al.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report
7. M. Fosmire and D. Radcliffe, Eds., Integrating Information into the Engineering Design Process. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue U.P., 2013. [Online]. Available: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/purduepress_ebooks/31
A. A. Author, "Title of article," Journal Title, vol. ##, no. #, pp. #-#, Month Abbr. Year.
Note: List author names up to 6. For articles with more than 6 authors, use the first author’s name and et al.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
8. J. Calaiaro, “AI takes a dumpster dive,” IEEE Spectrum, vol. 59, no. 7, pp. 22-27, Jul. 2022.
A. A. Author, "Title of article," Journal Title, vol. ##, no. #, pp. #-#, Month Abbr. Year. [Online]. Available: URL
Note: List author names up to 6. For articles with more than 6 authors, use the first author’s name and et al.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
9. J. Auernhammer and B. Roth, “The origin and evolution of Stanford University’s design thinking: From product design to design thinking in innovation management,” Journal of Product Innovation Management, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 623–644, Nov. 2021. [Online]. Available: https://login.ezproxy.unwsp.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=155055581&site=ehost-live&scope=site
10. L. Przybilla, K. Klinker, M. Lang, M. Schreieck, M. Wiesche, and H. Krcmar, "Design thinking in digital innovation projects—exploring the effects of intangibility," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, vol. 69, no. 4, pp. 1635-1649, Aug. 2022. [Online]. Available: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9311704, doi: 10.1109/TEM.2020.3036818
A. A. Author, "Title of webpage," Website Title. Accessed: Month Abbr. ##, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
11. M. Fosmire. "Information-rich engineering design: Clarify task/establish the context II: Background: Types of background information." Purdue Libraries. Accessed: Nov. 5, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/c.php?g=352993&p=2378244
Corporate Author, "Title of webpage," Website Title. Accessed: Month Abbr. ##, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
12. ALA/ACRL/STS Task Force on Information Literacy for Science and Technology, "Information literacy standards for science and engineering/technology," American Library Association. Accessed: Nov. 5, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/infolitscitech
A. A. Author, "Title of Paper," in Conference Name, Year. [Online]. Available: URL, doi: DOI address
Note: For print proceedings, use the same format, but add the inclusive page numbers (e.g., pp. 50-55) after the year of publication and remove the designation [Online] and the URL/DOI.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
13. Y. Ko, C. Lu, and L. Lee, “A contradiction-based approach for innovative product design,” in MATEC Web of Conferences, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/pdf/2016/31/matecconf_iciea2016_05001.pdf, doi: 10.1051/matecconf/20166805001
Title of Standard, Standard number, Corporate author, location, date.
Title of Standard, Standard number, date.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
14. IEEE Draft Model Process for Addressing Ethical Concerns during System Design, IEEE 7000, 2021.
15. IEEE Standard for Design and Verification of Low-Power, Energy-Aware Electronic Systems, IEEE 1801, 2018.
A. A. Author, "Title of report," Company abbr., City, ST, Country, Rep. ##, Month Abbr. ##, Year.
Note: For an online report, add the following to the end of the citation: [Online]. Available: URL
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
16. I. Kolmanovsky and A. Girard, “Extensions to predictive control and parameter governors for applications to autonomous vehicles and vehicle formations,” Air Force Research Lab., Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, USA, Rep. AFRL-RV-PS-TR-2018-0110, Nov. 23, 2018.
A. A. Inventor, "Title of patent," U.S. Patent ##, Month Abbr. ##, Year.
A. A. Inventor, "Title of patent," Country Patent ##, Month Abbr. ##, Year.
Note: The name is the Inventor’s name, not the Applicant or Assignee name. Use “issued date” if several dates are given.
Note: List in order according to reference number, i.e., the order in which they appear in the paper or report.
17. J. M. Lee, “Methods and systems for establishing a linkage between a three-dimensional electronic design file and a two-dimensional design document,” U.S. Patent 0 414 280 A1, Dec. 29, 2022.
