How do I cite in the text in IEEE style?

Use the reference number in square brackets, such as [1], placed before the period or comma. Number sources in the order you first cite them and reuse the number for later citations. Cite several sources as [1], [3] or a run as [2]–[5].

How many authors are listed in an IEEE reference?

List up to six authors, with initials before surnames. When a source has more than six authors, give the first author followed by et al., for example C. R. Harris et al. The generator applies this rule automatically.

Can I cite conference papers and book chapters?

Yes, if they have a DOI. Paste the DOI or the link to the paper. The reference is built from the record the publisher registered, which for a conference paper includes the proceedings title.

Can I make an IEEE citation from a PubMed ID?

Yes, when the PubMed article has a DOI: the reference is built from the DOI record. A PubMed article without a DOI cannot be formatted in IEEE style here, because the National Library of Medicine’s exporter only offers APA, AMA, MLA and NLM. Use the Vancouver or AMA page for those articles.

How do I make an IEEE reference list in LaTeX?

Get a BibTeX entry for each source, save them in a .bib file, and add \bibliographystyle{IEEEtran} and \bibliography{yourfile} to your document. Cite with \cite{key}. The DOI to BibTeX page builds the entries from DOIs.

IEEE Citation Generator

Paste a DOI or article link and copy a reference in IEEE style, the numbered style used across engineering, computer science and electronics. It works for journal articles, conference papers and book chapters that have a DOI. The format, examples and rules below follow the IEEE Reference Guide.

IEEE reference format for a journal article

[1] A. B. Author, C. D. Author, and E. F. Author, “Title of article,” Abbrev. Title of Journal, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx–xxx, Abbrev. Month Year, doi: 10.xxxx/xxxxx.

Number: the reference number in square brackets, in the order the source is first cited.
Authors: initials before the surname (C. R. Harris). List up to six authors; with more than six, give the first author followed by et al.
Title: in double quotation marks, with the comma inside the closing mark.
Journal: abbreviated and in italics.
Volume, issue, pages and date: vol., no. and pp., then the abbreviated month and the year, and the DOI last.

IEEE examples

These are the generator’s own results for real articles, copied on November 1, 2026. Paste the same DOI above to reproduce them.

Two authors

R. V. Krejcie and D. W. Morgan, “Determining Sample Size for Research Activities,” Educational and Psychological Measurement, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 607–610, Sep. 1970, doi: 10.1177/001316447003000308.

Generated from DOI 10.1177/001316447003000308

More than six authors

C. R. Harris et al., “Array programming with NumPy,” Nature, vol. 585, no. 7825, pp. 357–362, Sep. 2020, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2.

Generated from DOI 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2

IEEE in-text citations

Put the reference number in square brackets, inside the sentence punctuation, and reuse it whenever you cite that source again. Numbers follow the order of first citation. Cite several sources as [1], [3] and a run as [2]–[5]. The number can also stand in for the source in a sentence.

NumPy is the base of most scientific Python code [2].

As shown in [2], array programming makes these operations concise.

What to check before you submit

Number the reference list in citation order, with the number in square brackets at the start of each reference.
Copied text loses italics. Set the journal or conference name in italics after you paste the reference.
The journal name is printed in full, as the publisher registered it. IEEE journals expect abbreviations, such as IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell.
Conference papers that have a DOI are formatted with the proceedings name. Check it against the published proceedings title.
Writing in LaTeX? Use the BibTeX entry with the IEEEtran bibliography style, and LaTeX numbers the references for you.

IEEE format for a book

[2] A. B. Author, Title of Book, xth ed. City, State (US only), Country: Publisher, Year.

Book titles are in italics. Books and chapters that have a DOI can be pasted into the generator.

Frequently asked questions

How do I cite in the text in IEEE style?: Use the reference number in square brackets, such as [1], placed before the period or comma. Number sources in the order you first cite them and reuse the number for later citations. Cite several sources as [1], [3] or a run as [2]–[5].
How many authors are listed in an IEEE reference?: List up to six authors, with initials before surnames. When a source has more than six authors, give the first author followed by et al., for example C. R. Harris et al. The generator applies this rule automatically.
Can I cite conference papers and book chapters?: Yes, if they have a DOI. Paste the DOI or the link to the paper. The reference is built from the record the publisher registered, which for a conference paper includes the proceedings title.
Can I make an IEEE citation from a PubMed ID?: Yes, when the PubMed article has a DOI: the reference is built from the DOI record. A PubMed article without a DOI cannot be formatted in IEEE style here, because the National Library of Medicine’s exporter only offers APA, AMA, MLA and NLM. Use the Vancouver or AMA page for those articles.
How do I make an IEEE reference list in LaTeX?: Get a BibTeX entry for each source, save them in a .bib file, and add \bibliographystyle{IEEEtran} and \bibliography{yourfile} to your document. Cite with \cite{key}. The DOI to BibTeX page builds the entries from DOIs.

Other citation styles

Vancouver Citation Generator
AMA Citation Generator
Harvard Referencing Generator
Chicago Citation Generator
DOI to BibTeX Converter
Citation generator with all styles, including APA 7, MLA 9 and Nature.

Sources

IEEE Reference Guide. IEEE Author Center, with the IEEE Editorial Style Manual and the Reference Guide.
Citation Style Language styles. The open style definitions that doi.org applies to the DOI record.

Content updated November 1, 2026. Journal Metrics is not affiliated with the publishers of these style guides.

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