Mechatronics Engineering: IEEE Style

The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a professional organization supporting many branches of engineering, computer science, and information technology. In addition to publishing journals, magazines, and conference proceedings, IEEE also makes many standards for a wide variety of industries.

IEEE citation style includes in-text citations, numbered in square brackets, which refer to the full citation listed in the reference list at the end of the paper. The reference list is organized numerically, not alphabetically. For examples, see the IEEE Editorial Style Manual. 

The Basics:

In-text Citing   It is not necessary to mention an author's name, pages used, or date of publication in the in-text citation. Instead, refer to the source with a number in a square bracket, e.g. [1], that will then correspond to the full citation in your reference list.

• Place bracketed citations within the line of text, before any punctuation, with a space before the first bracket.
• Number your sources as you cite them in the paper. Once you have referred to a source and given it a number, continue to use that number as you cite that source throughout the paper.
• When citing multiple sources at once, the preferred method is to list each number separately, in its own brackets, using a comma or dash bteween numbers, as such: [1], [3], [5] or [1] - [5].

The below examples are from Murdoch University's IEEE Style LibGuide.

Examples of in-text citations:

"...end of the line for my research [13]."

"This theory was first put forward in 1987 [1]."

"Scholtz [2] has argued that..."

"Several recent studies [3], [4], [15], [16] have suggested that...."

"For example, see [7]."

Creating a Reference List   The Reference List appears at the end of your paper and provides the full citations for all the references you have used.  List all references numerically in the order they've been cited within the paper, and include the bracketed number at the beginning of each reference.

• Title your list as References either centered or aligned left at the top of the page.
• Create a hanging indent for each reference with the bracketed numbers flush with the left side of the page. The hanging indent highlights the numerical sequence of your references.
• The author's name is listed as first initial, last name. Example: Adel Al Muhairy would be cited as A. Al Muhairy (NOT Al Muhairy, Adel).
• The title of an article is listed in quotation marks.
• The title of a journal or book is listed in italics.

The below examples are from the IEEE Citation Reference Guide and Murdoch University's IEEE Style LibGuide.

Examples of citations for different materials:

Resources from the Writing Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

Many thanks to University of Pittsburgh, University Library System for material and page design.