The IEEE referencing style is based on the Chicago referencing style; it is widely used in the areas of computer science, software development and information technology. It is the style that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) specify for authors writing for their publications.
The IEEE style acknowledges a source at the exact sentence it is used within the written work and then provides a detailed reference of the source at the end of the written work in a list, which is titled References.
NB: Other referencing styles such as Harvard or APA may be used by your course – please consult with your lecturer to confirm which style they require you to use.
When referencing within the text using IEEE, citations are numbered in square brackets in the order in which they appear in the text. The first source referred to is numbered [1], the second [2] and so on. Each reference number should be enclosed in square brackets on the same line as the text, before any punctuation, with a space before the bracket.
Once a source has been given a number, the same number is used if the same source is mentioned again in your written work.
The list of references at the end of your written work is ordered numerically and provides full details of the sources used.
For further information on the IEEE referencing style, consult the following:
When using the IEEE referencing style, a reference needs to be made at the point at which a source is referred to in the text of your work. This consists of a short, basic numerical reference in square brackets (e.g. [1]).
Example:
“In recent years, there have been significant advances in the development of high-performance personal computers and networks” [2, p.107].
NB: When a direct quote is used, include the page number(s) the quote was taken from and add it to the in-text citation as shown above. If you are paraphrasing, you do not need to include the page number(s) in your in-text citation.
When using the IEEE referencing style, a reference needs to be made in a list of references at the end of your work. The list of references provides comprehensive details of the sources used throughout your written work and is ordered numerically.
If a reader wants to know the full details of a source you have used, they can refer to your list of references.
Example:
References
[1] D. C. Marinescu, Cloud Computing: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Elsevier, 2018.
[2] T. Connolly and C. Begg, Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation and Management, 6th ed. London: Pearson, 2015.
Book - Single author
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Title of Book (in italics), edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. |
| Example |
[1] D. C. Marinescu, Cloud Computing: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Elsevier, 2018. |
Book - Two authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s). Surname, Title of Book (in italics), edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. |
| Example |
[2] T. Connolly and C. Begg, Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management, 6th ed. London: Pearson, 2015. |
Book - Three or more authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, and Author Initial(s). Surname, Title of Book (in italics), edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. |
| Example |
[3] I. H. Witten, E. Frank, M. A. Hall, and C. J. Pal, Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, 4th ed. Cambridge, MA: Elsevier, 2017. |
Book - Corporate author
| Components |
[Reference number] Corporate Author Name, Title of Book (in italics), edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. |
| Example |
[4] DAMA International, DAMA-DMBOK: Data Management Body of Knowledge, 2nd ed. Basking Ridge, New Jersey: Technics Publications, 2017. |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
Chapter of an edited book - Single author
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of chapter,” (in double quotation marks) in Title of Book (in italics), Editor(s) Initial(s). Surname, Editor(s) Initial(s). Surname, and Editor(s) Initial(s). Surname, Eds., edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication, pp. page numbers of the chapter. |
| Example |
[5] D. Paul, "What is business analysis?," in Business Analysis, D. Paul, J. Cadle, and D. |
Chapter of an edited book - Two authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of chapter,” (in double quotation marks) in Title of Book (in italics), Editor Initial(s). Surname and Editor Initial(s). Surname, Eds., edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication, pp. page numbers of chapter. |
| Example |
[6] G. Lin and M. Devine, “The role of networks in cloud computing,” in Handbook of Cloud Computing, B. Furht and A. Escalante, Eds. New York: Springer, 2010, pp. 65-82. |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
eBook - Single author
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Title of eBook (in italics), edition (only include if not the first)., Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. [Online]. Available: url OR doi: xxxx |
| Example |
[7] D.C. Marinescu, Cloud Computing: Theory and Practice, 3rd ed., Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780323852777/cloud-computing |
eBook - Two authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s). Surname, Title of eBook (in italics), edition (only include if not the first)., Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. [Online]. Available: url OR doi: xxxx |
| Example |
[8] S. J. Russell and P. Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, London: Pearson, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ncirlie/detail.action?docID=6563568 |
eBook - Three or more authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, and Author Initial(s). Surname, Title of eBook (in italics), edition (only include if not the first)., Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. [Online]. Available: url OR doi: xxxx |
| Example |
[9] I. H. Witten, E. Frank, M. A. Hall, and C. J. Pal, Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, 4th ed., Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://go.oreilly.com/NCIRL/library/view/-/9780128043578/?ar |
Chapter of an edited eBook
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of chapter in the book,” in Title of Book (in italics), Editor Initial(s). Surname, Ed(s)., edition (only include if not the first). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication, pp. page numbers of the chapter. [Online]. Available: url OR doi: xxxx |
| Example |
[10] H. Territt, "Governing the blockchain: What is the applicable law?," in FinTech: Law and Regulation, J. Madir, Ed., Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021, pp. 199-218. [Online]. Available: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ncirlie/detail.action?docID=6827820 |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
Journal article - Single author
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Journal (abbrev., in italics), volume number (vol.), issue number (no.), pp. page numbers of article, Month(s) (abbrev. except May/June/July) Year of publication. |
| Example |
[10] E. Bauer, “Improving operational efficiency of applications via cloud computing,” IEEE Cloud Comput., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 12-19, Jan./Feb. 2018. |
Journal article - Two authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Journal (abbrev., in italics), volume number (vol.), issue number (no.), pp. page numbers of article, Month(s) (abbrev. except May/June/July) Year of publication. |
| Example |
[11] A. Mosenia and N. K. Jha, “A comprehensive study of security of internet-of- things,” IEEE Trans. Emerg. Top. Comput., vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 586-602, Oct.-Dec. 2017. |
Journal article - Three or more authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, and Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Journal (abbrev., in italics), volume number (vol.), issue number (no.), pp. page numbers of article, Month(s) (abbrev. except May/June/July) Year of publication. |
| Example |
[12] K. Chard, S. Caton, O. Rana, and K. Bubendorfer, “Social clouds: A retrospective,” IEEE Cloud Comput., vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 30-40, Nov./Dec. 2015. |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
eJournal article - Single author
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Journal (abbrev., in italics), volume number (vol.), issue number (no.), pp. page numbers of article, Month(s) (abbrev. except May/June/July) Year of publication. doi: xxxx. |
| Example |
[12] S. J. Andriole, “Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and cybersecurity,” IT Profess., vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 13-16, Jan./Feb. 2020. doi: 10.1109/MITP.2019.2949165. |
eJournal article - Two authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Journal (abbrev., in italics), volume number (vol.), issue number (no.), pp. page numbers of article, Month(s) (abbrev. except May/June/July) Year of publication. doi: xxxx. |
| Example |
[13] S. E. Chang and M. H. Wang, "Blockchain-enabled fintech innovation: a case of reengineering stock trading services," IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 137125-137137, Dec. 2023. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3339570. |
eJournal article - Three or more authors
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, and Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Journal (abbrev., in italics), volume number (vol.), issue number (no.), pp. page numbers of article, Month(s) (abbrev. except May/June/July) Year of publication. doi: xxxx. |
| Example |
[14] P. Castro, V. Ishakian, V. Muthusamy, and A. Slominski, ‘The rise of serverless computing’, Commun. of the ACM, vol. 62, no. 12, pp. 44-54, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1145/3368454. |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
Conference paper
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of paper,” (in double quotation marks) in Name of Conference (abbrev., in italics), Location of conference (optional), year, pp. page numbers of conference paper, doi: xxx. |
| Example |
[16] S. Zhu, H. Hu, Y. Li and W. Li, "Hybrid blockchain design for privacy preserving crowdsourcing platform," in 2019 IEEE Int. Conf. Blockchain, 2019, pp. 26-33, doi: 10.1109/Blockchain.2019.00013. |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
Webpage
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, or Organisation/Company Name. “Title of webpage.” (in double quotation marks) Name of website. Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year. [Online]. Available: url |
| Example |
[17] J. Holdsworth, and M. Scapicchio. "What is deep learning?" IBM.com. Accessed: June. 19, 2024. [Online.] Available: https://www.ibm.com/topics/deep-learning |
Document from a webpage (Report/PDF etc.)
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of document,” (in double quotation marks) Year of publication. Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year. [Online]. Available: |
| Example |
[18] H. Dixon, “Annual Report of the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland,” 2022. Accessed: May 1, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.dataprotection.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/2023-03/DPC%20AR%20English_web.pdf |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
Newspaper article - Print
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of article,” (in double quotation marks) Title of Newspaper (in italics): Section (if applicable, also in italics), p. page number of article, Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year of publication. |
| Example |
[19] O. Keogh, “Motor industry faces growing threat of cybersecurity attacks,” The Irish Times: Business Technology, p. 6, Apr. 12, 2018. |
Newspaper article - Online
| Components |
[reference number] Author initials. Surname. "Title of article," Title of Newspaper, Month Date, Year. [Online]. Available: Database name (if relevant - e.g. International Newsstream), url |
| Example |
[20] C. O'Brien, "Irish AI start-ups receive €100,000 each in pre-seed investment," The Irish Times, July 11, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/07/11/irish-ai-start-ups-receive-100000-each-in-pre-seed-investment/. [Accessed July 11, 2024]. |
NB: See the NCI Library Referencing Guide for further details including additional sources, in-text citations, and list of references.
Blog - Single author
| Components |
[Reference number] First Name Initial(s). Surname. “Title of blog post,” (in double quotation marks) Blog Name. Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year. [Online]. Available: url |
| Example |
[20] B. Schmarzo. “What tomorrow’s business leaders need to know about machine learning.” Data Science Central. Accessed: June 27, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://infocus.dellemc.com/william_ schmarzo/machine-learning-primer-business-leaders/ |
Facebook/X/Instagram
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Text of post,” (in double quotation marks) Name of Platform. Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year of post. [Online]. Available: url |
| Example |
[21] Stanford HAI, “As more nations consider integrating autonomous AI agents in high-stakes military and diplomatic decision-making, a new @StanfordHAI policy brief explores the risks,” X. Accessed: Apr. 19, 2024. [Online.] Available: https://x.com/StanfordHAI/status/1793266523273904429 |
Online Video - Youtube
| Components |
Video Owner/Creator, Location (if available). Title of Video (in italics). (Release date). Accessed: Month Day, Year. [Online Video]. Available: url |
| Example |
[22] Amazon Web Services. What is Cloud Computing?. (July 15, 2021). Accessed: June 30, 2024. [Online Video]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxT233EdY5c |
TV/Radio Broadcast
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Responsibility (i.e. Speaker, Presenter, Producer etc.), Title of Broadcast (in italics): Subtitle (if applicable, in italics) [Type of broadcast]. Location: Distributor, Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year. [Reference number] Initial. Surname, Responsibility (if appropriate e.g. Presenter, Producer, Speaker), Title: Subtitle, Date of broadcast (if appropriate) [Format]. Special credits (if appropriate). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. |
| Example |
[23] S. O’Rourke, Presenter, Today with Sean O’Rourke: The Future of Technology [Radio broadcast]. Dublin: RTÉ Radio 1, May 30, 2016. |
Podcast
| Components |
[Reference number] Artist/Creator Initial(s). Surname, Responsibility (i.e. Speaker, Presenter, Producer etc.), “Title of episode,” (in double quotation marks) Title of Podcast Series (in italics), Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year of recording. Place of Recording: Production Company. [Podcast]. Available: url [Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year]. |
| Example |
[24] J. Pardue, Producer, “Podcast #119 – This podcast is definitely a simulation,” Stack Overflow, Mar. 14, 2018. New York, NY: Stack Overflow. [Podcast]. Available: https://stackoverflow.blog/podcasts/ [Accessed: Apr. 18, 2018]. |
Computer Software/Programme
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s). Surname, Title (in italics), version. [Software]. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. |
| Example |
[25] R. Ihaka and R. Gentleman, R, version 3.5.0. [Software]. Auckland, NZ: The R Foundation, 2018 |
Encyclopedia/Dictionary - Online
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of encyclopedia/ dictionary entry,” (in double quotation marks) in Title of Encyclopedia/Dictionary (in italics), Publisher, Year. [Online]. Available: url of website homepage [Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year]. |
| Example |
[26] G. G. Belford, “Computer science,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.britannica.com [Accessed: Apr. 18, 2018]. |
Legislation - Act
| Components |
[Reference number] Legislative body, Title of Legislation (in italics). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. |
| Example |
[27] Government of Ireland, Data Protection Act. Dublin: Government of Ireland, 1988. |
Legislation - EU Directive
| Components |
Title of Directive. [Online]. Available: url [Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year]. |
| Example |
[28] Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups. [Online]. Available: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32014L0095 [Accessed: June 18, 2015]. |
Thesis/Dissertation - Online
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of thesis/dissertation,” (in double quotation marks) Thesis/Dissertation type (i.e. Masters or Ph.D. Thesis/Dissertation etc.), Academic Dept (if known, abbrev.)., Name of University/College (abbrev.)., Location of University, Year of submission. [Online]. Available: url [Accessed: Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year]. |
| Example |
[29] J. R. Elder, “Interactive visualisation for the discovery of cyber security threats,” Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Eng. and Physical Sci., Univ. of Surrey, Guildford, UK, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/842460/1/thesis.pdf [Accessed: Apr. 26, 2018]. |
Diagram/Chart/Image/Table - Print/Online
| Components |
Follow the instructions for the type of source from which the diagram/chart/image/table is taken, i.e. a book, journal article, (document from a) webpage etc. |
N.B. If you use the exact same diagram/chart/image/table as featured within the source, make sure to give the exact caption title and put the in-text citation just beneath the diagram/chart/image/table with a page number (if applicable).
Patent/Standard
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, Author Initial(s). Surname, and Author Initial(s). Surname, “Title of patent/standard,” (in double quotation marks) Country in which patent/standard is published and patent/standard number, Month (abbrev. except May/June/July) Day, Year of issue. |
| Example |
[30] M. J. McArdle, B. A. Johnston, P. D. R. Nathan, and J. Dool, “Automatically configuring a computer firewall based on network connection,” United States Patent and Trademark Office US 7,284,267 B1, Mar. 8, 2001. |
Dataset
| Components |
[Reference number] Author Initial(s). Surname and Author Initial(s), Date, “Title of Dataset,” Source. [Online]. Available: url |
| Example |
[31] L. Bansal, Mar. 2024, “NASA: Asteroids Classification,” NASA JPL Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS). [Online]. Available: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/lovishbansal123/nasa-asteroids-classification |
Preprint - ArXiv
| Components |
[Reference number] First Name Initial(s). Surname, “Title of paper,” year, arXiv number (in italics). |
| Example |
[32] S. Gholamian and D, Huh, “Reinforcement learning problem solving with large language models,” 2024, arXiv: 2404.18638. |
 |
NCI Library Referencing Guide, 5th edition |
|
Check out the most recent edition of the NCI Library Referencing Guide. This guide provides further details on how to reference sources throughout your written work. You can collect a hard copy of our guide at NCI Library or access the pdf by selecting the title or the icon of the guide above. |
|
 |
Need advice for your assignments or research?
The Library Academic Support Centre is here to help!
We offer in-person and online appointments, remote assistance via email and a drop-in service.
For more details about how we can help you, see here.
 |
 |
| Keith Brittle |
Shannon Mallon |
Whilst every possible effort has been made to accurately and consistently reflect the APA, Harvard and IEEE styles in the examples provided, small errors may occur. This LibGuide is regularly revised and any errors which are identified will be rectified immediately. Please note, there are also variations within these styles regarding certain details – should your reference vary slightly from an example contained within this LibGuide, it is important that you are consistent with the variation when presenting and formatting your references, as long as it does not follow a contrary style to the one you should be using.
Keep up to date on any library news and resources by following @NCILibrary on    |
| Communications from the Library: Please note all communications from the library, concerning renewal of books, overdue books and reservations will be sent to your NCI student email account. |
