Key takeaways
- Start from the official IEEE template for your specific journal or conference.
- Number citations in order of appearance—never alphabetise IEEE references.
- Use IEEE reference abbreviations for all journal and conference names.
Formatting a research paper in IEEE style is straightforward when you use the official template and understand the citation system. Manual formatting without a template produces inconsistent documents that editors return immediately.
Step 1: Download the correct template
Visit the IEEE Author Center or your target journal's submission page. Download the Word or LaTeX template for that specific venue. IEEE Transactions, conferences, and IEEE Access each have slightly different templates.
Step 2: Set up document structure
- 1Paste your content into the template—do not override column settings.
- 2Apply IEEE heading styles for sections I, II, III.
- 3Write abstract within word limit; add Index Terms below.
- 4Insert author names, affiliations, and ORCID if required.
Step 3: Format citations
Insert numbered references in square brackets before punctuation: 'as shown in [1].' For multiple citations: [1]–[3] or [1], [4], [7]. Assign numbers in order of first appearance in the text.
Step 4: Build the reference list
List references in citation order. Follow IEEE format for each source type. Use the IEEE Reference Guide for abbreviations. Verify every reference has been cited in the text.
Step 5: Final checks
- All figures and tables numbered sequentially with captions.
- Equations numbered at right margin.
- Acknowledgment and funding sections included if required.
- Similarity check completed before submission.