How to Cite a Conference Paper in IEEE Referencing

IEEE referencing – named for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – is a common citation system in many technical subject areas, from computing to engineering. And if you’re using this system in your work, you may need to know how to cite a conference paper.

But how does this work? And is there a difference between published and unpublished conference papers in IEEE referencing? Let’s take a look.

How to Cite a Conference Paper in IEEE Referencing

To cite a conference paper in IEEE referencing, simply treat it like any other source. This means giving a number in square brackets, usually at the end of the relevant sentence or passage:

Traditional manufacturing techniques have largely been replaced [1].

This number points to an entry in a reference list. The [1] above, for instance, shows that we’re citing the first source in the reference list.

Beyond this, standard rules for citing sources in IEEE referencing include:

• Number sources sequentially (i.e. use [1] for the first source you cite, [2] for the second source, [3] for the third source, and so on).
• Use the same number each time you cite the same source (i.e. the number that matches the position of the source in the reference list).
• If you quote a source, include page numbers (e.g. [1, p. 146]).

You can see examples of repeat citations and quotations below:

Brown [2] says this is a matter of efficiency. With this shift, some argue that we have ‘lost valuable skills’ [3, p. 40]. However, we can see examples of traditional skills being preserved where there is demand [2].

Here, for instance, the first and third citations are for the second source in the reference list. We can also see that the quote here comes from page 40 of the third source in the reference list via the other citation. For more information on citing sources in IEEE referencing, see this blog post.

IEEE Reference List: Published Conference Paper

The reference list is where you provide details of all sources cited in your work. However, in IEEE, the format to use here depends on whether you’re citing a published or unpublished paper. For a paper from published conference proceedings, the standard format is as follows:

[#] INITIAL(S) Surname, ‘Paper Title’, in Abbreviated Conference Name, location of conference (optional), date of conference (if available), year, page range.

So, a published conference paper would look something like this in practice:

[1] R. Johnson, ‘Traditional Manufacturing Techniques in Modern Industry’, in Proc. 3rd Annu. Traditional Skills Colloq., Cambridge, UK, 19-21 Jul. 2019., pp. 182-194.

If the paper is also available online, include a DOI after the page numbers.

IEEE Reference List: Unpublished Conference Paper

Not every paper presented at a conference will be published in proceedings. But you can reference an unpublished paper as follows:

[#] INITIAL(S) Surname, ‘Paper Title’, presented at Abbreviated Conference Name, location of conference, date of conference.

For example, we could list an unpublished version of a paper as follows:

[1] R. Johnson, ‘Traditional Manufacturing Techniques in Modern Industry’, presented 3rd Annu. Traditional Skills Colloq., Cambridge, UK, 19-21 Jul. 2019.

If the unpublished paper is also available online, though, you should include the format and URL in place of the location and date. For example:

[1] R. Johnson, ‘Traditional Manufacturing Techniques in Modern Industry’, presented 3rd Annu. Traditional Skills Colloq. [Online]. Available: http://www.imaginaryuniversity.ac.uk/profiles/rian-johnson/papers/traditional-manufacturing-techniques-paper-revised-01082019.pdf

This makes it easier for readers to check the paper you’ve cited.

Abbreviating Conference Names in IEEE Referencing

You will have noticed above that the reference list entries include an abbreviated conference name. These are based on the official abbreviations used for conference names in IEEE referencing:

 
You should also leave out articles (e.g. a, an, the) and prepositions (e.g. of, on, in). However, all other words should be written out in full. For example:

Full Name: Proceedings of the Third Annual Traditional Skills Colloquium

Abbreviated Name: Proc. 3rd Annu. Traditional Skills Colloq.

We hope this has fully explained how to cite a conference paper in IEEE referencing! If you have any questions, just leave a comment below.

And if you’d like an academic writing expert to check your work, including the citations, we have specialist editors ready to help!