On this page
Updated . Example details checked against A List Apart, alistapart.com/article/writeliving (also the Purdue OWL MLA example).
The IEEE format
Pattern
[n] A. Last name. “Title of page.” Site name. Accessed: Mon. Day, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
- The number comes from the order you first cite sources in the paper. A source keeps its number every time you cite it.
- Author as initials, then last name: M. Bernstein.
- Accessed date with IEEE’s month abbreviations (Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., Dec.).
- No period after the URL, so it cannot be mistaken for part of the address.
A real example
Reference
[1] M. Bernstein. “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart. Accessed: Nov. 3, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://alistapart.com/article/writeliving/
In-text citation
[1]
When details are missing
- No author: start with the page title in quotation marks.
- No access date recorded: IEEE then gives the publication date in parentheses, (Aug. 16, 2002), or (n.d.) when there is none.
- Citing a part: add it inside the brackets: [1, Sec. 3].
The same page with no author
Reference
[1] “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart. Accessed: Nov. 3, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://alistapart.com/article/writeliving/
In-text citation
[1]
Common mistakes
- Numbering the list alphabetically. IEEE numbers sources in the order they are first cited, not by author.
- A new number for a repeated source. Cite it with the number it already has.
- A period after the URL. IEEE ends a web reference with the bare URL.
Or let Format do it.
Paste the page's link and Format reads its title, author and date where the page publishes them; check them, and fill in what the page leaves out. Format writes the References entry and the in-text citation in IEEE, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. IEEE is part of Pro, $4 a month or $29 a year; MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Where does the citation number go?
Inside the sentence, before the punctuation, as part of the text: “as Bernstein argues [1].” You can also use it as a noun: “see [1].”
Can I cite two sources at once?
Yes: [1], [3] for separate sources, or [1]–[4] for a run.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Every source kind is on the IEEE page, and every style is on How to cite.