6. CITING AND DOCUMENTING SOURCES IN IEEE STYLE
6.1 Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is IEEE Style and why do I need to use it?
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Style is one of many systems for referencing (citing and documenting) sources that you have quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in your documents or presentations. Different disciplines use different styles, as they suit the needs of their users. For example,
- Engineering generally uses IEEE or APA Style
- Social Sciences generally use APA
- Humanities disciplines often use MLA or Chicago Style
- The Sciences generally use CSE.
IEEE is the generally accepted format for writing research papers and reports in technical fields, particularly in computer science. You should always confirm with your instructors which format they expect you to use.
In your assignments and Work Term Reports, you often have to gather information, data, illustrations, theories, interpretations and facts about your assigned topic. These sources often provide the evidence or theoretical framework you need to support and develop your ideas. You must cite information and images that you retrieved from other sources to show that you have done good quality research, and to give credit for the ideas to the original author. Failing to cite the source—whether quoted, paraphrased or summarized—is plagiarism. Citing your sources correctly has the following benefits:
- Provides evidence you need to support your claims and validate ideas
- Shows you have done significant reading and research on your topic, and therefore have a credible level of authority to write or speak on this topic
- Shows that you can synthesize and incorporate information into your own work, combining it with your own ideas; the citations distinguish YOUR ideas from those of your sources
- Allows the reader to find those sources and do further reading
- Allows you to maintain academic integrity (avoid plagiarizing).
2. How do I cite and reference sources properly?
Citing and referencing sources is a two-part process: there is an in-text marker that directs the reader to the complete bibliographical reference at the end of the document. Both elements are essential and missing one or the other can result in plagiarism. This cross-referencing system is made up of the following two elements:
- In-Text Citations: when you (a) first refer to a source, (b) quote, paraphrase or summarize a source, or (c) use data or graphics from a source, you must place an in-text citation referring to that source within paragraph. The citation takes the form of a number in a square bracket [1] typed inline with your sentence text (generally not super-scripted). Citations are numbered in chronological order as they appear in your paper. Thus, the first source that you site is [1]. The second source is [2], etc. Once a source is given a number, it always retains that number. So if you cite the first source later on in your paper, it is still (and alw