How to Format an IEEE Reference List (Not Alphabetical!)

Here's what trips up most people with IEEE formatting: IEEE format references are NOT alphabetical. They're ordered by first appearance in the text. This IEEE formatting rule is fundamentally different from APA format, MLA format, and Harvard formatting.

IEEE Format: Order by First Citation

According to the IEEE Editorial Style Manual:

• Reference [1] is the first source you cite in your paper
• Reference [2] is the second source you cite
• And so on, in order of appearance

This means your reference list is in numeric order, not alphabetic order.

The "References" Heading

• Use "References" as the heading (in small caps, centered)
• The heading is NOT numbered with section numbers
• Don't use "Bibliography" or "Works Cited"

Formatting Each Entry

• Hanging indent: Reference number [1] flush left, text indented
• Single-spaced: No blank lines between entries
• Smaller font: 8pt for references vs 10pt for body text
• Author names: Initials first (J. A. Smith), not surname first

What Gets Italicized

• Italicized: Book titles, journal names, conference proceedings
• In quotes: Article titles, paper titles, chapter titles

Automatic IEEE Format Ordering

SimpleFormat Pro maintains correct IEEE formatting with numeric ordering of your references automatically—no manual IEEE format reordering needed.