How to Cite a Conference Paper in IEEE

This guide explains how to format a conference paper citation in IEEE. Follow the format template below, refer to the real example, and use the step-by-step instructions to build your citation correctly.

Format Template

The general pattern for citing a conference paper in IEEE:

Template

[1] A. A. Author, "Title of paper," in Proc. Conference Name, Location, Year, pp. page range, doi: xxxxx.

In-Text Citation Example

How the citation appears within the body of your paper:

In-text citation

[1]

Reference List Entry Example

The full citation as it appears in your reference list:

Reference list entry

[1] J. Lee and H. Park, "Transformer architectures for low-resource languages," in Proc. 60th Annu. Meeting Assoc. Comput. Linguistics, Dublin, Ireland, 2022, pp. 310--325, doi: 10.18653/v1/2022.acl-long.45.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Assign a reference number
Use the next sequential number in square brackets.
2
List the author(s)
Write authors as initials followed by surname.
3
Write the paper title
Place the paper title in double quotation marks using sentence case.
4
Add the conference proceedings
Write 'in Proc.' followed by the abbreviated conference name (italicised), the location (city, country), and the year.
5
Include pages and DOI
Add 'pp.' and the page range. Include 'doi:' and the DOI if available. End with a full stop.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Not abbreviating the conference name using standard abbreviations.
Forgetting to include 'in Proc.' before the conference name.
Omitting the conference location.
Not including the page range.
Using the full conference name instead of the IEEE-style abbreviated form.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I abbreviate conference names in IEEE?

IEEE uses standard abbreviations: 'Proc.' for Proceedings, 'Conf.' for Conference, 'Int.' for International, 'Symp.' for Symposium, 'Annu.' for Annual. Abbreviate common words following the IEEE style.

Do I include 'in Proc.' or just 'in'?

Use 'in Proc.' (for Proceedings) when citing a paper published in conference proceedings. If the paper was presented but not published, use 'presented at the' instead.

Should I include the DOI for conference papers?

Yes, include the DOI when available. Many IEEE conference papers have DOIs. Place it at the end of the reference after the page numbers.

Information You Will Need

Before creating your citation, gather the following information from your conference paper:

Author(s)
Year of presentation
Title of paper
Conference name
Location
Date(s) of conference
Publisher of proceedings (if published)
Page range (if in proceedings)
DOI or URL

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Step-by-Step Guide

Assign a reference number

Use the next sequential number in square brackets.

List the author(s)

Write authors as initials followed by surname.

Write the paper title

Place the paper title in double quotation marks using sentence case.

Add the conference proceedings

Write 'in Proc.' followed by the abbreviated conference name (italicised), the location (city, country), and the year.

Include pages and DOI

Add 'pp.' and the page range. Include 'doi:' and the DOI if available. End with a full stop.