Why Engineering Uses IEEE Instead of APA
In engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and related technical disciplines at Malaysian universities, the default citation style is IEEE — developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. It uses a numbered citation system, which is better suited to technical writing where sources are cited repeatedly throughout a document.
How IEEE In-Text Citations Work
Every source is assigned a number in the order it first appears in your document. That number appears in square brackets: [1], [2], [3]. If you cite the same source again later, you use the same number. Multiple sources cited together: [1], [3], [5] or if consecutive: [1]–[5].
Building the Reference List
IEEE reference lists are not alphabetical. They are numbered in the order sources first appear in the text, starting at [1]. This is a key difference from APA and Harvard.
Journal Articles
Format: [#] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, ‘Title of article,’ Abbreviated Journal Name, vol. X, no. X, pp. XXX–XXX, Month Year.
Conference Papers
Format: [#] A. A. Author, ‘Title of paper,’ in Proc. Conf. Name, City, Country, Year, pp. XXX–XXX.
The Details That Trip People Up
Journal names are abbreviated in IEEE — not written in full. Author initials come before the surname: A. A. Rahman, not Rahman, A. A. Article titles are in single quotation marks, not italics. Journal names are italicised. Page ranges use an en dash (1204–1213), not a hyphen.
Citing Standards and Technical Reports
For a standard: [#] Standard Name, Standard Number, Year. For a technical report: [#] A. Author, ‘Report title,’ Company Name, City, Country, Rep. REP-NUMBER, Year.
A Final Note on Tools
Zotero and Mendeley both support IEEE format, but their auto-generated IEEE citations are not always perfectly accurate — particularly for conference proceedings and technical standards. Always check the output against the official IEEE reference guide before submitting.
