Professor Wahoo of Big Science University was confident as he dropped his manuscript into the post. Writing the paper was the final act of a lengthy and difficult research project. He knew that it was an excellent study and one that would change the nature of his field. Although he had only written a single draft, he was not worried. Why should he worry? The peer reviewers would obviously see the importance of the work and accept it for publication. Unfortunately, what seemed obvious to the author was a complete mystery to the reviewers. Weeks later, Dr. Wahoo sat heavily in his chair with the rejected manuscript in his lap. He could not believe that his paper was rejected. So how did this happen?

Dr. Wahoo’s paper was rejected because he wrote only a single draft. While the science was impeccable, the writing was flawed. The reviewers could not understand the study, therefore, it was impossible to grasp its significance. Dr. Wahoo should have self-edited his manuscript.

What Does it Mean to Self-Edit a Paper?

Self-editing a manuscript is exactly what it sounds like. After writing an initial (first) draft, the author then corrects his/her own writing. Multiple drafts are produced until the manuscript is in the best shape possible. The paper must easily convey the author’s intentions to any reader. Submitting a self-edited and highly refined paper does three things:

1) It makes the reviewers/editors job easier

2) It allows the reviewers/editors to better assess the paper’s validity

3) It increases the chance of the paper getting accepted for publication

How to Self-Edit Your Paper

Once you have completed a manuscript, you must not hurry to submit it. Yes, it was hard writing it. However, you need to continue working on it. After all, your goal is to get the manuscript published? Any efforts lesser than this will only increase the probability of rejection. By following the below steps, you can improve your own manuscript and have it in the best possible shape for submission.

Print your Paper

Always print a hard copy of your manuscript. You need to see if what you have written is different from what you typed on the computer. This will refresh your eyes and help you become “detached” from your own work. Quickly read through the paper once. Then take your red pen and start marking it.

Take a Break

After you have completed the first draft, take a break of at least a few hours. A day or more is best. When you return to the paper, you will see it with a fresh opinion and be less likely to gloss over the text. It will be easier to spot mistakes and sentences with troubles. Don’t attempt to completely revise the paper in one sitting. Take frequent breaks. Keep refreshing yourself throughout the self-editing process. Give yourself several days or a week to complete the process of self-editing.

Read your Paper Out Loud

When you read your paper out loud it should sound smooth. If something does not make sense or you stumble over it, mark the section and move on. When finished with reading the paper, edit the marked errors and re-read.

Imagine You are the Reviewer

To effectively self-edit, you need to disengage yourself as the author. You need to assume the role of a person who has never read your paper before. Pretend you’re the reviewer and you’re not having a good day. This will put you in a critical state of mind to find every flaw possible needed to reject the work.

Be Brutal, Be Ruthless

The best editors are those that brutalize papers without mercy. Cast your ego aside and become your paper’s worst enemy. Use your red pen as a weapon and try some of the following:

• Don’t use adverbs and adjectives if possible – On your hard copy, mark out every adverb and adjective. Add them back only when they are necessary.
• Reduce each sentence to its essential parts – A sentence has a subject, verb, and object. Try to keep the sentences as simple as possible.
• Keep paragraphs short – Avoid redundancy: one sentence, one idea. If you have more than five sentences in a paragraph, examine it to see if it can be shortened.
• Avoid too many subordinate (dependent) clauses – Instead of writing, “When mice became stressed because of lack of sleep, we administered an antibiotic to prevent secondary infections.” Write this, “We administered an antibiotic to prevent secondary infections in sleep-deprived mice.”
• Be the authority. Don’t offer an opinion – Avoid sentences with “we believe”, “it appears”, or “seems to be”. Be strong and stand behind your writing. “The cause of resistant bacteria is the over-use of antibiotics.”

Read your Paper from Back to Front

You’ll be amazed at how many mistakes and problems you can find by reading your paper from back to front. This slows your brain down and keeps you from glossing over a familiar writing.

Don’t Rely on SpellCheck

Spellcheck is very useful and will find most misspellings. However, it won’t find words that are used inappropriately. “Their is a 25% probability that ants of afflicted children will show an affect.” So do not rely completely on Spellcheck.

There is much more to getting a publication than simply writing a manuscript and submitting it. The initial writing is the easiest part. The real work is to improve the paper so it clearly communicates what you want. This is done through self-editing. So once you are convinced with the self-edited manuscript, you can send it out to others for review.

When writing your research paper, keep a list of your sources of information. You must ensure that any information you use from other sources is properly cited and referenced. This means that you must “acknowledge” the source in both the text with a citation and at the end of the paper in your references. This is important! You want to avoid plagiarism at all costs. Plagiarism simply means that the writer has used someone else’s work without giving that person proper credit. This is a serious offense. It can result in either not being published or being withdrawn after being published. It can result in disciplinary action and will most certainly have an effect on your credibility as a researcher. Enago Academy has several excellent articles on plagiarism that will help you understand and avoid it.

Here, we provide information on how you must handle citations of your sources and some of the common formats.

Formats

There are three types of citations:

• In-text: This refers to the “tag” within the text itself. The format will vary according to the style guide used or a specific discipline. Some styles guides suggest using numerals, while others use author names and dates of publication. A reference list is created based on the cited text and is placed at the end of the document as “References” or “List of Citations” either numerically or alphabetically.

Two examples:

The Timber Wolf was once a great predator throughout North America.⁵

The Timber Wolf was once a great predator throughout North America (Smith, 1970).

The first example is from American Medical Association (AMA) style guide; the second is from the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide.

• Endnote: An endnote is much the same as an in-text citation except that it uses numerals surrounded by brackets. The reference section is simply a list of these numeric citations in reference format at the end of the paper.
• Footnote: A footnote is similar to an endnote except that the reference is placed at the bottom of the page on which the citation appears.

If you are writing a paper to be published in a journal, the author guidelines will provide you with the style to be used. If you are writing a paper for a class, your professor will provide you with that information. APA, MLA, AMA, and Chicago Manual of Style are the most commonly used styles in academic writing.

When to Cite

When you provide references, you provide some assurances that you have done your research. The reader will be better able to assess whether your information is valid. This is important to your credibility.

You need not cite every piece of information that you use, but you should become familiar with the rules outlined here. These apply to all sources, including newscasts, websites, and even television and radio programs.

There should be some balance between cited materials and original thoughts; however, this will also vary by discipline. For example, if you are reviewing a piece of art, your paper will have few citations. Most of the text will be your opinion. On the other hand, your paper on your research study will have a great number of citations that show examples of or back up your findings. In all cases, all cited material should be discussed, and all major points should be supported and cited.

Here are some basic rules for when to always cite another’s work. Remember that it is better to err on the side of caution. When in doubt, add the citation.

• Quotations. A quotation is a word-for-word duplicate of someone else’s work. Most people instinctively understand that these must be cited. Even if only one word, they must also be enclosed in quotation marks. If more than three lines, they should be offset from the rest of the text.
• Paraphrasing: Even if you put another’s ideas into your own words, it must be cited. It is not the work itself, but the original idea, that must be acknowledged. For example:

Original:

“Experienced riders instinctively understand the body language of their horses. Body language is extremely important because it’s how horses communicate. Trainers spend hours and hours doing basic groundwork, which ultimately translates to the saddle. This is a must for any rider to be able to have a good and safe relationship with her horse.”

Paraphrased:

A horse’s body language is very important to understand. Those who have been training horses for years know and understand this. Groundwork with your horse is a basic necessity to be able to understand his body language. This work will transfer directly to your riding and will make the experience safer.

The best way to begin is by looking for main points in the text and discuss them in your own words. Define any technical terms for the reader.

• Summarizing: This is much the same as paraphrasing except that it relays only the main idea and is shorter.

Example from above:

Knowing how to interpret your horse’s body language is extremely important for your relationship and safety.

• Common knowledge: Common knowledge need not be cited unless it also contains statistical or research information.

Example (need not be cited):

St. Paul is the capital of Minnesota.

Example (should be cited):

St. Paul is the capital of Minnesota and has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the state.

Although it is common knowledge that St. Paul is the State Capital, it is considered statistical information that it has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the State. This fact must be cited.

• Conclusions/supplemental information: Once cited, you need not cite the same references again in your conclusions. If you introduce new information, you must cite it. The same holds true of supplemental information.

Keep in mind that academic institutions in different countries might have different rules for citing sources. Become familiar with your institution’s rules to avoid any confusion when writing your paper.

Research endeavors in the 21^st century are made easier by collaborations. As academia becomes increasingly more complex, researchers are pooling their resources towards a common goal: scientific discovery. Collaborations not only benefit researchers but journals as well. For instance, journals such as Nature and Science have found a positive correlation between the number of authors in a publication and their impact factor. One pertinent example is the discovery of novel compounds that lead to the synthesis of medicines. Often, these ventures require a multidisciplinary team until completion.

Collaborations in Scientific Research

Early career researchers (ECRs) often feel more comfortable working with researchers that they are familiar with. While this creates fluency and routine, which are undoubtedly important for working in teams, there is a rising notion that ECRs must step outside of their comfort zone and consider collaborating with like-minded scientists. Although collaboration with local researchers can be a big help towards completing research, collaborating with international researchers is also advisable. A case worth noting is that of Germany, where collaboration was proven to be successful and, indeed, crucial to success.

Importance of International Collaborations

Collaboration with international researchers is often deemed as an option. However, international collaborations have several benefits that should not be underestimated.  The Royal Society released a press statement about collaboration, stating that “…the primary driver of most collaboration is individual scientists. In seeking to work with the best of their peers and to gain access to complementary resources, equipment, and knowledge, researchers fundamentally enhance the quality and improve the efficacy of their work.”

There are other benefits to international collaborations. For instance, Bornstein stated that crossing cultural boundaries aids in social science research by helping researchers parse the parts that depend on culture, as well as culture-independent forces. Another importance of international collaborations is that it will allow for a deeper and more thorough interpretation of data because of different cultural views. International collaborations benefit both students and universities, allowing for a richer exchange of knowledge and expertise. Science is becoming more and more complex, and many researchers have a narrowly focused expertise. These researchers will benefit from international collaborations with other specializations.

They are Good for Your Career

Academic researchers are becoming more aware of the need for collaborating internationally. UNESCO recognized the importance of academic collaborations. By 2014, international scientific collaborations contributed 86% of all published articles. In addition, it comes as no surprise that Europeans partner with Europeans. However, the United States is the top collaborator. The benefits of international collaboration have been recognized, and these benefits are listed below:

• International collaborations allow for researchers in other countries to gain access to information from scientists with relatively more knowledge. International collaborations thus provide an important channel for pooling resources.
• Working with foreign scientists provides a good way of enhancing local scientific capabilities because knowledge and expertise are exchanged.
• International collaborations allow local researchers to access materials and equipment that are not available locally. These include computing facilities, particle accelerators, and radio telescopes.
• Collaborations also pave the way for accessing funding, especially for those in low-income countries.
• Emerging scientists can also be given the chance to work with experts in the field, advancing their scientific careers.
• Lastly, international collaborations aid in finding solutions on a regional scale, benefiting the scientific community.

How the Research Community Benefits

International collaborations are essential to research. The research community benefits from international collaborations because of the pool of knowledge that international researchers bring. Aside from this, institutions also benefit from collaborations on a macro scale.

• Collaborations pay off. In the academic community, scientists survive by sharing knowledge and expertise with each other. The presence of communication channels and stable partnerships benefit the research community because information can be shared.
• International collaborations are also essential for low-income countries because these collaborations help develop an academic climate. In turn, the research community benefits from information exchange.
• Collaboration has become easier due to modern science. New materials and methods improve the quality of research. However, collaboration is important for ensuring research quality.
• Institutional quality is also improved by collaborations. It allows changes in the type of culture that is supportive of teamwork and pooling of resources.
• Collaborations with top-tier universities can increase the standings of universities in developing countries.

Whether you are just starting out or have advanced in your career, international collaborations are worth looking into. These collaborations may also have their share of disadvantages, however, the benefits outweigh the risks. Understanding collaborations on a deeper level will enable researchers to contribute knowledge and expertise to improving scientific research.

New York: Enago, the leader in editing and publication support services, today announced the worldwide release of Open Access Journal Finder (OAJF) that aims at enabling research scholars to find open access journals relevant to their manuscript. OAJF uses a validated journal index provided by Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – the most trusted non-predatory open access journal directory. The free journal finder indexes over 10,700 pre-vetted journals and allows researchers to compare their paper with over 2.7 million articles and counting. Seeing the positive response in the initial pilot stage, OAJF has also been rolled out in languages other than English, primarily Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Sharad Mittal, CEO, Enago said, “Open access means critical academic advances and breakthrough scientific theories are accessible globally and instantly.” Commenting on the launch, he added, “Countless predatory journals have slipped into the scholarly landscape, diluting the manuscripts of scholars with misleading findings. OAJF promotes research integrity by enabling accessibility to open access publishing environment that is free from predatory journals.”

Researchers looking for open access journals can now simply add their research abstract and OAJF will make use of advanced search algorithm to deliver contextual search results sorted by relevance. In its search results, the tool displays vital journal details to the scholars including publisher details, peer review process, confidence index (indicates similarity between matching keywords in the published articles across all journals indexed by DOAJ), and publication speed. The dynamic platform also lets scholars filter search results based on preferences such as peer review process and approval of journals, among others.

Sharad expressed his enthusiasm, “We are thrilled, and expect thousands of our scholarly authors to widely benefit from this open access movement.” Researchers can now find relevant research literature from multiple disciplines, and explore publication details from one convenient place without any fear of data privacy. Open access journals on OAJF are indexed from publishers ranging from 120+ countries globally. The publications cover all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities. Sharad concluded, “OAJF’s mission to increase the ease of accessing open access journals is based on a true vision of creating a useful, fairer and transparent research environment for scholars.”

There is a lot of published research data now available and this makes it harder for your target audience to find your academic research. Promoting your research has therefore become very important.

Stand Out From the Crowd

To help you stand out from the crowd, you should have an ORCID profile. This will allow others to find you even if you change your name or institution. Research identifiers such as a DOI can be useful. They can be used to track the interest in your paper.

What are some other ways that you can get more people to read your research?

Step 1: You Need A Strategy

This is something every researcher is familiar with. If you want more people to find your work, think about your audience. Who are they? What are they interested in? Where do they work? Are they only in your department or further afield?

Once you know who they are, think about how to reach them. Where do they spend time online? What types of online habits do they have? Use this information to help you decide where to promote your work. Is Twitter with its very open platform going to reach your audience more effectively or are you more likely to find them on LinkedIn?

You could also look at the strategy other researchers in your field are using. Install the Altmetric bookmarklet in your browser. Then navigate to a paper in your field and click on the Altmetric donut. This will give you details about where members of the public are discussing the paper. Use similar channels to promote your work.

Step 2: How Committed Are You?

Some social media channels require a lot more investment than others. Before you begin, work out how much time you are willing to devote to the channel(s) you chose. Using Twitter means that you will need to tweet several times a day. Some of the tweets should promote and discuss your work. However, most of the tweets should not be about you. Retweet interesting tweets that your followers might like. Reply to other users’ polls and questions. Share research that interests you and tag the authors.

LinkedIn may be a better fit for your schedule if you are very busy. LinkedIn allows you to share updates on your research. It also has a blog-like feature where you can write short articles. This allows you to share your expertise. Of course, if your target audience is not on LinkedIn it would be better to choose a platform where they will see your work.

Be prepared for feedback. There will be honest questions and comments. Some members of the audience may be more interested in starting a fight or advancing their own agenda than what you have written. Remember to engage with each comment respectfully and professionally.

Step 3: Get Involved

Online communities are great but don’t forget to interact in real life too. Is there a club or society that might be interested in your work? Volunteer to give a talk or a seminar at one of their meetings. Again, audience is key. Make sure your presentation is clear to your audience. How you present data at a conference is different from how you give a talk to people who are interested in science but have no formal training.

Step 4: Use Your Email Signature

It can be really easy to add a link to your research in your email signature. It could be a link to your LinkedIn or Kudos profile. This is an easy way to help the people you communicate with find your work.

Step 5: Make it Easy to Read

Create a plain English summary of each paper. This will make each article less intimidating. It will also help people decide if they want to read the full paper. Post this summary on a blog or discussion group that you belong to. If a science reporter sees it, they may contact you for an interview.

Step 6: Use Hashtags

Hashtags are an easy way to find content related to a topic. Twitter is famous for using hashtags. They are basically a topic or phrase with a “#”
at the beginning. Depending on the paper, you could use #science, #microbiology, #astrophysics to categorize your work. Use Hashtagify to identify which hashtags are really popular. Using a popular hashtag makes it more likely that people will find your work.

Step 7: Teamwork

Many journals have a social media strategy to promote articles they publish. The research office at your institution likely has a PR strategy for promoting research that includes social media, email lists, news outlets, and government departments. Speak with them about promoting your work.

It can be a little scary to promote your research at first. However, it is an essential part of attracting grants, collaborators, and students. Use Altmetrics to find out where others in your field are promoting their academic research. Choose a similar platform, being aware of how much time it will take. Use a platform like Kudos to provide a plain English summary of each of your papers. Make sure you use unique research identifiers. Get an ORCID profile to help others keep up with your research data. Above all, participate in the research community.

Life science research is going through a reproducibility crisis. Indeed, 70% of researchers have tried and failed to reproduce another scientist’s experiments. This has prompted scientists to question peer review models and promote the sharing of peer review data. All of this has come as an effort to promote scientific integrity and effectively minimize instances of scientific fraud.

Analyses in psychology and cancer biology have revealed shocking facts about experimental reproducibility. According to a recent study, only 40% of the reports from psychology and 10% from cancer biology are reproducible. This lack of reproducibility is largely due to the selective reporting of data, pressure to publish, low statistical power/poor analysis, insufficient replication, poor experimental design, or unavailability of raw data. One way to address this is to promote the peer review of manuscript data. This will significantly facilitate the assessment of data accuracy.

Sharing Raw Data

Efforts to promote data sharing have been increasing. Nevertheless, only a few journals have actually implemented policies to meet the goals of establishing transparency.

Some journals review data sets, but they do not share such data sets. Furthermore, peer review itself has not been systematically reviewed for efficacy (perhaps, this has consequences for reproducibility too). There continue to be discussions on enhancing resources that are available to editors and researchers. One possible solution is to work with meta-researchers and create experimental peer review systems that can be validated easily. Incorporating plagiarism detection software for detecting copied data sets could also help to some extent.

Peer Review of Shared Data Sets

Currently, several journals require that authors submit data sets for peer review. Journals then perform a technical and subject-area review of data sets, which includes an assessment of the following:

• Data logic
• Consistency
• Formatting
• Open access plausibility
• Quality
• Handling/reuse
• Units of measurement
• Quality of collection methods
• Presence of any anomalies

Meanwhile, several researchers still hesitate to share data sets, presumably because of the extreme competition and reduced research funding.

Journals Should Share Peer Review Data

Sharing all aspects of peer review could help promote transparency. PEERE, a large European cohort, worked with Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley to develop a protocol to do so. Ultimately, their efforts seek to develop a normalized system for publishing peer-reviewed data sets.

In addition to the PEERE initiative, several peer review models need modifications to enhance the transparency of manuscripts and experimental data sets. In summary, the peer review of shared data sets is expected to decrease instances of scientific misconduct

Researchers frequently spend time thinking about journal selection. What should be the best journal to publish their academic research? Academic publishing giant Elsevier aims to simplify this process. They have added the Elsevier Journal Finder to their list of research tools.

Why Elsevier Journal Finder?

Elsevier Journal Finder uses the Elsevier Fingerprint Engine. This Fingerprint Engine creates an index of weighted terms that defines the text. The text can be any scientific document including grants and project summaries. The Fingerprint Engine basically compares the fingerprint of your article to other articles. The Journal Finder will then suggest an Elsevier journal which has published articles with a similar fingerprint to yours.

Elsevier’s Fingerprint Engine uses many thesauri in order to be effective. It uses thesauri from the Life Sciences, Engineering, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Agriculture. It is also possible for the Fingerprint Engine to use an institution’s thesauri.

Elsevier’s Journal Finder helps researchers match their abstract to one of more than 2,200 Elsevier journals. These journals cover the Health Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and the Social Sciences. Using this fingerprint matching system helps authors submit their papers to journals that are the best fit. This should reduce the number of rejections that researchers have to face. Fewer rejections means less time spent on re-submissions.

How to Use the Elsevier Journal Finder

Selecting a journal is easy. A researcher will enter the title, abstract, and/or keywords on the Journal Finder page. It is possible to select up to three research fields to refine the search. You may also choose to limit the results to Open Access journals. Clicking on “Find Journal” will take you to the results page.

This research tool will show the top ten search results. Each listing includes a set of headings such as the journal name and how well its fingerprint matched your article. The listing includes the journal’s CiteScore and impact factor. Elsevier Journal Finder also reports the average review speed, acceptance rate, publication speed, and Open Access fee. The Journal Finder makes it possible to sort the results by any of the headings. From the search results page, you can access information on the journal’s scope. It is also possible to go to the journal’s page or submissions portal.

The current version of the Elsevier Journal Finder uses new Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology to analyze the data a researcher enters. The research tool uses noun phrases, avoids bias due to journal size, and utilizes the Best Matching Algorithm (BM25). This means that authors can expect better accuracy from its recommendations.

Benefits of the Process

One of the major reasons a paper is rejected is because it did not fit the scope of the journal. This can happen even if the paper is excellent. If more authors submitted their work to appropriate journals, rejection rates should go down. Using a system that helps with journal selection by matching a paper to journals that have published similar works should save an author’s time.

The Elsevier Journal Finder takes the guesswork out of finding a good journal for your next paper. It gives authors a list of journals that have published similar work. The convenient format of the search results also allows authors to sort based on the headings that are most important to them. The only limitation is that the search returns the best Elsevier journal matches.

There are thousands of journals available today. Journal selection is therefore a complex choice. Being aware of the scope of a journal can definitely help to narrow the list of potential journals to publish in. Even after doing this, however, your academic research may still be rejected. Elsevier Journal Finder is an easy to use research tool that takes selection a step further. It uses NLP and algorithms to find the most relevant journals having similar published articles. It also gives you additional details about the journal to help you make a final decision.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an organization whose mission is to advance technology to benefit humankind. IEEE is recognized for its continuing support of technical professionals and its contributions to increasing innovations in technical fields, such as electronics and computer science.

IEEE has its own referencing and citation style that is used in various technical publications. Here, we provide information and examples for the most common types of published works.

In-Text Citations

IEEE uses numerals within brackets to denote each reference as it appears in the text. Each reference has only one number associated with it, and the numbers are ordered in sequence. For example,

Wolves have the innate ability to limit the size of their litters based on the availability of food[1].

Note the placement of the numeral. Each numeric citation is enclosed in brackets in line with the text. Space is inserted before the bracket and punctuation is placed after the bracket. When the same reference is used throughout the document and you want to call attention to a specific page or illustration, you can format the reference as follows:

Wolves have a system of hierarchy that allows only the alpha male and female in the pack to mate [2, Fig. 4].

Each in-text citation stands alone. For example, when several citations are necessary, they would appear as follows:

[1], [2], [5], [8] – [10]

Note that each is bracketed. Note also that the first three citations stand alone and are separated by a comma and space. The final citation denotes a range and en-dash (not a hyphen) is inserted between the brackets.

These are the preferred formats. Some publications will accept a somewhat altered format (e.g., [1, 3, 5]) but always check your author guidelines. When in doubt, use the preferred methods.

Citing Authors More Than Once

When making references to the same author(s), it is not necessary to type the author’s name each time. You can merely refer to the same bracketed numeral used in the first citation. For example:

First citation:

Smith and Jones found that a higher percentage of people contract viruses during winter[7].

Subsequent citation:

In [7], it was determined that using antibacterial soaps and wipes were not as effective in preventing illnesses as once suspected.

Note the format in the second example using only the citation numeral with “in” placed before it.

If your reference has three or more authors, you use “et al.” instead of listing all the names. For example, if the authors of the first citation were “Smith, Jones, and Jackson,” the citation would be as follows:

Smith et al. [7] found that a higher percentage of people contract viruses during winter [7].

Check author guidelines to determine whether et al. should be italicized.

References in General

The reference list corresponds to the numeric citations and is formatted sequentially, not alphabetically. There are three specific reference parts:

• Name of author(s): First initial or name followed by a comma and complete last name.
• Title of article/printed/electronic work: In quotation marks.
• Title of publication: In italics.

The following formatting rules apply:

• List references sequentially.
• Use citation numerals in brackets before each reference.
• Place numbered brackets flush left.
• Use single spaces within references and double spaces between them.
• Indent the reference text.

Some parts of references, such as punctuation and dates, might vary. Be sure to check guidelines for examples of several reference types not provided here.

Electronic Documents

Following are some examples of references for electronic documents.

E-books

[5]        B. Jacobs, R. Smith, and D. Jones, Software for Gaming, 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 2003. [E-book] Available: (name of source).

Journal Article Abstract

[17]      B. Smith and P. Miller, “Bitcoins,” Information and Software Technology, vol. 100, no. 860 p. 333, June 2010. [Abstract]. Available: (website name). [Accessed December 25, 2017].

Journal Article (open access)

[2]        B. Smith, “Hypertext hype,” Current Issues in Education, vol. 6, no. 12, July, 2005. [Online serial]. Available: (website URL). [Accessed date].

Note the spacing, punctuation, and fonts of each. For more complete examples, please refer to the link above.

Printed Documents

The following are some (fake) examples of references from books with one or more authors:

[1]        W. K. Smith, Making Sense of Networks. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Press, 2005.

[2]        J. L. Smith and B. H. Jones, Eds., Sensory Signals. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2006.

Note in the second example, the names presented are denoted as the “editors” of the book.

When referencing a section from a book, the format would be as follows:

[3]        E. D. Smith and B. D. Jones, “Sensory Receptors,” in Sensory Signals, J. L. Smith and B. H. Jones, Eds. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2006, pp-1-64.

When there are three or more authors, the same rules apply. The authors are listed using the same format.

Books or manuals are referenced by the organization name but use the same formatting structure as follows:

[1]        Council of Biology Editors, Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th ed., Chicago: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

[2]        IBM Corporation, New and Improved Software Systems, IBM Corporation, 2010.

Datasheets follow the same principles as those for electronic and printed matter but use the manufacturer’s name, name of the data sheet, and model or product identification code in the reference. For example,

[10]      Texas Instruments, “R&S^®RTO oscilloscopes,” 74HC4051 datasheet, Nov. 2016.

The same rules apply to references for government publications and conference proceedings.

General Rules

These are just a few of the many types of references that you might encounter in your technical writing. Most references will follow similar IEEE formats. In addition, reference programs such as EndNote encompass IEEE style and some of its variants. Always check with your department or journal on its preferred reference style to ensure accuracy.