IEEE Book Citation | Guide with Examples

To cite a book in IEEE citation format, include it on your numbered reference page and use the corresponding number for your in-text citation. Include a page number in the in-text citation if you quote or paraphrase a specific passage.

The reference provides the author (initials and last name), title (italicised and written in title case), publisher information, and publication date.

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Citing a chapter from an edited book

If you cite a chapter from a book with separately authored chapters (e.g., a collection of essays by different authors), your reference should start with the author and title of the chapter you’re citing and then go on to give the editor and title of the whole book.

Write the chapter title in quotation marks, with only the first word (and any proper nouns) capitalised. Include the page range of the chapter at the end.

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Editors and translators

Other than authors, it’s also important to mention the editor or translator of a source when applicable.

The editor is listed either at the start of the reference (to cite the whole book they edited) or later on (if you’re citing a chapter from an edited book). Their name is followed by ‘Ed.’ (or ‘Eds.’ if there are two or more editors).

When the book you’re citing was translated from its original language, list the original author first and the translator after the title. The translator’s name is followed by ‘Transl.’

Citing a specific book edition

If the book you’re citing lists a specific edition (e.g., 2nd edition, revised edition, expanded edition) on its cover or title page, you need to include this information in your reference. Write the information in lowercase, and abbreviated ‘edition’ to ‘ed.’

If it doesn’t, you can assume the book is the first or only edition (by that publisher) and leave the edition out.

Citing e-books and online books

To cite an online book or e-book, provide the same information as you would for a print book, but add ‘Online’ in brackets, provide a URL, and list the date when you accessed the page. Link directly to the book or to a page where it can be purchased or downloaded.

If available, you can instead provide a DOI, in which case the URL and access date aren’t needed.

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Citing a multivolume book

Some books are split into more than one volume. When you cite a book like this, you should specify which volume you’re referring to after the title. If you cite more than one volume, include a separate reference for each one.

Frequently asked questions about IEEE book citation

When should I cite a book chapter instead of a whole book in IEEE?

When a whole book is written by the same author (or group of authors), you should list information about the whole book in your IEEE book citation. This applies even if you only refer to one chapter of the book.

When different chapters of a book are written by different authors, you should include a reference for the chapter you cite, with the chapter author at the start and the editor of the whole book mentioned late in the reference. If you cite multiple chapters, include a separate reference for each.

When should I mention the edition of a book in IEEE?

In an IEEE book citation, you should mention the edition of the book (e.g., second edition, revised edition) when this information is provided on the cover or title page of the book. Otherwise, you can assume it’s the first or only edition and omit this part.

Editions are written in abbreviated form (e.g., ’11th ed.’).

How do I cite specific pages from a source in IEEE?

You can cite specific pages from a source in your IEEE in-text citations by including them within the brackets along with the number of the reference. A single page is preceded by ‘p.’, multiple pages by ‘pp.’: [11, p. 36].

To cite different pages from the same source, use the same reference number followed by different page numbers. Don’t include multiple references for the same source on your IEEE reference page, and don’t include the page numbers there.

When should I use ‘et al.’ in IEEE citation format?

In IEEE citation format, you should list the names of up to six authors in a reference on your IEEE reference page. If the source has seven or more authors, just list the first author’s name followed by ‘et al.’ (in italics): ‘F. Gupta et al., …’

In the main text, if you mention a source with three or more authors, you should use ‘et al.’: ‘Fowler et al. [11] argue that …’

Note that you’re not required to mention author names at all in the text though – just the IEEE in-text citation number is enough, in which case ‘et al.’ isn’t needed: ‘[11] argues that …’