This article outlines essential IEEE citation style examples for engineering and science dissertations. We will cover key elements, including in-text citations and reference list formats, to ensure your academic work meets scholarly standards.
Citing sources in engineering and science dissertations is technical in its nature. The referencing helps you avoid the charges of plagiarism by making it clear what ideas belong to you. You give the due credit to other authors for their work, and it demonstrates your academic credibility.
As per the National Institutes of Health, paying attention to referencing not only makes you a good researcher but also improves your reputation among readers, reviewers and editors. Similarly, the poor referencing reflects intellectual laziness.
In this article, we are going to explore the ways you can use to cite sources in your papers.
How to Cite Sources in Engineering and Science Dissertations?
The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an official entity that supports many branches of information technology, computer science and engineering. Apart from the publication of magazines, journals, and dissertations, the IEEE also establishes and formulates standards for many industries. All the citations are placed within your texts in the form of a number enclosed within brackets. As a dissertation writer, you must keenly check the correct numbering of all your references.
The IEEE referencing style sheet is used for the citation of sources in science and engineering dissertations. For the in-text citation, you use the reference within the main text body. It appears next to the material you cite.
Here are examples of IEEE referencing style:
- “… as discussed by Paul [9], as already stated.”
- “Several surveys [4, 9, 13, 16] have shown that…”
- “Different recent studies [5], [9], [18], [20] have suggested that…”
- “The hypothesis was first put forward in 1988 [2].”
- The reference and the examples above can also be formatted as:
- “For example, see [9].”
You also need to add the page numbers when adding the citations for the directly quoted material.
At the end of your work list, you have to add the details of all the references, sources and citations that you cite in your text. They must be in numerical order and must follow the formatting instructions. The list must be crafted in a way that anyone who is reading it can identify and, hence, find the materials that you have referred to.
Formatting Guidelines
In the IEEE style of citing sources in engineering and science dissertations, you will have to follow the listed formatting style:
- Align all the given references first.
- Each entry should be single-spaced, and there must be double spacing between all new entries.
- You should mention the entries’ number in the margin on the left side and enclose the information in the square brackets.
- The indentation of the text of entries should be taken seriously.
Citations With Above 2 Authors
If you have to mention the authors of a resource while citing it in your papers, you should add some and et al. for the rest. This means that if there are 3 or more authors, you can abbreviate their names using the et al.
However, generally, you do not need to mention the writers by their names. All that you have to do is add the numeric citations and place them in the square brackets. At the end of your reference list, you must mention the names of all the writers. However, you can use the et al. rule where the names of authors exceed six.
IEEE Citation Style Examples
While citing sources in engineering and science dissertations, there are standard formats for the documents that you must follow. Here are some of the random, most common sorts of references that you will have to add to your papers.
1. Book
[24] I.A. Clover and J.B. Crant, Digital Online Communications, second ed. Barlow: Ferrari Hall, 2019.
2. Book Chapter
[51] B. W. Li and G. N. Wang, “Scaffold devices making using MEMS making techniques,” in MEMS and their relation with digital devices, A. Jhansali and A. Basudev, fds. Oxford: Goodhead, 2019, pp. 193-219.
3. E-book
[23] W. Peng, G. Yu, D. Lin. (2014, Nov 23). Multimedia and online Security Effective Management of the digital right technologies [Online]. Link: https: e//gooo.gl/xP6doi
4. E-journal Article
[03] M. Lemilof. (1992, June). “Linking commerce to the online internet and web-corporate intranets: unclear lines. the week of communications [Online]. volume 7, issue 20. Link: http://wwww.techsweb.com/se/dsirectlinkcgi?CW2K19960715S0005
5. Journal Article
[56] F. Yan, D. Cu, Y. Fang, C. D. Bang, A. B. Kalam, S. B. John et al., “Conclusive interlinking mechanism implemented on rock and laser during processes of perforation,” Laser Science and Optics studies, volume 52, pp. 304-309, Nov 2014.
6. Reports
[09] P. Piament & W. F. Fuptakin, “V-line surface-wave and single line scanning and radiation,” Dept. Electrical Engineering, Stanford Univ., America, Sci Rep. 75, 1971.
7. Patents
[18] J. C. Henry, “Non-linear and linear circuit devices that are resonant in nature,” U.K. Patent 3 634 126, July 16 1992.
8. Standards
[98] Shut and closed power end capacitors, IEEE standard 19-2022, 2023.
9. Conference Papers
[53] S. Cdachi, T. Borio, S. BMW. “Effective vacuum-ultraviolet and infrared harmonic pulse taken by a single order deep-UV infrared driving laser,” in Electro-Optics and Conf. Optics and Lasers, San Francisco, NA, 2014, pp.2119-2121.
10. Thesis/Dissertations
[09] P. Salman, “Narrow and wide-band analyser,” Doctoral dissertation, Dept. Comp. Eng., Cambridge Univ., Cambridge, M.Sc 1994.
11. Websites
[23] CNN (2012, Dec. 11). The relationship of microwave signals with electrical power [Online]. Link: http://www.cnn/news/scitechnology-248975384
[41] P. Holland. (2003). All about citing and referring to digital places [Online]. Link: https://www.bourneemouth.ak..uk/unilibrary/making/guide_tore_forumulating_internet_sourc.html
12. Online Documents
[22] M.C. Brooks, “Adjustable neck and a flexible mirror musical toothbrush that comes with extra handles,” U.K. Patent 3326189 [Online], April 19 1993. Link: http://goo.gl/VU2WEk
13. Datasheets
[10] California Instruments, “Low and High-speed CMOS logic analogue demultiplexers/multiplexers,” 742HC4051 sub-datasheet, Dec. 1998 [Revised Nov. 2003].
Importance of Citing Sources for a Dissertation
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology puts emphasis on citations of sources when crafting scientific dissertations. When you cite a source, it shows that you have taken the ideas, words, figures and images from another place and have used them in the body of your dissertation.
Here is why the citation of sources is important when crafting engineering and science dissertations.
- To demonstrate to the readers that you conducted the research by enlisting all the sources that you practised to gather all the information.
- You can save yourself by quoting the ideas and words utilised by other writers.
- Make the readers track down the sources you used after you cite them in the paper in the form of reference list footnotes, and a bibliography.
- To act like an organised scholar by giving valid acknowledgement and credit to other researchers and by giving credit to their ideas.
Tips for Citing Sources in Engineering and Science Dissertations
Imagine all your research work as a conversation in which scholars trade ideas back and forth while building on the results of their earlier work. Citing all such sources is an important way of contributing meaningfully to that conversation. It also allows scholarly readers to comprehend how your work fits well into the overall conversational dynamic of research.
- Always take accurate and clear notes about the place where you found specific academic ideas.
- Craft the complete information for each book and article as you keep going along.
- When directly stating the words of another person, use quotation marks.
- Always give credit to the original authors for their ideas and information.
- The sources you cite using an IEEE citation style must be reliable to be included in a dissertation.
- You must follow the recommended citation style of your college or university when crafting your papers.
Does Engineering Use APA or MLA?
As per BC Campus Press Books, engineering usually uses APA or IEEE referencing style. They mostly follow the guidelines of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Since engineering is a dry field, it follows the IEEE writing format when crafting academic papers. Also, this citation style is quite complex, so most engineering students rely on custom dissertation writing services in the UK to cite their papers.
Conclusion
Choosing a style guide is necessary for the accurate and consistent citing of all the sources you mention in your work. Plagiarism is a very serious offence. If the dissertation checkers find out that you have plagiarised the work, you may have to face some serious consequences. Hence, you must take the task of citing sources in engineering and science dissertations seriously.
We have covered the ins and outs of citations of sources in this guide. Ideally, you should mention the references both in the bibliography and within the text. Depending on your needs, you can choose any appropriate style guide.