As in all academic writing, you will be asked to document your sources in engineering technical communications. When you reference information or ideas from a book, article, website, handout, presentation, etc. in your own writing, you must tell your reader where it came from—failure to do so is plagiarism and academic misconduct (links to Ohio State’s Student Code of Conduct webpage). Citing sources also connects your reader to a broader range of sources and information, and it ultimately builds your credibility as a communicator.

Citation styles are a set of conventions or rules for giving credit to source material. Different disciplines use different styles. For instance, you are likely familiar with the Modern Language Association (MLA) style from English or writing classes, since this style is most commonly used in the arts and humanities.

At this university, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and American Psychological Association (APA) styles are most commonly used. Familiarize yourself with the basic guidelines of those styles—an overview is provided below. You can find a longer list of citations styles and information from the Ohio State Libraries here.

Recognize that various citation styles exist—you can research and use them when needed. Even if you make a mistake in the punctuation or formatting, you absolutely must make an effort to credit source material.

Citing Sources — the Basics

Citation styles typically define the rules for two main components:

1. In-text citations. Indicate basic, limited information about the source in the flow of the text, wherever the information or idea is directly referenced in your writing. Also referred to as “textual citations.”
2. List of sources. A separate listing of all sources used with detailed and complete publication or location information. Depending on style, this list has different names and will follow various organizational patterns. Anything referenced in an in-text citation must have a corresponding entry on the source list.

IEEE

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) developed a citation style that is used widely within computer science and engineering and is similar to many of the styles used by other specific engineering disciplines.

Formatting In-text Citations in IEEE

• Numbers in square brackets are used to identify the source in the sentence—use space before the bracket and place before any punctuation.
  • Example: The provided material had a thickness of .347 mm [5].
  • Example: For complete findings, see [4].
• It is not necessary to reference the author’s name, although the author may be referenced in the sentence, if it provides clarity or is preferred stylistically.
  • Example: Jones [6] identified the contradiction.
• Multiple sources are presented with each number in brackets and separated by commas.
  • Example: The positive results were consistent with findings of recent studies [2], [3].
• Sources are numbered in order that they are presented in the text (i.e. the first source is [1], the second is [2]); once a source is numbered, use the same number for all references elsewhere in the document.

Creating a List of Sources in IEEE

• A list titled “References” is placed after the main text of the document.
• Sources are presented in numerical order; bracketed numbers are flush left with a hanging indent.
• Article titles are in quotation marks; book/journal titles are in italics.
• Author names are given as first initial(s) and last name (e.g., J. Smith, M. J. Jones).

Basic format—include all relevant or available information:
J. Doe and B. Deer, “Article or chapter title in quotes,” Book / Journal Title in italics, vol. #, no. #, Month Year of publication. [Format]. Available: retrieval URL or database name. [Accessed Mon. Day, Year].

Examples:
Course materials
[1] Ohio State Engineering Foundations. (2026, Spring). Stress and strain. Available: carmen.osu.edu for ENGR 1182

Journal article retrieved online
[2] A. Huang, “Understanding interpersonal dynamics in peer review assignments,” Current Issues in Technical Communication, vol. 63, no. 5, July 2010. Accessed Dec. 7, 2017. [Online.] Available: http://cietc.edu/volume63/number5/.

Websites or webpages
[3] Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. “The Science of Reading.” education.ohio.gov. Accessed: April 2, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Literacy/The-Science-of-Reading

Book (print) with multiple authors
[4] P. Rogers and C. Lauper, Musical Vision. New York City, NY: Purple Press, 2016.

 See here for additional examples of IEEE reference list entries (via Murdoch University). See here for the IEEE Editorial Style Manual and other resources.

 APA

American Psychological Association (APA) style was developed for use in the social and behavioral sciences, but is often used in other scientific fields, including engineering and engineering education.

Additional Resources

APA formatting guide from OWL