Structure Your Article

Learn about the elements that organize a typical IEEE journal article and how to compose your work to help communicate your ideas more clearly.

Title

The article’s title should be specific, concise, and descriptive to help readers decide if they should read the full article.  Use keywords and short phrases to describe the article’s content in as few words as possible.  Avoid terms such as “new” or “novel” since the reader already knows that your research is new and worthy of publication.

Authors

Follow the IEEE authorship guidelines when determining who belongs on the author list. 

You may publish your name in your native language, alongside the English version of your name, in the author list if you wish.  The guidelines below are for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters. All other native language names should be submitted via Unicode characters. In your article’s cover letter, indicate that the article includes author names in native languages.

Be sure to carefully check the rendering of your name in your article during the proof stage before article publication.

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters

The following font styles will be used when rendering Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters in the final publication. Use the appropriate font for your native language to avoid potential errors.

• Simplified Chinese: SongMT
• Traditional Chinese: SungMT
• Japanese: MS Mincho
• Korean: Batang

Use Microsoft Word’s Insert Symbols feature to add the correct characters in parentheses after the name of each author who would like to have their name shown in their native language. Use the standard font listed above to ensure accuracy.

When writing in LaTeX, provide the CJK Ascii Unicode for Chinese (traditional or simplified), Japanese, or Korean.

Abstract

Your abstract should provide a brief summary of the research conducted, the conclusions reached, and the potential implications of those conclusions.

A strong abstract will also:

• Consist of a single paragraph up to 250 words, with correct grammar and unambiguous terminology
• Be self-contained; without abbreviations, footnotes, references, or mathematical equations
• Highlight what is novel in your work
• Include 3-5 keywords or phrases that describe the research, with any abbreviations clearly defined, to help readers find your article

Most authors write the abstract last and edit it multiple times before article publication to ensure it accurately captures the entire article.

IEEE recommends that you do not include mathematical symbols in your article title or abstract because they may not display properly.

Keywords

Using the right keywords in your article can make your article more easily and reliably discoverable—which leads to a broader readership for your article. For best results, define any abbreviations and, where possible, strive to use standardized keywords. Using the IEEE Thesaurus can help you find the best standardized keywords to fit your article. Use the thesaurus access request form for free access to the IEEE Thesaurus.   

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First Footnote

The first footnote is not numbered. All other footnotes in the article are numbered consecutively. Do not use asterisks or daggers. The first footnote (or the author affiliation paragraph) is made up of at least three paragraphs.   

First paragraph

The first paragraph consists of:

• all IEEE-provided received, revised, and accepted dates of the article, as well as the two additional online published dates (i.e., first and final publication dates)
• author-provided name(s) of the corresponding author(s) (as well as names of equally contributed authors or co-first authors, if applicable)
• author-provided full financial support for the work in the article (listed here and not in the Acknowledgment)
• author-provided  information of full or partial prior presentation of an article (referred to as a “paper”) at a conference, including the DOI of the prior presentation, which links to the conference version and not a preprint; if an article is a thesis or part of a thesis or dissertation, this should be noted in the last sentence of the first paragraph
• for articles reporting on research involving human subjects or animals, one of the following author-chosen human/animal research statements must be completed and included by the author as a separate paragraph to appear below the first paragraph and before the author affiliations:
  • Articles That Are Reporting on Human/Animal Research and Have Review Board Approval: This work involved human subjects or animals in its research. Approval of all ethical and experimental procedures and protocols was granted by (Name of Review Board or Committee) (if provided under Application No. xx, and performed in line with the (Name of Specific Declaration (if applicable/provided)).
  • Articles That Are Reporting on Human/Animal Research and Are Exempt From Review Board Approval: This work involved human subjects or animals in its research. The author(s) confirm(s) that all human/animal subject research procedures and protocols are exempt from review board approval.

  Refer to the IEEE’s policy on Research on Human and Animal Subjects.

Second paragraph

The second paragraph consists of author affiliations, including author-provided department, university or corporation, city, state, province or prefecture (if provided), postal code, and country for each author. Note that the country and corresponding author’s e-mail address must be included. All authors may include their e-mail addresses, which would be separated by semicolons.

See IEEE Editorial Style Manual for Authors for detailed examples of author affiliation types for two or more authors, changed affiliation, retired author, deceased author, and consultant.

Third paragraph

The third paragraph consists of an IEEE-provided notice if the article has supplementary materials and/or color figures in the online version.

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Introduction

The introduction section includes a review of the existing literature to position your research within the broader scientific field and to show the novelty of your work.  The introduction should also describe the question you’re trying to answer with your research and why that question is important to the field.

Methodology

The methodology section is a straightforward description of what you did in your research and how you did it.  A detailed methodology section will make your article reproducible by other researchers, which helps others trust and build upon your work.

Equations

Ensure your mathematical equations and formulas display correctly in your published article by following either the IEEE Math Typesetting Guide for LaTeX Users or the IEEE Math Typesetting Guide for MS Word Users.

Results

The results section describes the results you obtained in your research.  Include figures and tables as appropriate to illustrate your results. Figures can show data trends or other visual information. Tables are best to use when the exact values are important.

Discussion

In the discussion section, describe what your results mean and how they are an important contribution to the research field.

Conclusion

The conclusion section can highlight potential broader implications of your work and areas that need further study.  Be careful not to inflate your findings.

References

The reference section is important because all scientific and technical research builds upon previous work. References help give proper credit and attribution to that preceding body of work.  References also support and validate your hypothesis.  Be sure to only cite references that directly support your work. Inflating citations by adding unnecessary references is considered a breach of publishing ethics.

Acknowledgments

The acknowledgments section is where you can recognize and thank those who have helped you publish this article. Here you can thank your funder, someone who supported you during the research project, or the anonymous reviewers who evaluated the article.  The Acknowledgements section is optional but quite common.

Refining the Use of English in Your Article

Communicate your work clearly. If you are not fully proficient in English, consider using an English language editing service before submitting your article. An expert editing service can help you refine the use of English in your article, so you can communicate your work more effectively.

The use of an editing service is paid for by the author. It does not guarantee acceptance in an IEEE publication.

IEEE authors are eligible for discounts at the following language editing services:

• American Journal Experts: 10% discount
• Enago: 30% discount (review Enago’s services for authors in Chinese)