The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) style is used widely in technical fields such as computer science and engineering for formatting research papers and citing sources. This style specifies guidelines for font styles and sizes, spacing, pagination, headers and footers, references and bibliographies in a research paper. Microsoft Word makes it easy to format a paper in IEEE style through its built-in templates and citation managers.
Setting up the Document
When setting up a new document in IEEE style, start by selecting the appropriate template based on whether it is a conference or journal paper. In Word, go to File > New and select IEEE from the available templates. For a conference paper, choose “IEEE Conference Articles” and for a journal article choose “IEEE Journal Articles”.
The template automatically sets up the document with the correct paper size, margins, header/footer layout and styles the title, authors and affiliations. The font used is Times New Roman size 12. Sections titles like “Abstract”, “Introduction” etc. are styled consistently in bold.
Page Layout and Section Formatting
The page size should be set to letter size (8.5″ x 11″). Margins on all sides should be 1 inch as specified in the template. Page numbers should be included in the footer centered for all pages except the title page which should be blank.
Section titles like “Abstract”, “Introduction”, “Related Work” etc should be formatted in bold, uppercase letters, centered and unnumbered. The text below each section begins on a new page. Sections may be numbered with Arabic numerals if required by the publication.
Body text is formatted in Times New Roman 12 point and is single spaced with double spacing between paragraphs. Figures and tables should be placed as close as possible to their first reference and numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals. They must have a title placed above and a caption below.
Equations should be numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals in parentheses flush right on the page. Common mathematical symbols and equations are formatted using the built-in Equation Editor in Word. Specific notation or uncommon symbols may need to be looked up.
Conclusion and Future Work
The conclusion section should summarize key results and contributions along with limitations if any. It may also provide scope for possible extensions and future work. The references section lists all sources cited in the paper formatted as per IEEE style.
Word makes referencing easy through its built-in citation manager. As you insert citations in text from sources in the references list, they are numbered automatically and formatted correctly. At the end, the references section is generated automatically in the correct order based on the numbers in text.
Any appendices follow references and are also numbered sequentially using Roman numerals. They contain supplementary material not critical to understanding the main text. The last section provides a short 1-2 line biography of each author listing their name, highest degree and affiliation.
Headers and Footers
All pages except the first should have headers including the paper title and page numbers in the footer spaced 0.5 inches from the edge of the page as specified in the template. Authors’ names are omitted from the header on subsequent pages.
The default header/footer styles and formatting look neat and professional and are easy to modify if needed. For example, author names can be moved to the footer on first page as an alternative layout. Consistent headers and footers help provide an organized look to the document.
Using Built-in Styles for Consistency
Word makes referencing easy through its built-in citation manager. As you insert citations in text from sources in the references list, they are numbered automatically and formatted correctly. At the end, the references section is generated automatically in the correct order based on the numbers in text.
The beauty of templates is that everything from section headings, block quotes, equation formatting, lists etc uses built-in styles. This ensures formatting consistency throughout. Editors can modify styles globally if needed instead of manually formatting elements individually. Any changes made to heading or body text styles automatically update that element everywhere. Styles make formatting large documents with different sections and elements easy.
IEEE Publication Guidelines
Some additional guidelines provided by IEEE for publications include requirements regarding paper length limits based on publication type, formatting digital source files, preparation of illustrations or other media, author bios and other policies on copyright and publishing ethics.
Following established IEEE formatting conventions helps papers to be evaluated impartially based on technical merit alone during peer review. It also ensures a uniform and professional appearance when published. The detailed author guidelines must be reviewed carefully to avoid rejections due to non-compliance with formatting aspects or missing required content.
Microsoft Word along with its ready templates and powerful referencing tools simplifies adhering to complex citation and formatting styles like IEEE. With just a few clicks, a professionally styled research manuscript can be produced effortlessly saving valuable time and avoiding common formatting errors. Templates ensure consistency while built-in styles provide flexibility to tweak elements as needed, making the process of preparing high quality scholarly works convenient and hassle-free.
Andrew Stroud