10 KiB
IEEE Paper Formatting Specifications
Complete formatting guide based on IEEE conference/journal paper template.
Page Setup
Page Size and Orientation
- Size: A4 (210mm × 297mm)
- Orientation: Portrait
Margins
- Top: 19mm (0.75 inches)
- Bottom: 43mm (1.69 inches) - larger for page numbers
- Left: 14.32mm (0.564 inches)
- Right: 14.32mm (0.564 inches)
Column Layout
- Number of columns: 2
- Column width: Calculated automatically based on page width minus margins
- Column separation: 4.22mm (0.166 inches)
- Column balance: Balance final page columns if possible
Typography
Font Family
- All text: Times New Roman
- Fallback: Times, serif
Font Sizes and Styles
Title:
- Size: 24pt
- Weight: Bold
- Case: Title Case
- Alignment: Centered
- Spacing: 18pt after
Author Names:
- Size: 11pt
- Weight: Regular
- Alignment: Centered
- Spacing: 12pt after
Author Affiliations:
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Regular (Italic for email)
- Alignment: Centered
- Spacing: 18pt after
Abstract Heading:
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Bold
- Case: Title Case
- Alignment: Left
- Style: Italic
Abstract Text:
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Regular (Bold for "Keywords:")
- Alignment: Justified
- Indentation: None
- Spacing: 18pt after
Section Headings (Level 1):
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Bold
- Case: UPPERCASE
- Alignment: Left (centered also acceptable for IEEE)
- Numbering: Roman numerals (I, II, III) or Arabic (1, 2, 3)
- Spacing: 6pt before, 3pt after
Subsection Headings (Level 2):
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Bold Italic
- Case: Title Case
- Alignment: Left
- Numbering: A, B, C or 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
- Spacing: 6pt before, 3pt after
Sub-subsection Headings (Level 3):
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Regular Italic
- Case: Sentence case
- Alignment: Left
- Numbering: 1), 2), 3) or 1.1.1, 1.1.2
- Spacing: 3pt before, 3pt after
Body Text:
- Size: 10pt
- Weight: Regular
- Alignment: Justified
- Line spacing: Single (1.0)
- Paragraph spacing: 3pt after
- Indentation: None (block paragraphs)
Figure Captions:
- Size: 8pt
- Weight: Regular
- Format: "Fig. X." in bold, followed by caption text
- Alignment: Centered
- Spacing: 6pt before figure, 12pt after caption
Table Captions:
- Size: 8pt
- Weight: Regular
- Format: "TABLE X" in uppercase, centered above table; caption text below
- Alignment: Centered
- Spacing: 6pt before caption, 6pt after table
Footnotes:
- Size: 8pt
- Weight: Regular
- Numbering: Superscript numbers
- Placement: Bottom of column
References:
- Size: 10pt (reference number 8pt)
- Weight: Regular
- Alignment: Left
- Numbering: [1], [2], [3]...
- Indentation: Hanging indent after number
- Spacing: 0pt between references
Numbering Conventions
Sections
Two acceptable styles:
Style 1: Roman numerals
I. INTRODUCTION
II. RELATED WORK
A. Context Modeling
B. Adaptation Techniques
III. PROPOSED APPROACH
Style 2: Arabic numerals
1. INTRODUCTION
2. RELATED WORK
2.1 Context Modeling
2.2 Adaptation Techniques
3. PROPOSED APPROACH
Figures and Tables
- Figures: Numbered sequentially (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3...)
- Tables: Numbered sequentially (TABLE I, TABLE II or Table 1, Table 2...)
- Equations: Numbered on right margin (1), (2), (3)...
Special Elements
Equations
- Inline: Use inline math for simple expressions:
x + y = z - Display: Center important equations on separate line
- Numbering: Right-aligned equation number in parentheses
- Spacing: 6pt before and after
- Font: Times New Roman or Symbol font for math
Example:
E = mc² (1)
Algorithms and Code
- Font: Courier New or other monospace font
- Size: 9pt
- Placement: Within figure environment
- Caption: "Fig. X. Algorithm description"
- Indentation: Preserve code structure
Lists
Bulleted lists:
- Use bullet points (•)
- Indent by 5mm from margin
- Spacing: 0pt between items
Numbered lists:
- Use 1), 2), 3) or 1., 2., 3.
- Indent by 5mm from margin
- Align text with item number
Quotations
- Short quotes (< 3 lines): Inline with quotation marks
- Long quotes: Indented block, 9pt font, no quotes
- Always cite source
Figures and Tables Guidelines
Figure Placement
- Position: Top or bottom of column preferred
- Width: Single-column (width of one column) or double-column (spans both columns)
- Centering: Center within column or page
- Quality: Minimum 300 DPI for images
- Format: Vector (PDF, EPS) preferred; raster (PNG, JPG) acceptable
- Color: Use grayscale or ensure prints clearly in grayscale
Figure Captions
Format:
Fig. 1. System architecture showing the three main components:
context acquisition, reasoning engine, and adaptation module.
Rules:
- "Fig." abbreviation, not "Figure"
- Number followed by period
- Caption text starts with capital letter
- Can be multiple sentences
- Place below figure
Table Formatting
- Border: Use horizontal lines only (top, bottom, below header)
- Header: Bold text in first row
- Alignment: Numbers right-aligned, text left-aligned
- Spacing: Compact spacing within table
- Font: Same as body text (10pt) or slightly smaller (9pt)
Example:
TABLE I
PERFORMANCE COMPARISON
Method Accuracy Time (ms)
───────────────────────────────────
Baseline 87.3% 145
Proposed 94.2% 132
───────────────────────────────────
Caption placement:
- Table number and title above table (centered)
- Additional caption text below table (centered)
Table Captions
Format:
TABLE I
PERFORMANCE COMPARISON ACROSS THREE DATASETS
Header and Footer
Running Headers
- Odd pages: Paper title (right-aligned)
- Even pages: Author names (left-aligned)
- Font: 8pt
- Position: Top margin area
(Note: Many IEEE conferences omit running headers)
Page Numbers
- Position: Bottom center
- Font: 10pt
- Format: Simple number (1, 2, 3...)
- Start: Page 1 on title page (may be suppressed for submission)
Citations and References
In-Text Citations
Format: [1], [2, 3], [5-7]
Examples:
- "Recent work [1] has shown..."
- "Several studies [2, 3, 4] demonstrate..."
- "As noted in [5], context awareness..."
Reference List
Section title: "REFERENCES" or "REFERENCES" (all caps, centered or left)
Format by type:
Journal article:
[1] A. Author, B. Author, and C. Author, "Title of paper,"
Journal Name, vol. X, no. Y, pp. ZZZ-ZZZ, Month Year.
Conference paper:
[2] A. Author and B. Author, "Title of paper," in Proc.
Conference Name (CONF 'YY), City, Country, Year,
pp. XXX-XXX.
Book:
[3] A. Author, Book Title, Edition. City: Publisher, Year.
Book chapter:
[4] A. Author, "Chapter title," in Book Title, B. Editor, Ed.
City: Publisher, Year, pp. XXX-XXX.
Technical report:
[5] A. Author, "Title," Company/Institution, City, State,
Country, Tech. Rep. Number, Year.
Website:
[6] A. Author. "Page title." Website Name. Accessed: Month
Day, Year. [Online]. Available: http://url
Rules:
- List references in order of first citation
- Use initials for first/middle names
- Italicize journal/book titles
- Use quotation marks for article/paper titles
- Include DOI if available: doi: 10.1234/example
- Hanging indent after reference number
- Abbreviate author names consistently
Acronyms and Abbreviations
- Define on first use: "Context-Aware Systems (C-AS)"
- Use consistently after definition
- Common technical abbreviations okay: API, CPU, RAM, etc.
- Measurement units: use standard abbreviations (mm, kg, MHz)
Hyphenation and Line Breaks
- Hyphenation: Automatic hyphenation allowed
- Line breaks: Avoid widows and orphans
- Section breaks: Major sections start at top of column when possible
Color Usage
- Use color sparingly
- Ensure readability in grayscale
- Test figures print clearly in black and white
- Use patterns/textures in addition to color for distinction
File Preparation
Submission Format
- PDF: Primary format for submission
- Source files: LaTeX or Word source may be required
- Figures: Separate high-resolution files may be needed
- Fonts: Embed all fonts in PDF
PDF Requirements
- Version: PDF 1.4 or higher
- Fonts: All fonts embedded
- Images: Minimum 300 DPI
- Page size: Exact A4 (no cropmarks)
- Color space: RGB or grayscale
- File size: Typically < 10 MB
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Wrong margins: Using default Word/LaTeX margins
- Wrong font: Using Arial or other sans-serif fonts
- Single column abstract: Should be two-column
- Centered section headings: Usually left-aligned
- Figure quality: Low-resolution or pixelated images
- Caption format: Wrong placement or format
- Reference format: Inconsistent citation style
- Page numbers: Wrong position or format
- Line spacing: Using double-spacing instead of single
- Paragraph indentation: Using indent instead of block style
Tools and Templates
LaTeX
Use IEEE conference/journal template:
\documentclass[conference]{IEEEtran}
Microsoft Word
Download official IEEE Word template from IEEE website
Formatting Checkers
- IEEE PDF eXpress for validation
- Online margin checkers
- Font embedding validators
Checklist for Final Submission
- Page size: A4 (210mm × 297mm)
- Margins: 19mm top, 43mm bottom, 14.32mm left/right
- Font: Times New Roman throughout
- Two-column layout with 4.22mm spacing
- Section headings formatted correctly
- All figures have captions below
- All tables have captions above
- All figures/tables referenced in text
- Reference list formatted correctly
- All fonts embedded in PDF
- Page numbers included (if required)
- File size acceptable
- PDF prints correctly
- All acronyms defined on first use
- No orphan headings (heading alone at column bottom)
Additional Resources
- IEEE Author Center: https://journals.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/
- IEEE Templates: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html
- IEEE Reference Guide: https://journals.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/authoring-tools-and-templates/ieee-reference-guide/
- IEEE PDF eXpress: Check with conference/journal for PDF validation service