Citing a thesis or dissertation in IEEE format follows a structure similar to books, but with specific fields for the degree type, institution, and the way the document was accessed. This guide covers published and unpublished theses, master’s dissertations, and online repositories like ProQuest and institutional repositories.
IEEE Thesis Citation: Basic Structure
[#] A. A. Author, "Title of thesis," M.S. thesis / Ph.D. dissertation, Dept., Univ., City, State/Country, Year.
Field-by-Field Breakdown
Field
Rule
Example
Reference number
Sequential bracket
[1]
Author
Initials then last name
R. A. Patel
Thesis title
In quotation marks; sentence case
«Adaptive control of robotic systems»
Degree label
M.S. thesis / Ph.D. dissertation
Ph.D. dissertation
Department
Abbreviated; optional but recommended
Dept. Elect. Eng.
University
Full official name
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
City, Country
City and country/state
Cambridge, MA, USA
Year
Year of submission/approval
2023
Complete Examples
Example 1 — PhD dissertation (unpublished / institutional)
[1] R. A. Patel, "Adaptive control strategies for autonomous underwater vehicles in dynamic ocean environments," Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Elect. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2023.
Example 2 — Master’s thesis (unpublished)
[2] L. Chen, "Deep learning-based fault detection in photovoltaic systems," M.S. thesis, Dept. Elect. Comput. Eng., University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA, 2022.
Example 3 — Thesis accessed through ProQuest
[3] S. K. Okonkwo, "Wireless sensor networks for structural health monitoring of bridges," Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Civil Eng., Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2021. [Online]. Available: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (Accession No. 28652341)
Example 4 — Thesis accessed through an institutional repository (with URL)
[4] A. Müller, "Renewable energy integration in smart grids: Optimization approaches," M.S. thesis, Dept. Elect. Eng., ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://ethz.ch/dissertations/2023/mueller
Example 5 — International institution (non-US)
[5] P. R. Singh, "Machine learning applications in medical image segmentation," Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Comput. Sci., Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India, 2022.
M.S. Thesis vs. Ph.D. Dissertation: Which Label to Use
Document type
IEEE label
Master’s thesis (any discipline)
M.S. thesis
Doctoral dissertation
Ph.D. dissertation
Other doctoral degrees (Eng.D., D.Eng.)
D.Eng. dissertation (or equivalent)
Undergraduate thesis (honors)
B.S. thesis (uncommon in IEEE)
Common Mistakes
Using «dissertation» for a master’s thesis — master’s documents use «M.S. thesis»; «dissertation» is reserved for doctoral work
Not including the department — while optional, including the department (Dept. Elect. Eng.) adds specificity and is recommended by IEEE
Italicizing the thesis title — thesis titles go in quotation marks, not italics (unlike book titles)
Wrong location format for non-US universities — include the country name, not a state abbreviation
Omitting the access info for online repositories — if the thesis is accessed via ProQuest or an institutional repository, add [Online]. Available: with the accession number or URL
Thesis vs. Journal vs. Conference Paper: Quick Comparison
Feature
Thesis/dissertation
Journal article
Conference paper
Title format
«Quoted, sentence case»
«Quoted, sentence case»
«Quoted, sentence case»
Degree label
M.S. thesis / Ph.D. dissertation
Not applicable
Not applicable
Institution
Full university name + location
Not included
Conference name + location
Publisher
Not applicable
Journal (abbreviated)
IEEE / conference publisher
Online access
[Online]. Available: URL or repo
doi: 10.XXXX/…
doi: 10.XXXX/…
For the full range of IEEE citation types including conference papers, websites, and standards, see the IEEE Format Center.