Getting the IEEE paper format wrong can get your manuscript rejected before a reviewer even reads your abstract. Whether you’re submitting to a conference or a journal, this guide walks you through every formatting requirement — and gives you a free IEEE paper format Word template to start from so you don’t have to set it up from scratch.
Download the IEEE Paper Format Template
Before diving into the rules, grab the pre-formatted template. It has the two-column layout, correct margins, Times New Roman 10pt body text, IEEE reference format, and a sample table already set up.
IEEE Paper Format: Core Requirements
| Element | IEEE Specification |
|---|---|
| Page size | US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) or A4 |
| Margins | Top: 0.75 in · Bottom: 1 in · Left/Right: 0.625 in |
| Columns | Two columns, 3.5 in wide each, 0.25 in gutter |
| Body font | Times New Roman 10pt |
| Title font | Times New Roman 24pt (or similar display font) |
| Author names | Times New Roman 11pt |
| Section headings (H2) | Times New Roman 10pt, small caps, centered |
| Subsection headings (H3) | Times New Roman 10pt, italic, left-aligned |
| Abstract | ~150 words, 9pt italic body |
| Keywords | 3–5 terms, 9pt, listed after abstract |
| Line spacing | Single-spaced |
| References | Numbered [1], [2], 8pt or 9pt font |
How to Set Up IEEE Paper Format in Word
Step 1: Set page margins
Go to Layout → Margins → Custom Margins. Set: Top = 0.75″, Bottom = 1″, Left = 0.625″, Right = 0.625″. Click OK.
Step 2: Create the two-column layout
The title, author names, affiliation, abstract, and keywords are in a single column. The body text is in two columns. To achieve this in Word, use section breaks. Place your cursor after the keywords section, then go to Layout → Breaks → Continuous. Then select the text from that point onward and go to Layout → Columns → Two.
For the column spacing: go to Layout → Columns → More Columns. Set each column width to 3.5″ and the spacing (gutter) to 0.25″. Check «Equal column width.»
Step 3: Set the correct fonts
Select all body text (Ctrl+A after the two-column section break) and set Times New Roman 10pt. The abstract should be 9pt italic. Reference entries should be 8–9pt. Apply these as paragraph styles to make future editing easier.
Step 4: Format section headings correctly
IEEE section headings (I. Introduction, II. Related Work, etc.) are in Roman numerals, small caps, centered. In Word, apply Small Caps via Format → Font → check Small Caps. The heading text is 10pt Times New Roman, not bold.
Subsection headings (A. Background) are italic, left-aligned, 10pt, with the subsection letter in italics followed by a period.
IEEE Title and Author Block
The paper title spans the full page width (single column), centered, in a large display font. IEEE doesn’t mandate an exact font for the title — the template typically uses Times New Roman or a similar serif at 24pt, bold.
Author names appear below the title, centered, in 11pt. Beneath each author name, list the affiliation (department, university, city, country) in 9pt italic. For papers with multiple authors at different institutions, use superscript numbers to link authors to affiliations.
Example author block:
Jane R. Smith¹, Michael T. Jones²
¹Department of Electrical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
²Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
IEEE Abstract and Keywords
The abstract is a single paragraph of approximately 150 words. It begins with the word Abstract in bold italic, followed by an em dash: Abstract—Your abstract text begins here… The abstract text is in 9pt italic.
Keywords appear on a new line below the abstract: Index Terms—term one, term two, term three. Capitalize only the first term and proper nouns. Use 3–5 terms selected from the IEEE Thesaurus when possible.
IEEE Reference Format
IEEE uses a numbered citation system. In-text: cite with the reference number in square brackets: [1], [2], or [1]–[3] for a range. References are numbered in order of first appearance in the text.
Journal article
[1] T. J. Brown, K. Smith, and M. Davis, «Cognitive load in distributed systems,» IEEE Trans. Neural Netw. Learn. Syst., vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 1234–1245, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1109/TNNLS.2024.0000000.
Conference paper
[2] M. A. Johnson, «Adaptive algorithms for real-time signal processing,» in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Acoustics, Speech Signal Process., Seoul, Korea, Apr. 2024, pp. 456–460.
Book
[3] S. Haykin, Communication Systems, 4th ed. New York, NY, USA: Wiley, 2001.
Figures and Tables in IEEE Format
Figures: The caption goes below the figure. Label as «Fig. 1.» (abbreviated, not «Figure»). Caption text is 8pt. Figures must fit within a single column (3.5″) or span the full page width for larger images. In-text reference: «…as shown in Fig. 1.»
Tables: The caption goes above the table. Label as «TABLE I» in small caps (Roman numerals for tables, Arabic numerals for figures). Caption is 8pt, centered above the table. In-text: «…as listed in Table I.»
IEEE Format: Common Mistakes
- Using the wrong margin values — IEEE margins are asymmetric and narrow. Don’t use the default 1-inch all-around Word setting.
- Putting figure captions above the figure — Figure captions go below. Table captions go above. This is reversed from what many students expect.
- Numbering references alphabetically — IEEE references are numbered in order of first citation. Do not alphabetize.
- Using «Figure» instead of «Fig.» — IEEE abbreviates «Figure» to «Fig.» in both captions and in-text references, except at the beginning of a sentence.
- Applying two-column layout to the title block — Title, authors, abstract, and keywords span the full page width. Only the body uses two columns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does IEEE require a specific template?
Most IEEE conferences and journals provide their own Word or LaTeX templates. Always download the specific template from the conference or journal’s submission page — requirements vary slightly. The template on this page follows the standard IEEE manuscript format and works for most submissions, but confirm against your target venue’s author guidelines.
Should I use Word or LaTeX for IEEE papers?
Both are accepted. LaTeX is preferred in many IEEE communities (especially engineering and computer science) because it handles equations and two-column layouts more precisely. Word is accepted by all IEEE venues and is more accessible. If you’re new to academic publishing, Word with the correct template is a practical starting point.
Related Resources
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- How to Write an Abstract