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About this online version:

Not all common elements of typography and formatting are supported by the current generation of web browsers and the hypertext markup language (HTML). Therefore, in this online version of the IEEE Standards Style Manual, design elements, such as superscripts and footnotes, are rendered in a manner inconsistent with IEEE Standards style. Be aware that in the HTML version all dashed lists are presented as bulleted lists and all paragraphs are formatted "ragged" rather than justified.

Paradoxical as that may be, however, we hope that the online version will be a useful, informal resource for many Standards style issues. A PDF version of the 2007 IEEE Standards Style Manual can be downloaded at no cost by clicking the following link:

2007 IEEE Standards Style Manual (PDF version)

Highlighted 2007 IEEE Standards Style Manual (PDF version)

IEEE permission letters are given in Annex D of the 2007 IEEE Standards Style Manual . Permission request letters and response letters are given for material excerpted without change, and for material that is excerpted and modified. The permission letters and response letters for both types of excerpts are available as form letters. The form letters should be used to request permission and to grant permission for use of copyrighted material in IEEE drafts, and can be downloaded by clicking the following links:

IEEE Permission Form Letters (excerpts without change)

IEEE Permission Form Letters (excerpts with modifications)

A presentation on amendments and corrigenda is also available, and can be downloaded by clicking the following link:

Presentation on Amendments and Corrigenda


Published and distributed in May 2000
(Revised January 2007)

IEEE Standards Style Manual



The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5997, USA

Copyright (c) 2008 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published 2008. Printed in the United States of America.

Reproduction and distribution of this document in whole or in part by any medium is permitted. Appropriate acknowledgment of the source and ownership of the material must be made with any such reproduction and distribution.

Please note that this document may be revised from time to time. The latest edition will be made available in electronic format at no charge. For further information, contact the IEEE Standards Department, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331, USA.


Prepared by IEEE Standards project editors.

Abstract: Preferred editorial style for the preparation of proposed IEEE standards is established. Many of the frequently asked questions about writing drafts are answered. The optional and required contents of drafts are described, and instructions on submitting drafts for IEEE-SA Standards Board approval and publication are provided. This manual is not intended to be a guide to the procedural development of standards.

Keywords: format, IEEE, IEEE Standards, style

Introduction

About this online version:

The 2007 revision of the IEEE Standards Style Manual has been developed by the

Project Editors in the IEEE Standards Department to guide working groups in the preparation of proposed IEEE standards. It answers many of the frequently asked questions about writing and preparing drafts. It also describes the optional and required contents of these drafts, and provides style instructions on submitting drafts for IEEE-SA Standards Board approval and publication.

Note that in some cases it is necessary and appropriate to alter style to accommodate special requirements. Standards developers should keep in mind that flexibility is allowed, and that IEEE Standards project editors are able to assist working groups in preparing drafts that will suit their particular requirements.

This edition of the IEEE Standards Style Manual has been substantially reordered and reorganized. For this reason, no change bars are used. In addition, the growing use of electronic media has instantiated revisions to many clauses of this manual.

Adobe®, Adobe Illustrator®, and FrameMaker® are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
AutoCAD® is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Lotus 1-2-3® is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation.
Macintosh® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.
Microsoft Excel®, Microsoft Word®, MS-DOS®, and Visio® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
PaintShop™ Pro® is a registered trademark of Jasc Software Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
WordPerfect® is a registered trademark of Corel Corporation.
Zip is a trademark of Iomega Corporation.



Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Normative references
  3. Responsibilities of the working group chair and sponsor
  4. Items to submit to the IEEE
    4.1
    Editorial requirements for submission
    4.2
    Requirements for the draft
    4.2.1
    Draft development
    4.2.2
    Draft copyright statements
    4.2.3
    Draft labeling
    4.2.4
    Corrections
    4.3
    Submission of IEEE drafts to the IEEE-SA Standards Board
  5. Permissions
    5.1
    General
    5.2
    Excerpts of copyrighted material from other organizations
    5.3
    Adoption of independently developed documents as potential IEEE standards
  6. Patents
  7. Trademarks
  8. Trial-Use standards
  9. Front matter
    9.1
    Title
    9.2
    Abstract and keywords
    9.3
    Introduction and committee lists
    9.4
    Acknowledgments
    9.5
    Table of contents
  10. Document structure
    10.1
    Normative and informative clauses
    10.2
    Order of clauses
    10.3
    Overview
    10.3.1
    Structure of the overview
    10.3.2
    Scope
    10.3.3
    Purpose
    10.4
    Normative references
    10.4.1
    Citation as a normative reference
    10.4.2
    Structure of the normative reference clause
    10.4.3
    Style for reference entries
    10.5
    Definitions
    10.5.1
    General terminology usage
    10.5.2
    Construction of the definitions clause
    10.6
    Acronyms and abbreviations
    10.7
    Annexes
    10.7.1
    Order
    10.7.2
    Normative
    10.7.3
    Informative
    10.8
    Index

  11. Numbering in text
    11.1
    Body clauses
    11.2
    Annexes
    11.3
    Lists
    11.4
    Exceptions
  12. Homogeneity

  13. Word usage
    13.1
    Shall , should, may, and can
    13.2
    That and which
    13.3
    Gender-Neutral language
    13.4
    Use of the terms safe and safety
    13.5
    Use of the first-or second-person forms of address
    13.6
    Abbreviations and acronyms
    13.7
    Hyphenation
    13.8
    Capitalization
    13.9
    Using standard designations in text

  14. Quantities, units, and letter symbols
    14.1 General
    14.2
    Numbers
    14.3
    Metric system
    14.4
    Letter symbols
  15. Tables
    15.1
    Nomenclature
    15.2
    Labeling and presentation of tables
    15.3
    Numbering and capitalization
    15.4
    Presentation of data and table format
    15.4.1
    Units of measure
    15.4.2
    Numerical values
    15.5
    Notes and footnotes to tables
    15.6
    Informal tables
  16. Figures
    16.1
    Creating figures
    16.2
    Numbering and capitalization
    16.3
    Notes and footnotes to figures
  17. Mathematical expressions
    17.1
    Letter symbols and units
    17.2
    Numbering of equations
    17.3
    Presentation of equations
    17.4
    Quantity and numerical value equations
  18. Notes, footnotes, and examples
    18.1
    Notes
    18.2
    Footnotes
    18.3
    Examples
    18.4
    Warnings and cautions
  19. Bibliography
    19.1
    General
    19.2
    Standards
    19.3
    Articles in periodicals
    19.4
    Books
    19.5
    Other types of bibliographies
    19.5.1
    Annotated bibliography
    19.5.2
    Articles in corporate reports
    19.5.3
    Articles presented at conferences
    19.5.4
    Government publications
    19.5.5
    Theses, dissertations, and other unpublished works
  20. Revisions
  21. Amendments and corrigenda
    21.1
    General
    21.2
    Numbering in amendments and corrigenda
    21.3
    Editorial instructions
    21.4
    Amendment versus revision
  22. IEEE standards and ISO, IEC, and ITU
    22.1
    Preparing for submissions
    22.2
    Adoption of ISO and IEC style requirements
    22.3
    IEEE adoption of ISO, IEC, ITU, or other international standards

Annexes

Annex A (informative) Bibliography
Annex B (informative) Example draft standard
Annex C (informative) Example amendment
Annex D (informative) Sample permission letters for working groups


Index

A

abbreviations, 10.6
abstracts and keywords, 9.2
acknowledgment lists, 9.4
acronyms, 10.6
adoption of international standards, 22.3
agreements with other organizations, 5.2
amendments, 21, Annex C
annex, 10.7, 11.2, Annex B
informative, 10.7.3
normative, 10.7.2
organization and numbering, 10.7, 11.2
style, 11.2

B

balloting, 9.3
bibliography, 19, Annex A, Annex B
annotated, 19.5.1
articles presented at conferences, 19.5.3
books, 19.4
corporate reports, 19.5.2
general, 19.1
government publications, 19.5.4
periodicals, 19.3
standards, 19.2
theses, dissertations, and other unpublished works, 19.5.5

C

can, 13.1
cautions, 18.4
committee lists, 9.3
contents, 9.5
copyright, 5.1, Annex D
excerpts from other organizations, 5.1
independently developed documents, 5.2
sample permission letter, Annex D
sample request for permission letter, Annex D
copyright statements, 4.2.2
copyrighted material, 5.1
corrections, 4.2.4
corrigenda, 21

D

definitions, 10.5, 10.6, Annex B
example definitions clause, 10.5.2
supplementary, glossary, 10.5.1, Annex B
designation, 4.2.3, 13.9
draft, 4.2, 4.3
corrections to, 4.2.4
electronic submittal, 4.3
example, Annex B
labeling, 4.2.3

E

editorial coordination, 4.1
electronic submittal of draft, 4.3
equations, 17
format, 17.3
numbering of, 17.2
examples, 18.3

F

figures, 16
first-person form of address, 13.5
footnotes, 15.5, 16.3, 18.2
text, 18.2
table, 15.5
figure, 16.3
front matter, 9

G

gender-neutral language, 13.3

H

hanging paragraphs, 11.1
hyphenation, 13.7

I

index, 10.8
informal tables, 15.3
informative annex, 10.7.3
informative clauses, 10.1
introduction, 9.3
italics
in math, 17.3
with units, 14.3

L

letter symbols, 14.4
lists
acknowledgment, 9.4
committee, 9.3
in text, 11.3

M

mandatory coordination, 3
mathematical expressions, 17
may, 13.1
metric units, 14.3
must, 13.1

N

normative annex, 10.8
normative clauses, 10.1
normative references, 10.4
notes
in figures, 16.3
in sequence, 15.5, 16.3, 18.1
in tables, 15.5
in text, 18.1
numbering system, 11
exceptions, 11.4

O

organization
lists, 11.3
text 11.1
overview, 10.3

P

patents, 6
permissions, 5
purpose, 10.3.3

R

references, 10.4
responsibilities, 3
sponsor, 3
working group chair, 3
revisions, 20

S

safe or safety, 13.4
scope, 10.3.2
second-person form of address, 13.5
shall, 13.1
should, 13.1
SI units, 14.2
special word usage
can, 13.1
may, 13.1
safe, 13.4
safety, 13.4
shall, 13.1
should, 13.1
that, 13.2
which, 13.2
sponsor
responsibilities of, 3
style
Adoption of ISO and IEC style requirements, 22.2
general style issues, 22.2

T

table of contents, 9.5
tables, 15
breaking of, 15.2
column and line headings, 15.1
identification of, 15.2
informal, 15.6
missing data, 15.4.2
notes in, 15.5
presentation of data, 15.4
template, 4.1, 4.3
text, numbering, 11
that, 13.2
title, 9.1
trademarks, 7
trial-use standards, 8

U

units, 14

V

variables, 17.3

W

warnings, 18.4
which, 13.2
working group chair
responsibilities of, 3
working group roster, 9.3

Y

you, 13.5


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