• 2-minute read
• 12th September 2020

How to Cite a Manual or Handbook in IEEE Referencing

As IEEE referencing is used in many technical subject areas, you may need to cite a manual or handbook in your work at some point. But what does this involve? In this post, we look at the in-text citations and reference list entry for manuals and handbooks in IEEE referencing.

In-Text Citations for a Manual or Handbook

In IEEE style, to cite a manual or handbook, give a bracketed number in the main text. If you’re quoting the source, too, make sure to include a page number after a comma. For example:

The handbook claims that “tampering will lead to electrocution” [1, p. 12].

The bracketed numbers in these citations should match the position of the source in your reference list. The “1” above, for instance, shows us that it is the first source listed (as well as the first source cited in the document).

For more on citing sources IEEE style, see our blog post on the topic.

Manuals and Handbooks in an IEEE Reference List

The reference list in IEEE style is where you provide full source information for everything you cite in the main body of your work, including manuals and handbooks. But the exact format here will depend on the format of the source in question. For print manuals, the format is:

[#] Name of Manual/Handbook, Xth ed., Name of Company, Location of Company (e.g., City, State, Country), year of publication, pp. xxx–xxx (page numbers if relevant).

For an online manual, you’ll need a URL and date of access as well:

[#] Name of Manual/Handbook, Xth ed., Name of Company, Location of Company (e.g., City, State, Country), year of publication, pp. xxx–xxx (page numbers if relevant). Accessed: Date. [Online]. Available: URL

To show you how these would look in practice, we’ve included examples of both formats below (note the hanging indent for each line after the first):

[1] ZX-8G8 Electric Fence Installation Manual, 3rd ed., Zappers Inc., London, England, UK, 2018.

[2] Securicore Alarms, BS-9910 User Handbook, Securicore, Houston, TX, USA, 2001. Accessed: July 28, 2020. [Online]. Available: www.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/ge_appliances/securicore-b-9910.pdf

We hope you now feel confident about citing a manual or handbook in IEEE referencing! Our expert editors can also help you make sure the referencing in your work is clear and consistent. Simply submit a free sample document and select IEEE referencing on upload to see how this works.