How to Cite a Website in IEEE
Updated October 2026
Citing a website in IEEE comes down to one template and a handful of rules. Below: the exact numbered style format, a real example produced by our citation engine, and the in-text form — or paste your source into the generator on this page and copy the finished citation.
The IEEE format
A. Author. “Title of page.” Site Name. Accessed: Mon. Day, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
IEEE (numbered style) formats a web page reference as shown above. A real example, generated by our citation engine:
National Library of Medicine. "Healthy Sleep." MedlinePlus. Accessed: Jun. 1, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://medlineplus.gov/healthysleep.html
In-text[1]
Cite a website in IEEE — free
Set up for this page. Paste and go.
We'll read the page and build your citation.
Citation style
IEEE Reference Guide, 2023 revision. Numbered references in square brackets, in citation order.
Finding the pieces
Or skip the hunt: Paste the page's full URL into the generator. It works out what the source is, fills every field from the source's own record, and is already set to IEEE.
- Author — the article's byline, or the organization for institutional pages
- Date — under the byline or at the article's end ("Last updated…")
- Page title — the on-page headline, not the browser tab text
- Site name — the publication's brand (Science Daily), not the domain
IEEE's formatting rules at work
- Initials come before surnames: M. Alvarez
- Paper titles in quotation marks with sentence-style capitalization; containers italicized
- Months abbreviated; DOIs written as doi: 10.xxxx, not links
- Up to six authors listed; more become first author et al.
Website-specific pitfalls
- Cite the specific page you used, never the homepage
- If the author and site name are identical (a CDC page by the CDC), most styles drop one to avoid repetition
- Pages with no date: APA uses (n.d.), Harvard (no date), MLA leans on the access date
In-text citations in IEEE
IEEE cites in the text with bracketed numbers in order of first appearance: as shown in [1], consolidation requires sleep [2], [5]–[7]. The same number is reused for every later citation of that source, and the reference list is numbered to match — never alphabetized.
Author identity doesn't affect the in-text form — the bracket carries no name. The reference entry starts with whatever author information exists, or the title if none does.
Building the References
Every in-text citation pairs with a full entry on the References page, numbered in order of first citation. Add each citation to your bibliography as you generate it, and the Bibliography Builder assembles and exports the finished page to Word with the title, ordering, and indentation IEEE requires.
Keep every citation you make.
A free account saves your citation history and organizes sources into projects with notes and tags.
Create a free accountFind the sources you should be citing.
Premium searches 250 million scholarly works by topic, recommends citations for your claims, and flags statements in your writing that need support.
Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- What's the basic IEEE format for a website?
- A. Author. “Title of page.” Site Name. Accessed: Mon. Day, Year. [Online]. Available: URL — see the worked example above, generated by the same engine that powers the free citation tool.
- Do I need an access date?
- Depends on the style: Harvard always, IEEE parenthetically, MLA when undated or changing, APA only for content designed to change, Chicago when no publish date exists. The generator applies the right rule automatically.
- How do I cite a website in IEEE in-text?
- With a bracketed number assigned at first citation: [1]. The reference list is numbered in citation order.
- Can I get this citation in other styles too?
- Yes — every result in the generator renders APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and IEEE simultaneously. Generate once, switch styles with one click.