IEEE style
How to cite a dataset in IEEE style
Datasets have versions. Citing one without its version number or DOI makes your analysis impossible for anyone else to reproduce.
THE FORMAT
A dataset in IEEE, at a glance
[#] A. B. Author and C. D. Author, Title of the Dataset, version #.#. Repository, Year. Accessed: Mon. DD, YYYY. [Dataset]. Available: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
[4] M. Okonkwo and L. Reyes, Rooftop PV Inverter Fault Traces, 2019–2023, version 3.1. Zenodo, 2024. Accessed: Mar. 4, 2025. [Dataset]. Available: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7745210
Every figure in Section IV is computed from the released traces [4].
In prose: We evaluate the detector on the fault traces released in [4], holding out the 2023 partition.
[5] U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 Annual Electric Generator Report, 2023 release. Washington, DC, USA, 2024. Accessed: Feb. 18, 2025. [Dataset]. Available: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/
In text: Nameplate capacities are taken from the federal generator register [5].
Copyeditor formats APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE automatically — cite a source once and the references builds itself. See how citations work .
BEFORE YOU FORMAT
What IEEE needs from a dataset
Elements to collect
- Creator or creators of the dataset
- Year the version you used was published
- Title of the dataset
- Version number
- Repository that hosts it
- DOI or persistent identifier
- Description of the format, when the style asks for one
Rules specific to this entry
- Cite the version, not the dataset. Repositories mint a separate DOI for every version alongside a concept DOI that always resolves to the newest one. Use the version DOI; the concept DOI makes your numbers unreproducible the moment the authors publish an update.
- The “[Dataset]” descriptor sits in the same slot as “[Online]” and “[Online Video]”. Without it, a reader cannot tell your entry from a technical report.
- Dataset titles take italics and headline capitalization, like a book, because the dataset is a whole work rather than a part of one. The version number follows the title and is not italicized.
- IEEE’s dataset guidance is thinner than its guidance for journals, and the pattern above is the conservative reading of it. If your target journal publishes a data-availability template, that template governs and the reference-list entry is secondary to it.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element IEEE needs for a dataset: Creator or creators of the dataset; Year the version you used was published; Title of the dataset; Version number.
Build the references entry
Arrange those details in the IEEE order: [#] A. B. Author and C. D. Author, Title of the Dataset, version #.#. Repository, Year. Accessed: Mon. DD, YYYY. [Dataset]. Available: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as Every figure in Section IV is computed from the released traces [4]. — or work the same reference into your sentence as We evaluate the detector on the fault traces released in [4], holding out the 2023 partition..
Check it against the exceptions
Cite the version, not the dataset. Repositories mint a separate DOI for every version alongside a concept DOI that always resolves to the newest one. Use the version DOI; the concept DOI makes your numbers unreproducible the moment the authors publish an update.
IEEE RULES
The conventions behind every IEEE entry
IEEE Reference Guide is the authority. Where a journal or department publishes its own house rules, those win — check your submission guidelines before the references is final.
The rules that apply across every source — author order, capitalization, how the references is sorted, and where IEEE entries most often go wrong — are collected on the IEEE style guide.
The same dataset in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about IEEE and datasets
What if the dataset has no author?
Start the entry with the title and keep the number you already assigned it. A numeric references never re-sorts for a missing author, so the entry stays exactly where it is.
What do I need before I can cite a dataset?
Creator or creators of the dataset, Year the version you used was published, Title of the dataset, and the rest of the elements listed above. Datasets have versions. Citing one without its version number or DOI makes your analysis impossible for anyone else to reproduce.
Is there anything unusual about a dataset in IEEE?
Cite the version, not the dataset. Repositories mint a separate DOI for every version alongside a concept DOI that always resolves to the newest one. Use the version DOI; the concept DOI makes your numbers unreproducible the moment the authors publish an update.
What else catches people out here?
The “[Dataset]” descriptor sits in the same slot as “[Online]” and “[Online Video]”. Without it, a reader cannot tell your entry from a technical report.
Can I reformat this dataset in another style later?
By hand, you would retype the entry — the element order, punctuation and italics all differ between styles. In Copyeditor, sources are stored as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole reference list at once.
Cite it once
and never reformat it again
Copyeditor keeps sources as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole references at once.
