IEEE style
How to cite a newspaper article in IEEE style
News sources need a full date rather than just a year, and the online version of an article rarely carries the page numbers the print version had.
THE FORMAT
A newspaper article in IEEE, at a glance
[#] A. B. Author, “Headline of the article,” Newspaper Name, p. ##, Mon. DD, YYYY.
[4] C. Whitfield, “The grid’s quiet bottleneck is a transformer factory in Wisconsin,” The Financial Chronicle, p. B3, Feb. 8, 2025.
Lead times for large power transformers now exceed three years [4].
In prose: Trade coverage [4] traces the shortage to a single grain-oriented steel supplier.
[5] C. Whitfield. “The grid’s quiet bottleneck is a transformer factory in Wisconsin.” The Financial Chronicle. Accessed: Feb. 10, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.financialchronicle.com/grid-transformers
In text: Lead times for large power transformers now exceed three years [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 newspaper article
Elements to collect
- Journalist’s name
- Full date of publication — year, month, and day
- Headline of the article
- Name of the newspaper
- Page number for a print article, or the URL for an online one
Rules specific to this entry
- A newspaper takes a full month, day, and year, where a journal issue takes only month and year. This is the one periodical type in IEEE that needs a day.
- The print version has a page — “p. B3” with a single p for one page, “pp.” for a range — and the online version usually has none, so it switches to the “[Online]. Available:” pattern with an access date. Cite the version you actually read.
- IEEE treats a newspaper as a periodical: the headline is quoted and sentence-cased, the masthead name is italicized. Keep a leading “The” when the masthead carries one.
- Wire-service copy credited to an agency rather than a journalist takes the agency in the author slot: “Associated Press, “…””. Do not leave the author blank when a byline exists in any form.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element IEEE needs for a newspaper article: Journalist’s name; Full date of publication — year, month, and day; Headline of the article; Name of the newspaper.
Build the references entry
Arrange those details in the IEEE order: [#] A. B. Author, “Headline of the article,” Newspaper Name, p. ##, Mon. DD, YYYY.
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as Lead times for large power transformers now exceed three years [4]. — or work the same reference into your sentence as Trade coverage [4] traces the shortage to a single grain-oriented steel supplier..
Check it against the exceptions
A newspaper takes a full month, day, and year, where a journal issue takes only month and year. This is the one periodical type in IEEE that needs a day.
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 newspaper article in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about IEEE and newspaper articles
What if the newspaper article 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 newspaper article?
Journalist’s name, Full date of publication — year, month, and day, Headline of the article, and the rest of the elements listed above. News sources need a full date rather than just a year, and the online version of an article rarely carries the page numbers the print version had.
Is there anything unusual about a newspaper article in IEEE?
A newspaper takes a full month, day, and year, where a journal issue takes only month and year. This is the one periodical type in IEEE that needs a day.
What else catches people out here?
The print version has a page — “p. B3” with a single p for one page, “pp.” for a range — and the online version usually has none, so it switches to the “[Online]. Available:” pattern with an access date. Cite the version you actually read.
Can I reformat this newspaper article 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.
