IEEE style
How to cite a podcast episode in IEEE style
A podcast episode is a part of a series, so it needs the same host/producer distinction as a book chapter — plus an episode number that is easy to miss.
THE FORMAT
A podcast episode in IEEE, at a glance
[#] A. B. Host, “Title of the episode,” Name of the Podcast, Episode ##. (Year, Mon. DD). Accessed: Mon. DD, YYYY. [Online Audio]. Available: https://…
[4] D. Aharoni, “Why substations burn,” The Load Curve, Episode 74. (Jan. 16, 2025). Accessed: Mar. 3, 2025. [Online Audio]. Available: https://loadcurve.fm/74
Distribution transformers fail more often from moisture ingress than from overload [4].
In prose: In [4], a utility asset manager describes moisture ingress as the dominant failure mode in her fleet.
[5] The Load Curve, “Field notes: winter peak in Alberta,” Episode 61. (Dec. 5, 2024). Accessed: Mar. 3, 2025. [Online Audio]. Available: https://loadcurve.fm/61
In text: The same series covers the Alberta winter peak in detail [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 podcast episode
Elements to collect
- Host or producer, with their role in parentheses
- Date the episode was released
- Title of the individual episode
- Episode number, when the series uses them
- Title of the podcast series
- Production company or network
- URL
Rules specific to this entry
- The IEEE Reference Guide has no podcast template. The conservative construction is the online-audio pattern — host as author, episode title in quotation marks, series name and episode number, posting date, then the access and availability lines. Do not invent elements the guide does not license.
- Keep the episode number whenever the series uses one. Episode titles get edited after publication and feeds get re-hosted; the number is the only locator that survives both.
- Cite the person who speaks the content you are using, not the series, when a guest rather than the host makes the claim. Name the guest in your sentence and keep the host in the author slot, since the host is who the series credits.
- Because IEEE has no audio timestamp convention, put the time in prose — “about twenty-four minutes in” — rather than in the bracket.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element IEEE needs for a podcast episode: Host or producer, with their role in parentheses; Date the episode was released; Title of the individual episode; Episode number, when the series uses them.
Build the references entry
Arrange those details in the IEEE order: [#] A. B. Host, “Title of the episode,” Name of the Podcast, Episode ##. (Year, Mon. DD). Accessed: Mon. DD, YYYY. [Online Audio]. Available: https://…
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as Distribution transformers fail more often from moisture ingress than from overload [4]. — or work the same reference into your sentence as In [4], a utility asset manager describes moisture ingress as the dominant failure mode in her fleet..
Check it against the exceptions
The IEEE Reference Guide has no podcast template. The conservative construction is the online-audio pattern — host as author, episode title in quotation marks, series name and episode number, posting date, then the access and availability lines. Do not invent elements the guide does not license.
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 podcast episode in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about IEEE and podcast episodes
What if the podcast episode 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 podcast episode?
Host or producer, with their role in parentheses, Date the episode was released, Title of the individual episode, and the rest of the elements listed above. A podcast episode is a part of a series, so it needs the same host/producer distinction as a book chapter — plus an episode number that is easy to miss.
Is there anything unusual about a podcast episode in IEEE?
The IEEE Reference Guide has no podcast template. The conservative construction is the online-audio pattern — host as author, episode title in quotation marks, series name and episode number, posting date, then the access and availability lines. Do not invent elements the guide does not license.
What else catches people out here?
Keep the episode number whenever the series uses one. Episode titles get edited after publication and feeds get re-hosted; the number is the only locator that survives both.
Can I reformat this podcast episode 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.
