IEEE Paper Publication: Formatting Your Manuscript Correctly

IEEE format is the most widely used manuscript style in engineering, computer science, electronics and applied sciences. It is not merely a visual convention: the two-column layout, numbered citation system and fixed section ordering exist so that a reader can locate the contribution, the method and the evidence in a predictable place in any paper.

This guide walks through the format section by section, explains the rules that most often cause manuscripts to be returned before review, and shows how to prepare a submission-ready IEEE paper. IJVAST publishes in IEEE two-column format and provides a free template, so the same rules apply directly to submissions here.

Page setup: the geometry that defines IEEE style

An IEEE conference-style manuscript uses US Letter or A4 paper with a two-column body. Columns are approximately 3.5 inches wide with a 0.2 inch gutter between them. The body text is Times New Roman at 10 point, set justified, with single line spacing. Margins are typically 0.75 inch at the top, 1 inch at the bottom, and 0.625 inch at the sides, though the exact values follow whichever template your target venue supplies.

The first page is different from the rest. The title, author block and affiliations span the full page width in a single column; the two-column body begins after the abstract and index terms. Getting this hybrid layout right by hand in a word processor is fiddly, which is why almost every author starts from a template rather than reconstructing it.

Title, authors and affiliations

The title is set in 24 point Times New Roman, centred, in title case. It should be specific and descriptive: "A Lightweight CNN for Real-Time Pothole Detection on Embedded Hardware" tells a reader far more than "Deep Learning Applications". Avoid abbreviations that are not universally recognised, and avoid formulae in the title.

Author names appear below the title in 11 point, with affiliations in 10 point italic underneath, each linked by a superscript numeral where authors come from different institutions. Include the department, institution, city and country. The corresponding author's email address belongs in this block so that readers can contact the authors directly — this is a scholarly requirement, not an optional extra.

Abstract and index terms

The abstract is a single paragraph of roughly 150 to 250 words, set in bold italic lead-in ("Abstract—") followed by the text. It must be self-contained: no citations, no undefined abbreviations, no references to figures. Structure it as problem, approach, evidence, outcome. A reader who sees only the abstract should be able to state what you did and what you found.

Index terms follow the abstract, again with a bold italic lead-in ("Index Terms—"), listed alphabetically, separated by commas, and ending with a full stop. Choose four to six terms that a researcher would realistically search for. These terms are what search engines and scholarly indexes read most heavily, so generic words waste the opportunity.

Section structure and numbering

IEEE papers use Roman numeral primary headings in small capitals, centred: I. Introduction, II. Related Work, III. Proposed Methodology, IV. Results and Discussion, V. Conclusion. Secondary headings use italic letters (A., B., C.) and are left aligned. Tertiary headings use italic numerals and run into the paragraph.

The Introduction should establish the problem and state the contribution explicitly, ideally as a short list. Related Work situates the paper against prior literature and identifies the gap. Methodology must be reproducible: datasets, preprocessing, model or apparatus, parameters, and evaluation protocol. Results present evidence with comparison against baselines. The Conclusion states what was demonstrated and what remains open — it is not a place to introduce new claims.

Figures, tables and equations

• Figures are numbered with Arabic numerals and captioned below: "Fig. 1. Architecture of the proposed model." Caption text is 8 point.
• Tables are numbered with Roman numerals and captioned above in small capitals: "TABLE I. COMPARISON OF ACCURACY."
• Every figure and table must be referenced in the text before it appears. Floating graphics that are never mentioned are a common reviewer complaint.
• Figures should be legible at column width. Screenshots pasted at 96 dpi are the single most frequent cause of an otherwise good paper looking unprofessional.
• Equations are centred, numbered sequentially with the number right-aligned in parentheses, and referred to in text as "(1)", not "equation 1".
• Use SI units. Define every symbol at first use.

References in IEEE numbered style

IEEE uses bracketed numeric citations in order of first appearance: the first source cited is [1], the next new source is [2], and so on. The reference list is ordered by that number, not alphabetically. In text, brackets are part of the sentence: "as shown in [3]", not "as shown in reference [3]".

A journal reference gives author initials and surname, article title in quotation marks, journal name in italics, volume, issue, page range and year. A conference paper gives the proceedings name in italics, location and year. A book gives edition, publisher, city and year. Web sources need an access date. Consistency matters more than any single element: a reference list where half the entries use full first names and half use initials signals carelessness to a reviewer.

The mistakes that most often cause a desk return

• Single-column layout submitted to a two-column venue.
• Abstract longer than 300 words or containing citations.
• Figures embedded as low-resolution screenshots that blur at print size.
• Citations in APA or Harvard style inside an IEEE manuscript.
• References listed alphabetically instead of in citation order.
• Missing corresponding author email or incomplete affiliations.
• Page numbers, headers or footers added manually, conflicting with journal pagination.
• Methodology written so generally that no reader could reproduce it.

Publishing an IEEE-format paper with IJVAST

IJVAST accepts manuscripts in IEEE two-column format and publishes them in the same style, so the version you prepare is close to the version that appears. A free IEEE template is available on the sample paper page, along with a rendered example showing the expected structure end to end.

The publication fee is a flat Rs.1,200 for Indian authors including 18% GST, or $25 USD for international authors, and the editorial decision is targeted within 48 hours of submission. Published articles are open access under CC BY 4.0.

IJVAST is published by SkyInnovate Technologies. Its ISSN application and Crossref DOI membership application are both in progress; until those are granted the journal states this openly rather than displaying a number it does not yet hold.

Frequently asked questions