IEEE Article

What is IEEEtran?

IEEEtran is the official LaTeX class published by the IEEE for typesetting articles in the format used by IEEE journals (Transactions on…) and almost every IEEE conference. If you submit a paper to IEEE, you'll be using this class. The class is maintained by Michael Shell and is the de facto standard across electrical engineering, computer science, signal processing, robotics and many other fields.

You don't have to install anything: IEEEtran.cls ships with every TeX Live distribution, and it's already available on Sarmate's compile server. The template you see above is a minimal working IEEE article — it compiles as-is.

When should you use this template?

• You're submitting to an IEEE journal (Transactions, Access, Letters…). The two-column 10pt layout is what reviewers expect.
• You're submitting to an IEEE conference — most use the same class with the conference option.
• Your university wants "IEEE format" for a thesis chapter or a class project. IEEEtran gets you there in 5 minutes.

If your paper is for a non-IEEE venue (NeurIPS, ACM, AAAI…), use the matching template instead — IEEE format won't be accepted.

Step-by-step: your first IEEE paper

1. Pick the right class option

The first line of any IEEE paper is one of these three:

\documentclass[journal]{IEEEtran}      % Transactions / journal articles
\documentclass[conference]{IEEEtran}   % conference papers (most common)
\documentclass[technote]{IEEEtran}     % short technical notes

Pick the one that matches your venue. If your call-for-papers says "IEEE conference template", use conference. If you don't know, look at any recently-published paper in the same venue: the layout will tell you.

2. Title, authors, affiliations

IEEE has a specific way of laying out authors. Single-author is easy:

\title{Your Paper Title Here}
\author{Jane Smith,~\IEEEmembership{Member,~IEEE}}

For multiple authors at different institutions, use the \IEEEauthorblockN / \IEEEauthorblockA pair (already wired in the template). Don't try to use the standard \author{… \and …} from the article class — it won't render right.

3. The abstract and IEEE keywords

\begin{abstract}
We present a new method for ... Our results show ...
\end{abstract>

\begin{IEEEkeywords}
machine learning, signal processing, optimization
\end{IEEEkeywords}

Keep the abstract under 200 words and write it last (when you actually know what you've done). The IEEEkeywords environment is recognized by IEEE Xplore's indexing, so be specific — those words help reviewers and readers find your paper.

4. Sections and subsections

Just use the standard \section / \subsection / \subsubsection. IEEEtran handles capitalization (Title Case for sections, sentence case for subsections) and numbering automatically. Don't fight it by hard-coding your own numbers.

5. Figures and tables

\begin{figure}[!t]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{your-figure}
  \caption{What this figure shows.}
  \label{fig:method}
\end{figure}

Two important details:

• Use \columnwidth for one-column figures, \textwidth with figure* (with the star) to span both columns.
• Always put the \label after \caption, never before — otherwise \ref{fig:method} will print the section number instead of the figure number.

Bibliography in IEEE style

IEEE uses numbered citations in square brackets [1], ordered by appearance in the text. The class ships with the right BibTeX style — you don't choose it, it chooses you. At the end of your paper:

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\bibliography{your_bib_file}

Then in the editor, create a file called your_bib_file.bib with your references in BibTeX format. When you compile, Sarmate runs pdflatex → bibtex → pdflatex → pdflatex automatically — you don't need to click anything special.

Common errors and how to fix them

! Undefined control sequence \IEEEauthorblockN

You're using \IEEEauthorblockN outside an \author{ ... } block, or you forgot the \documentclass{IEEEtran} line. These commands only exist with the IEEE class.

Bad citations: [?] instead of [1]

You added a \cite{key} but the key isn't in your .bib file (or BibTeX hasn't run yet). Recompile — the first compile creates an .aux file, BibTeX reads it, then the second compile gets the citation right. Sarmate does this automatically. If it still shows [?], your \cite{key} doesn't match a key in your_bib_file.bib exactly (case-sensitive).

Figure or table comes out in the wrong place

IEEEtran is strict with float placement: [!t] means "top of column, please don't argue". If LaTeX still pushes it elsewhere, the figure is too tall to fit in the remaining space — make it smaller or use figure* (two-column).

Two-column layout overflows on some lines (overfull \hbox)

This is normal for 10pt narrow columns. Fix the offending lines: replace problematic words with shorter synonyms, or break long URLs with \url{} from the url package (loaded by IEEEtran). Don't ignore the warnings — reviewers see those overruns as black bars in the printed PDF.

Section title prints in lowercase / weird capitalization

IEEEtran enforces Title Case on sections and sentence case on subsections by default. If you wrote your titles all-caps, they'll be reformatted. To force a verbatim title, use \section*{Your Title} — but then it won't be numbered or in the table of contents.

Math overflows the column / equations are cut off

Long equations need to be broken across lines using \begin{IEEEeqnarray} (provided by IEEEtran) instead of equation. IEEEeqnarray has a learning curve but is much more flexible than align for narrow columns.

Class options worth knowing

conference / journal / technote

The big three. Pick one based on your venue.

10pt / 11pt / 12pt

10pt is the IEEE default and what reviewers expect. Don't change it for submissions.

letterpaper / a4paper

letterpaper is the IEEE default (US format). Use a4paper only if your venue specifically asks (rare for IEEE).

draftcls / draftclsnofoot

Adds line numbers and "DRAFT" footers — great while you're still writing, remove for the final version.

compsoc / commsoc / cssoc

Society-specific tweaks (Computer Society, Communications Society, etc.). Only use if your CFP mentions it — you'll know.

peerreview / peerreviewca

Single-column, double-spaced layout for journal reviewers. Switch back to standard before camera-ready.

FAQ

Should I use natbib or biblatex with IEEEtran?

No — use plain BibTeX with \bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}. The class is built around classical BibTeX, and switching to natbib/biblatex requires extra config that's just not worth it.

Can I add hyperlinks (clickable references)?

Yes, add \usepackage{hyperref} in the preamble. IEEEtran is compatible. For journal submissions, IEEE accepts and even prefers hyperlinked PDFs.

How do I get the IEEE copyright notice at the bottom of page 1?

Use \IEEEoverridecommandlockouts in the preamble, then \IEEEpubid{...} with your copyright string. IEEE provides the exact string when your paper is accepted — don't try to invent it.

My paper is over the page limit. What can I do?

The fast wins: shrink figures (width=0.9\columnwidth), tighten captions, remove redundant equations. Don't reduce the font size — reviewers will notice and reject. If you're still over, cut content — that's the honest fix.

What's the difference between IEEEtran and the IEEE LaTeX templates on Overleaf/IEEE.org?

None — Overleaf and IEEE.org both wrap the same IEEEtran.cls file. The Sarmate template uses the same official class, just pre-configured for fast compilation in our editor.

Going further

If you write IEEE papers regularly, three resources are worth bookmarking:

• IEEEtran HOWTO — the official 30-page reference by Michael Shell. Dense but authoritative.
• IEEE Author Center — submission rules, page limits, copyright forms.
• Open the template right now and break things — that's the fastest way to learn what each option does.