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APA to IEEE converter

Paste APA references, get IEEE. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in APA and get them back in IEEE, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: author–date in-text citations become numbered citations, the list is numbered in the order of first citation and author names are written as in IEEE (initials before the surname). CiteSwap looks each reference up in the open Crossref catalogue, so authors, years and page numbers come from the publisher’s record rather than being rewritten by hand.

APA vs IEEE: the same sources side by side

Each example below was formatted by CiteSwap’s engine, exactly as the converter outputs it.

Journal article

APA

Suri, T., & Jack, W. (2016). The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science, 354(6317), 1288–1292. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309

In-text: (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290)

IEEE

T. Suri and W. Jack, “The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money,” Science, vol. 354, no. 6317, pp. 1288–1292, Dec. 2016, doi: 10.1126/science.aah5309.

In-text: [1, p. 1290]

Book

APA

Achebe, C. (1958). Things fall apart. Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe, 1958, p. 1290)

IEEE

C. Achebe, Things fall apart. London: Heinemann, 1958.

In-text: [1, p. 1290]

Web page

APA

World Health Organization. (2023, December 4). Malaria. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: (World Health Organization, 2023, p. 1290)

IEEE

World Health Organization, “Malaria,” World Health Organization. Accessed: Oct. 01, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: [1, p. 1290]

Key differences between APA and IEEE

10 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleAPAIEEE
In-text citationsauthor and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotationsa number in square brackets, e.g. [1], assigned in the order sources are first cited
List orderAlphabetical by first author’s surnameNumbered in the order of first citation
Author namesSurname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W.Initials before the surname, e.g. T. Suri and W. Jack
Many authorsList up to 20 authors; for 21 or more, give the first 19, an ellipsis, then the last authorSeven or more authors: first author followed by “et al.”
DateStraight after the authors, in parentheses: (2016).Near the end, after the volume, issue and pages, with abbreviated month
Article titlesPlain text, no quotation marks, sentence caseIn quotation marks, sentence case
ItalicsJournal name and volume number; book and report titlesJournal and book titles
Journal namesFull journal name in title caseJournal name (abbreviated in IEEE journals) with vol. and no.
Page rangesFull page range, e.g. 1288–1292Full range with “pp.”, e.g. pp. 1288–1292
DOIs and linksDOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309DOI written as “doi: 10.1126/…”
Reference list heading(same)ReferencesReferences
Title capitalisation(same)Sentence caseSentence case

When to use IEEE

IEEE is standard in electrical and electronic engineering, computer science and IT, including most engineering final-year projects and conference papers. It is published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; CiteSwap follows the IEEE Reference Guide (2023).

APA is more common in psychology, education, nursing, while IEEE is usual in engineering, computer science, electronics. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

APA to IEEE: frequently asked questions

How do I convert APA citations to IEEE?

Paste your APA reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says APA or Auto-detect and “To” says IEEE, then press Convert. You can also paste DOIs, BibTeX or RIS. Copy the result or download it for Word.

How do in-text citations change from APA to IEEE?

APA uses author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotations. IEEE uses a number in square brackets, e.g. [1], assigned in the order sources are first cited. For the same article and page: APA gives (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290), IEEE gives [1, p. 1290].

Does the order of my references change in IEEE?

Yes. APA: alphabetical by first author’s surname. IEEE: numbered in the order of first citation. CiteSwap keeps the order you pasted, so paste them in the order you first cite them.

How are author names written in IEEE?

IEEE: Initials before the surname, e.g. T. Suri and W. Jack. APA: Surname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W. When a reference is matched in Crossref, CiteSwap uses full first names from the publisher’s record, so it can produce either form.

How are DOIs and URLs written in IEEE?

IEEE: DOI written as “doi: 10.1126/…”. APA: DOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309. The converter rewrites DOIs in IEEE format for you.

Is the APA to IEEE converter accurate?

Each reference is matched against the Crossref catalogue (over 150 million records) and only accepted automatically when the title, year and first author agree. Anything uncertain is marked “Needs review” so you can pick the right match, and references that aren’t in the catalogue, like websites or local journals, are parsed from your text and marked so you can check them.