IEEE Access Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

IEEE Access requires a single, unstructured paragraph abstract. No subheadings, no structured sections.

• Word limit: 250 words maximum
• Structure: Unstructured (single paragraph)
• Citations: Not allowed in the abstract
• Index terms: Required immediately after the abstract (IEEE uses "Index Terms" rather than "Keywords")

The abstract should cover the problem, the proposed approach, and the principal results or contributions. IEEE Access discourages vague language in the abstract. Instead of "significant improvement," provide the actual performance numbers ("12.3% improvement in F1 score over the baseline").

Index Terms follow the abstract and must be drawn from the IEEE Thesaurus. This is a specific requirement that catches many first-time IEEE authors. Don't invent your own keywords. Check the IEEE Thesaurus and use the controlled vocabulary. Typically, 4 to 6 Index Terms are expected.

Capitalize the first letter of each Index Term. Separate them with commas. The last term doesn't get a period. This minor formatting detail is enforced during production.

IEEE Access follows the standard IEEE figure formatting guidelines, but the open access format gives authors slightly more flexibility on the total number of display items.

Figure specifications:

Table formatting: Tables use the standard IEEE format with horizontal rules at the top, below the header row, and at the bottom. No vertical rules. Table captions go above the table (unlike figure captions, which go below the figure). This is a universal IEEE convention, but authors from non-IEEE backgrounds frequently get it wrong.

Color figures are published at no additional cost in IEEE Access. This is a notable advantage over traditional IEEE transactions journals, some of which still charge for color in print editions. Since IEEE Access is online-only, every figure is rendered in full color on IEEE Xplore.

Multi-part figures should use (a), (b), (c) labeling. Each sub-figure needs to be referenced explicitly in the figure caption. Don't submit a multi-panel figure with no explanation of what each panel shows.

IEEE Access uses the standard IEEE citation style. If you've published in any IEEE journal or conference before, the format is identical.

In-text citations: Numbered in square brackets, assigned in order of first appearance. For example: "The method was first proposed in [1] and later extended in [2], [3]." Multiple citations are separated by commas within brackets or listed as a range: [1]-[3].

Reference list format:

[1] A. B. Author, C. D. Author, and E. F. Author, "Title of the article," J. Abbrev., vol. XX, no. YY, pp. ZZ-ZZ, Mon. Year, doi: 10.xxxx/xxxxx.

Key formatting details:

• Author names: First initial(s), then last name (e.g., "J. K. Smith").
• Use "and" before the last author in the reference list.
• Journal names are abbreviated following IEEE standards (which align closely with ISO 4).
• Volume and issue numbers use "vol." and "no." abbreviations.
• DOIs are strongly encouraged and should use the full URL format (https://doi.org/10.xxxx).
• For conference papers: include the full conference name, location, and year.
• For online sources: include the access date.

IEEE Access doesn't cap the number of references, but reviewers will question an excessive reference list that doesn't clearly support the paper's claims. Survey papers naturally carry heavier reference lists (100+ is common), while regular articles typically cite 30 to 60 sources.

A common mistake: authors using BibTeX with the wrong style file. For IEEE Access in LaTeX, use IEEEtran.bst as your bibliography style. Don't use plain.bst, abbrv.bst, or generic styles. The IEEEtran BibTeX style handles all the formatting quirks automatically.

IEEE Access stands out from many journals by actively supporting multimedia supplements. This isn't just an afterthought; multimedia content is integrated directly into the IEEE Xplore platform.

Supported multimedia types:

• Video files (MP4 preferred, up to 100 MB each)
• Audio files (WAV or MP3)
• Datasets (in commonly readable formats)
• Code repositories (link to public repositories like GitHub)
• Interactive visualizations

Each multimedia item requires a brief text description embedded in the manuscript, typically placed near the relevant discussion. The manuscript should reference multimedia items explicitly ("see Video 1" or "Multimedia Appendix A").

Supplementary documents: Standard supplementary material (additional figures, extended proofs, raw data tables) can be uploaded as separate files. These are hosted on IEEE Xplore alongside the main article.

One practical note: IEEE Xplore's multimedia viewer supports inline playback for video files. If you're submitting video demonstrations of a system or simulation results, the MP4 format with H.264 encoding gives the best compatibility. Keep videos under 5 minutes when possible; reviewers are unlikely to watch longer demonstrations in their entirety.

For source code, IEEE Access encourages (but doesn't require) authors to provide a link to a public repository. If reproducibility is central to your paper's contribution, including working code will strengthen the submission and speed up the review process.

These are the details that regular IEEE Access authors know but that summary guides skip:

Creative Commons footer. Every IEEE Access article carries a CC BY 4.0 license notice at the bottom of the first page. The template handles this automatically, but if you're working from a generic IEEE template, you'll need to add it manually. Missing this will trigger a production correction.

Author photos and bios. IEEE Access requires author photographs and short biographies at the end of the article. Each author needs a grayscale or color photo (minimum 100x120 pixels) and a 100-150 word biography. This is unusual among journals and catches authors off guard at the proof stage. Prepare these early.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) assignment. IEEE Access assigns a DOI at the manuscript submission stage, not at publication. Your paper gets a DOI as soon as it enters the system. This means the DOI appears in the manuscript header throughout the review process.

Section numbering. IEEE Access uses Roman numerals for top-level sections (I. INTRODUCTION, II. RELATED WORK, etc.) and uppercase letters for subsections (A. Subsection Title). This is standard IEEE formatting but differs from most non-IEEE journals that use Arabic numerals.

Acknowledgments placement. The Acknowledgments section appears before the references, not after them. This is opposite to the convention in many non-IEEE journals. The section heading isn't numbered.

Funding information. IEEE requires a specific "This work was supported by..." statement format. Grant numbers and funding agency names must be included. This information also needs to be entered separately in the submission system for compliance tracking.

Page layout. The final typeset article uses a two-column layout with a 10-point Times New Roman body font. Don't submit in single-column format unless the template specifically produces single-column output (the Word template is single-column for review, while the LaTeX template produces double-column).

1. Index Terms are mandatory. Many authors skip this or use free-form keywords. IEEE Access requires terms from the IEEE Thesaurus specifically.

1. Equation numbering. All equations must be numbered sequentially, right-justified. In LaTeX, use the equation environment, not inline $...$ for display equations.

1. Acronyms. Define at first use in both the abstract and the body text. Don't assume the reader knows what CNN, IoT, or MIMO stands for, even in a specialized field.

1. First-page footnotes. Author affiliations, email addresses, and corresponding author designation go in first-page footnotes, not in the main text. The template handles this, but manual formatting often gets it wrong.

1. SI units. IEEE requires the use of SI units throughout the paper. Non-SI units can appear in parentheses after the SI value if necessary for the field.

In our pre-submission review work with manuscripts targeting IEEE Access, four patterns generate the most consistent desk-rejection outcomes.

IEEE manuscript template not used. IEEE Access requires the IEEE two-column journal template. Submissions formatted in one-column layout, or using templates from other publishers (Elsevier elsarticle, Springer, ACM), are returned before peer review. The IEEE template is available through Overleaf for LaTeX and as a Word document from IEEE Author Center.

Contribution does not meet the "broad interest across engineering and science" bar. IEEE Access is explicitly positioned as a broad-scope, open-access journal for results of broad appeal. Papers with a very narrow application domain, a single use-case evaluation, or incremental extensions to existing algorithms without generalization across domains are desk-rejected. The cover letter must articulate why the contribution matters beyond the specific engineering subfield addressed.

Ethical declarations and authorship conflicts incomplete. IEEE requires IEEE PSPB Operations Manual compliance: every submission must include a completed OAPA (Open Access Publishing Agreement), conflict of interest disclosures for all authors, and an ethics statement for human subjects or animal research. Missing these documents causes administrative return through ScholarOne Manuscripts.

System performance claims lack reproducibility infrastructure. IEEE Access reviewers expect sufficient implementation detail for independent replication: code availability (GitHub link), dataset accession numbers, hardware configuration, and software versions. Papers reporting simulation or experimental results without reproducibility information are returned with requests to publish the implementation before peer review can proceed.

A IEEE Access submission readiness check evaluates manuscript scope, IEEE template compliance, and reproducibility documentation against these desk-rejection patterns.