How to Write an IEEE Paper in LaTeX from Scratch

LaTeX is the gold standard for academic writing in engineering and computer science, and if you're aiming to publish in IEEE conferences or journals, you'll most likely need to format your paper using the IEEE LaTeX style. But how do you go from zero to a fully compiled, IEEE-compliant paper? Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough, with minimal jargon and maximum clarity.

dkhan

Oct 16, 2025

How to Write an IEEE Paper in LaTeX from Scratch

Contents

Step 1: Get the Official IEEE LaTeX Template Step 2: Project Setup Step 3: Start Editing bare_conf.tex Step 4: Insert Figures and Tables Step 5: Add References (BibTeX)Step 6: Compile and Fix Errors Final Checklist Before Submission Bonus: Common IEEE LaTeX Pitfalls Wrapping Up

Step 1: Get the Official IEEE LaTeX Template

You should always start with the official template from IEEE.

👉 Download it here: IEEE Template

Choose:

LaTeX

Two-column layout (standard)
Compatible with TeX Live / Overleaf / Murfy / VSCode

Inside, you'll usually find:

bare_conf.tex → for conference papers
bare_jrnl.tex → for journal papers
IEEEtran.cls → the class file
README / bib example files

Step 2: Project Setup

Create a clean working folder and place these files inside:

/ieee-paper/
  ├── bare_conf.tex
  ├── IEEEtran.cls
  ├── references.bib
  └── figures/

💡

Tip: You don’t need to rename bare_conf.tex — just work from it and replace the dummy conten

Step 3: Start Editing `bare_conf.tex`

Here’s the typical structure:

\documentclass[conference]{IEEEtran}

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{cite}

\begin{document}

\title{Your Paper Title Goes Here}

\author{
  \IEEEauthorblockN{Your Name}
  \IEEEauthorblockA{Your Institution \\
  Email: you@domain.com}
}

\maketitle

\begin{abstract}
  This is where your abstract goes. Keep it under 250 words.
\end{abstract}

\begin{IEEEkeywords}
  LaTeX, IEEE, paper, formatting, template
\end{IEEEkeywords}

\section{Introduction}
Start your introduction here.

\section{Method}
Explain your approach.

\section{Results}
Include figures, tables, and analysis.

\section{Conclusion}
Summarize your contribution.

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\bibliography{references}

\end{document}

Step 4: Insert Figures and Tables

Create a /figures/ folder and add images (prefer .pdf or .png).

\begin{figure}[ht]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{figures/example.png}
  \caption{Sample diagram from the results.}
  \label{fig:results}
\end{figure}

For tables:

\begin{table}[ht]
\caption{Performance Comparison}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline
Model & Accuracy \\
\hline
Baseline & 81.2\% \\
Proposed & 89.6\% \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\label{table:performance}
\end{table}

Step 5: Add References (BibTeX)

Create a references.bib file:

@article{mikolov2013word2vec,
  title={Efficient estimation of word representations in vector space},
  author={Mikolov, Tomas and others},
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.3781},
  year={2013}
}

Then link it in your .tex:

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\bibliography{references}

Step 6: Compile and Fix Errors

You can compile using:

Overleaf (auto compile, browser-based)
Murfy (https://murfy.ai — AI-powered LaTeX editor with faster build & templates)
VS Code with LaTeX Workshop extension
TeX Live / pdflatex locally

Look out for common errors like:

Missing figure path
Unused citations
Package conflicts (especially biblatex vs natbib)

Final Checklist Before Submission

Two-column format?
IEEEtran.bst used for bibliography?
Abstract + keywords under limits?
Figures/tables numbered + labeled?
No overfull hbox warnings?
PDF passes IEEE PDF eXpress check?

Bonus: Common IEEE LaTeX Pitfalls

Issue	Solution
Long author names overflowing	Use `\IEEEauthorblockN{}` and `\IEEEauthorblockA{}` correctly
Multiple affiliations	Use `\and` between authors
Subfigures not aligning	Use `subcaption` + `\begin{subfigure}` properly
Long equations break page	Use `multline` or `align` with manual breaks
Citation out of order	Use `\usepackage{cite}` to sort automatically

Wrapping Up

Writing an IEEE paper in LaTeX isn't scary once you understand the structure. The official templates handle most of the styling—your focus should be on content, not formatting.

If you’re just getting started and want a faster workflow, I recommend trying Murfy — it offers built-in IEEE templates, faster compile times, and deadline tracking (yes, even AI-based deadline calendars). Great for collaboration too.