How to Cite Lecture Notes and Slides in IEEE

Identify the Lecture Material

A PDF may contain slides, written notes, a handout, or a published paper. Check the file and its official course page for the credited author, exact title, course code and name, instructor, term, and file label. The site shows where the material lives; its name alone does not establish authorship.

Use the IEEE Lecture Pattern That Fits

The IEEE Reference Guide, V 3.28.2025, lists separate patterns for lecture notes and an online lecture. Use the first when a person is credited with notes. Use the second when a university is the credited source of an online lecture. The examples below are real public course materials; their bracket numbers are illustrative.

[n] J. K. Author. (Year). Title of lecture [Type of Medium]. Available: URL

[n] University name. (Year). Title of lecture. [Type of Medium]. Available: URL

Two public MIT course records

MIT OpenCourseWare's 18.S096 course page credits Paige Bright with preparing its notes under the guidance of Alan Edelman and Steven Johnson. The Lecture 1, Part 1 resource is titled “Introduction to Matrix Calculus” and labeled lecture notes. Bright is the author; the listed instructors are not coauthors.

[1] P. Bright. (2023). Lecture 1, Part 1: Introduction to Matrix Calculus [Lecture notes]. Available: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-s096-matrix-calculus-for-machine-learning-and-beyond-january-iap-2023/resources/mit18_s096iap23_lec01_pdf/

MIT OpenCourseWare's public 8.286 slide resource is titled “The Early Universe, Lecture slides 1.” Its PDF names Alan Guth and opens with the lecture title “Inflationary Cosmology: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse.” The course record identifies Fall 2013. Since Guth is credited on the slides, use his name as author.

[2] A. Guth. (2013). Inflationary Cosmology: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse [PDF slides]. Available: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-286-the-early-universe-fall-2013/resources/mit8_286f13_lec01/

For the slides example, Fall 2013 supports the year 2013. A site footer or download date does not establish when a lecture was given. Keep the course code, title, university, and term in your source notes to distinguish similarly named classes. The official lecture template has no separate course field, so add that context to the reference only when your assignment or publication asks for it.

Label the medium you used. The IEEE example uses [PowerPoint slides]; a PDF export can use [PDF slides], and written notes can use [Lecture notes]. Use [Online] for an online lecture when it describes the resource. The lecture templates do not list an access date, so add one only when the target instructions require it.

Distinguish Public Slides From Restricted Materials

A public OpenCourseWare page or university repository gives readers a route to the material. Link to the exact resource, then check that an outside reader can open it.

Class LMS slides may require enrollment. Ask the instructor whether the course permits citing the material and what reference they expect. Do not share restricted files or access tokens. If a slide repeats a textbook, standard, or research paper, cite that original source when it supports your claim. Federation University Library also advises checking with the lecturer before citing course materials.

A live lecture, a recording, and a downloadable set of notes describe different sources. IEEE's guide supplies patterns for lecture notes and online lectures. For an unrecorded presentation, check the course or publication instructions before choosing a reference type. Concordia University Library presents an additional live lecture model adapted from another style guide, so treat it as local guidance.

Build and Check the Reference

1. Confirm the sourceChoose the notes, slides, recording, or original work you used.
2. Copy the credit and titleUse the author or institution and the exact resource title.
3. Verify the yearUse the published year, not a guessed upload or download date.
4. Label and link the mediumPoint to the specific resource and describe the copy you used.
5. Match the numberUse the number assigned by the paper's citation order, then reuse it.

IEEE uses bracketed reference numbers such as [1]. For a precise quote, follow the course or publication's rule for page or slide locators. Federation University's guide uses page numbers for quoted slide content, as in [1, p. 2]. See our IEEE in-text citation guide for placement and repeated references.

This site has no dedicated source type for lecture material. Use Website only when the public webpage itself is the source. A generated entry is a draft; add the lecture medium and verify every field against the course record. See our IEEE website citation guide for ordinary pages and the IEEE PDF citation guide to identify what a downloaded PDF contains.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite PowerPoint slides in IEEE?

Use the named author, year, exact slide title, [PowerPoint slides], and a URL that identifies the material. If the slides are a PDF export, label them as PDF slides. Check the current IEEE template and your instructor's rules before you submit.

Do I cite the professor or the university?

Follow the credit on the source. Use the named author for lecture notes when a person is credited. Use the university pattern when the institution publishes the online lecture as its own resource. A learning platform is not automatically the author.

Can I cite slides from Moodle or Canvas?

Ask whether your instructor allows course materials in the reference list. If the reader cannot access the file, a login page may not help them retrieve it. Do not publish restricted course content to make the citation work.