An IEEE RFC citation should identify the published document by its credited authors or editors, title, RFC number, date, and DOI or official URL. Check its current status separately. The examples below follow RFC 9110 back to RFC 7231 and a versioned Internet-Draft, so you can choose the source that supports your claim and keep its publication details intact.
Read the RFC Header Before Formatting
Open the published document and its current record together. Copy the title, credited people, RFC number, and publication date from the header. Then check the record for later status changes and replacements. This keeps the publication details separate from information added after publication.
Here is a field card for RFC 9110. Its Datatracker record identifies the same document as an Internet Standard. We checked these records on October 22, 2026.
| Field | Verified value |
|---|---|
| Title | HTTP Semantics |
| Credited editors | R. Fielding, M. Nottingham, and J. Reschke, in that order |
| Series number | RFC 9110 |
| Publication date | June 2022 |
| Header category | Standards Track |
| Current status and subseries | Internet Standard; STD 97 |
| DOI | 10.17487/RFC9110 |
The record also displays a last-updated date of May 20, 2026. Keep June 2022 as the publication date in this reference. A website maintenance date does not establish a new edition. Preserve the editors' roles rather than replacing their names with IETF simply because the document appears on an IETF website.
Build an IEEE RFC Citation From Those Fields
A practical IEEE-style entry can use the credited people, quoted document title, RFC number, publication date, and DOI. The following examples adapt IEEE reference conventions to verified RFC records. They are editorial examples, not a dedicated RFC template prescribed by the IEEE Reference Guide. Follow your journal's or course's instructions for any additional institution, location, or online-access fields.
The number in [1] is the entry's position in your reference list. The number in RFC 9110 identifies the source. Moving this work later in the citation order changes the bracketed number and leaves 9110 unchanged. For a particular passage, add a section locator in the text, such as [1, Sect. 9.3.1] for the section on GET.
When a source has no DOI, keep a stable official URL using the online-reference format required by your destination. Record the date you actually accessed it if an access date is required. Avoid copying the numeric page count into a journal-style page range. An RFC is an individually numbered document; its PDF length is not an issue's pagination.
Distinguish the RFC Number, STD Number, and Status
The RFC Editor's series explanation distinguishes a particular RFC from an STD subseries identifier. An STD can comprise one or several RFCs, and its defining RFCs can change while the STD number remains. Keep RFC 9110 in a citation to this specific publication, even when you also mention STD 97.
Standards Track is the category printed in RFC 9110's header. Internet Standard is its status in the current record. Other RFCs can be Informational or Experimental. Publication in the RFC Series alone does not establish Internet Standard status. Read the actual designation before describing the document's authority.
For an IEEE or ISO document with a conventional standard designation, use the technical standard citation guide. The technical report guide covers reports issued by laboratories, agencies, and companies. Keep the RFC Series identity visible when the source is an RFC.
Follow Updates and Obsoletes Before Choosing a Source
The relationship labels have direction. An Obsoletes field points from the replacement to an older RFC; Obsoleted By points back to the replacement. An Updates relationship calls for reading associated material alongside the affected specification. It does not by itself mean that the entire older document has been replaced.
| Document | Status or relationship | Citation decision |
|---|---|---|
| RFC 9110 | Internet Standard; STD 97; obsoletes RFC 7231; updates RFC 3864 | Use for the published HTTP Semantics specification when it supports the claim. |
| RFC 7231 | Proposed Standard; obsoleted by RFC 9110 | Retain for a discussion of the 2014 document; identify its replacement in the prose. |
| draft-ietf-httpbis-semantics-19 | Archived Internet-Draft; later published as RFC 9110 | Use the exact draft for a historical version comparison. |
RFC 7231 provides a useful older reference. Its credited editors are R. Fielding and J. Reschke, its publication date is June 2014, and its DOI is 10.17487/RFC7231.
Obsoleted is a relationship here. The record still labels RFC 7231 Proposed Standard, so do not silently relabel its status Historic. Keep the 2014 reference when discussing what that document said. If you change the claim to describe the replacement, read the corresponding passage in RFC 9110 before changing the citation.
Freeze the Internet-Draft Version You Read
To cite an Internet-Draft in IEEE style, preserve the full draft identifier, including its version suffix, and mark it as work in progress. RFC 7322, Section 4.8.6.4, explains why the posting date and version belong in a draft reference. Its instructions govern references inside RFCs; use them to identify the source without importing IETF punctuation into an IEEE paper.
The archived draft-ietf-httpbis-semantics-19 was published September 10, 2021, with an expiry date of March 14, 2022. Its own header gives an intended status of Standards Track. The surrounding Datatracker page now links its publication history to RFC 9110. Read the archived body when recording what this draft was at that time.
Keep -19 in both the entry and the URL. Removing it can send readers to a different revision or the eventual RFC. The draft's expiry date belongs in your research notes, separate from its posting date. Its historical header also qualifies the proposed replacement relationships with “if approved.”
Use RFC 9110 when checking a claim about the published specification. If your argument compares the 2021 proposal with the final text, give each document its own reference. This expired draft remains useful for that historical comparison.
Check the Entry Before Adding It to Your Paper
Compare the reference with the document header, then check the current record for replacements and relevant errata. Read any correction that affects the passage you rely on. A DOI resolves the document identity; it does not establish that you have checked every subsequent correction.
This generator has no dedicated RFC-status or Internet-Draft-version fields. If you use it to prepare basic citation details, review the finished entry manually for the RFC number or full draft token. Add the status explanation in your prose where it affects the claim. Do not accept a generic webpage entry that drops the document identifier.
Sources and Editorial Scope
The linked RFC Editor and IETF records were checked October 22, 2026. RFC 7322 supplies source-identification guidance for RFC authors; the IEEE guide supplies reference-style conventions. The three numbered entries above are worked IEEE-style adaptations. Their numbers must follow the order of first citation in your own manuscript.