IEEE References in Typst: A Working Bib File and PDF

Start With the Working Files

Put the Typst source and its bibliography in the same folder. The example needs no external template package, custom CSL file, or separate bibliography processor. We compiled the files with the official Typst 0.15.1 command-line release on October 21, 2026, then inspected the rendered output.

• main.typ and references.bib form the working input pair.
• main.pdf shows the original citation order.
• reordered.typ and reordered.pdf show the numbering after swapping the first two citations.
• missing-key.typ deliberately contains a misspelled key. It is an error example, so use main.typ for a successful first compile.

If you already have Typst available, open a terminal in that folder and run the following commands. The first reports your compiler version; the second creates the PDF. For setup instructions, use the official Typst project. A web-editor project can also contain the two inputs; our recorded test used the local compiler.

typst --version
typst compile main.typ main.pdf

A successful compilation should give one page, three in-text citation occurrences, and two reference entries. Compare those counts before putting your own manuscript into the example. The short sentences are test text and make no claims about either paper's results.

Prepare the Bibliography File

The supplied references.bib contains two real conference records. Dean and Ghemawat's MapReduce paper uses the OSDI 2004 version and pages 137-150. The Google File System uses the SOSP 2003 version and pages 29-43. We checked the latter range against the publisher's Crossref registration. Keep the publication version consistent when replacing a record.

@inproceedings{dean2004mapreduce,
  author = {Dean, Jeffrey and Ghemawat, Sanjay},
  title = {{MapReduce}: Simplified Data Processing on Large Clusters},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation},
  year = {2004},
  pages = {137--150},
  publisher = {USENIX Association},
  address = {San Francisco, CA, USA}
}

The key immediately after the opening brace, dean2004mapreduce, is the identifier used in the Typst text. It is independent of the displayed reference number. Preserve the and separator between authors, balanced braces, and the double hyphen in a BibTeX page range. The additional braces around MapReduce preserve its capitalization.

The downloaded file includes the second record as well. Keep each key unique. When importing your own library, check author names and publication fields before diagnosing the citation style. A missing page range can still produce a plausible reference, so a successful compile alone cannot certify the metadata.

For a larger input file, the BibTeX to IEEE guide covers record checks. Typst reads the bibliography file inside your document project; importing a file into this website is a separate workflow.

Cite the Keys in Your Typst Document

#set page(paper: "a4", margin: 24mm)
#set text(font: "Libertinus Serif", size: 11pt, lang: "en")

= IEEE references in Typst

This teaching document checks reference numbering.
It is not an IEEE journal submission template.

The MapReduce conference paper is cited first @dean2004mapreduce.
The Google File System paper is cited next @ghemawat2003gfs.
The MapReduce paper is cited again @dean2004mapreduce.

#bibliography("references.bib", style: "ieee", title: [References])

The body uses @dean2004mapreduce twice and @ghemawat2003gfs once. Typst resolves those keys against references.bib. The corresponding explicit citation function can be written as #cite(<dean2004mapreduce>). Keep a stable key while editing the surrounding text.

Do not replace the key with a hand-typed bracketed number. A literal [1] in your prose will not follow later changes in citation order. The IEEE in-text citation guide explains how the manuscript's numbers relate to its reference list.

Select the IEEE Bibliography Style

The final line selects the Typst IEEE citation style with style: "ieee" and names the heading References. The bibliography documentation lists the supported input formats and style options. Setting the style explicitly keeps this small example understandable when it is copied into another project.

In our compiled output, the first entry begins with J. Dean and S. Ghemawat. The second begins with S. Ghemawat, H. Gobioff, and S.-T. Leung and includes its DOI. The full conference names remain visible. Inspect the actual output before deciding whether a venue requires different abbreviations or other editorial adjustments.

The page and text settings above make a readable teaching document. They do not supply a journal's columns, author block, or submission template. Selecting the bibliography style handles one part of manuscript preparation. Apply the target publication's template and instructions separately.

Check Reordering and Repeated Citations

The bibliography file stays unchanged between these two tests. Only the first two citation sentences move. That isolates the effect of first-citation order from the physical order of records in the .bib file.

The repeated MapReduce citation reuses its number and does not create a third reference entry. Compare both downloadable PDFs after compiling your own copies. If your manuscript behaves differently, check whether a template changes citation styling or introduces additional bibliographies before altering the records.

Fix Missing Keys and File Paths

The deliberately broken file uses @dean2004mapreduc. The compiler reports the following error and points at that token. Restore the final e, then compile again.

error: label `<dean2004mapreduc>` does not exist in the document

Compare the entire identifier with the entry in references.bib, including case and punctuation. If the key matches but the file cannot be opened, check the filename and its location relative to the Typst source. Saving the bibliography under another name also requires changing the filename passed to bibliography.

A reference absent from the list may simply never have been cited. Start by checking the body for its key. For an intentionally complete reading list, the bibliography function has a full option; this example keeps the ordinary cited-only list. Do not add unused works merely to make the list longer.

Before sharing the result, reopen the PDF and compare every marker with its entry. Keep the .typ and .bib inputs together so another writer can reproduce the document. If you use this site to prepare bibliography fields, export and inspect the data first; the site does not compile Typst projects.

Sources and Test Notes

The official documentation and publication records linked above were checked October 21, 2026. The downloadable source files are original teaching fixtures. Both successful PDFs were compiled and visually inspected; the missing-key failure was checked separately. Their citation numbering is a recorded result for Typst 0.15.1, not a promise about every template or compiler version.