Formatting Issues

How to Remove the Space Before an IEEE Citation in Word

Olivia Miller Oct 12, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user wants to eliminate the automatic space inserted before an inline IEEE citation reference number.

How to Remove the Space Before an Inline IEEE Citation in Word

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Customizing the built-in IEEE citation style using the Microsoft Word XSL stylesheet.
Observed behavior: An unwanted extra space appears before the citation number, and the exact source of this space in the IEEE2006OfficeOnline.xsl file is difficult to locate.

Before you start

Before modifying system files, create a backup copy of your IEEE2006OfficeOnline.xsl file so you can easily restore the original citation formatting if needed.

Solution 1Recommended

Modify the XSL File to Remove the Spacing Element

Locate and remove the specific text spacing tags within Word's IEEE stylesheet file.

Microsoft Word controls the formatting of its built-in citations through Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) files. To remove the space before an IEEE citation, you must find and edit the exact line in the XSL file that dictates this spacing.

Locate the Bibliography Styles folder

Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder containing Word's styles. This is typically found at '%appdata%\Microsoft\Bibliography\Style' or 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\Bibliography\Style'.

Open the IEEE stylesheet

Right-click the 'IEEE2006OfficeOnline.xsl' file and open it using a plain text editor, such as Notepad or Notepad++.

Search for the space element

Press Ctrl + F to open the Find dialog and search for instances of '<xsl:text> </xsl:text>'. This tag defines a forced blank space in the citation output.

Remove the space

Once you locate the tag placed before the citation output, delete the space between the tags so it becomes '<xsl:text></xsl:text>', or delete the element entirely.

Save and update Word

Save the text file, restart Microsoft Word, and click 'Update Citations and Bibliography' in your document to apply the new formatting.

Modify the XSL File to Remove the Spacing Element

Standard IEEE Formatting Notice: Keep in mind that standard IEEE citation guidelines generally require a space between the preceding text and the bracketed citation. Ensure your modification complies with your publisher's or institution's requirements before submitting your document.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find the IEEE2006OfficeOnline.xsl file in Windows?

The file is typically located in your user profile at 'C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Bibliography\Style' or within the Microsoft Office installation folder under 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\Bibliography\Style'.

Why is there a space before my IEEE citation by default?

According to official IEEE editorial style manuals, inline citation reference numbers enclosed in square brackets should be preceded by a space when they follow a word or punctuation mark. Microsoft Word includes this space by default to comply with these standard guidelines.

Will editing the XSL file affect my existing Word documents?

Yes, modifying the XSL file will alter the citation formatting for any document on your computer that uses the IEEE style, but only after you manually refresh the fields by clicking 'Update Citations and Bibliography'.

Document & File Issues