Centering the third author in IEEE format?

Question

How do I put third author in center when using IEEE template?

\author{\IEEEauthorblockN{First Author}
  \IEEEauthorblockA{Department of System Design Engineering\\
    University of Waterloo, Canada\\
    \textit{\href{mailto:me@example.com}{me@example.com}}%
  }
  \and
  \IEEEauthorblockN{Second Author}
  \IEEEauthorblockA{Department of Electrical, Computer\\ and Software Engineering\\
    University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada\\
    \textit{\href{mailto:me@example.com}{me@example.com}}%
  }
  \and
  \IEEEauthorblockN{Third Author}
  \IEEEauthorblockA{Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering\\
    Michigan State University, USA\\
    \textit{\href{mailto:me@example.com}{me@example.com}}%
  }%
}% end author

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 15 '21 at 20:59

As pointed out by @Mensch, IEEE is a bit strict on the document's layout when using ieeetran document class. Therefore, when you have three authors or less you have to place them in line. However, the same issue arises when you have, for instance, five authors.

\author{\IEEEauthorblockN{1\textsuperscript{st} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{2\textsuperscript{nd} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{3\textsuperscript{rd} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{4\textsuperscript{th} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{5\textsuperscript{th} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
}

In this specific example, you are allowed to center the two authors placed in the second line. Here is how I do it every time.

TL;DR:

At first, define the new command \linebreakand.

\makeatletter % changes the catcode of @ to 11
\newcommand{\linebreakand}{%
  \end{@IEEEauthorhalign}
  \hfill\mbox{}\par
  \mbox{}\hfill\begin{@IEEEauthorhalign}
}
\makeatother % changes the catcode of @ back to 12

Then you can use the new command as a "line-breaker".

\author{\IEEEauthorblockN{1\textsuperscript{st} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{2\textsuperscript{nd} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{3\textsuperscript{rd} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \\
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\\
City, Country \\
email address or ORCID}
\and
\linebreakand % <----- NOTE HERE, breaking after the third one!
\IEEEauthorblockN{4\textsuperscript{th} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\
City, Country \
email address or ORCID}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{5\textsuperscript{th} Given Name Surname}
\IEEEauthorblockA{\textit{dept. name of organization (of Aff.)} \
\textit{name of organization (of Aff.)}\
City, Country \
email address or ORCID}
}

Brief explanation

The two macros used as a prologue and epilogue of the command are needed to change the catcode of the '@' char. In that way, you can use it like a regular letter and access protected macro. There is an excellent and comprehensive explanation of the use of \makeat* macros here.

The command simply closes the IEEEauthorhalign macro, inserts some blank space, and then opens the macro again.

Does not work in case of four authors, split 50-50 over 2 lines. Still off-center, unless the width of the two authors on the top are exactly the same as the two on the bottom. — Domi, Jun 21 '22 at 09:43

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 13 '16 at 21:35

3

If you want to submit an paper with class ieeetran to IEEE, then you should not change the given layout by the class.

IEEE wants you to layout in there class without changes to have their well known layout for the book/manual/paper.

answered Aug 13 '16 at 21:35

Mensch

65,388

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 22 '20 at 10:41

You can simply do it: In the third author add this: \centerline{}

\IEEEauthorblockN{Third Author}
  \IEEEauthorblockA{ \centerline{Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering} \\
    Michigan State University, USA\\
    \textit{\href{mailto:me@example.com}{me@example.com}}%
  }%

Centering the third author in IEEE format?

3 Answers3