How to manually equalize columns in an IEEE paper if using BibTex?

Question

IEEE conference publications in two-column format require authors to manually equalize the lengths of the columns on the last page of the final submission. I have typically done this by inserting a \newpage where necessary -- which usually ends up being somewhere amidst my (manually entered) references.

However, I have recently begun using BibTeX to manage references, and have now run into a problem: my last page contains only a few (generated) references, and I can't figure out how to manually equalize the columns.

The last page is the tail end of what is generated by:

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\bibliography{IEEEabrv,library}

Any ideas on how I can equalize the columns while continuing to use BibTeX?

Answer 1

I have submitted to both ACM and IEEE conferences and the easiest thing for me has been using:

\usepackage{flushend}

I've heard it doesn't always work well, but it's been great for me

http://www.ctan.org/pkg/flushend

Answer 2

I went back to RTFM again, and it turns out this is addressed right in "How to Use the IEEEtran LaTeX Class" by Michael Shell (maintainer). Section XIV notes that IEEEtran helpfully provides the \IEEEtriggeratref{} command for just this purpose. By default, it fires a \newline at the given BibTeX reference number. You can even change the command to fire with \IEEEtriggercmd{}.

Answer 3

It can also be done by using the balance package. You simply include the balance package in the preamble (\usepackage{balance}) and insert \balance some place on the last page of your document (for instance right in front of the references). However, I'm not sure if it's working if the last page (both columns) is completely full of references...