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Vancouver Referencing Style
Primarily used in the medical and scientific field. A consecutive number is given to each source as it is referred to for the first time. This number becomes the unique identifier of that source if it is referred to again.
For further information, refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - ICMJE website and the U.S. National Library of Medicine - Uniform requirements.
Citing in the Text of the Assignment
When you cite a reference in the text of the assignment using this system, references are numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text.
Example: ...as one author has put it "the darkest days were still ahead"[1]. |
The author's name can also be integrated into the text .
Example: Scholtz [2] has argued that... |
There are variations to the in-text citation format:
- either square [ ] or curved brackets ( ) can be used as long as you are consistent.
- superscripts are also sometimes used rather than brackets eg. ...was discovered. 1
When multiple references are cited at a given place in the text, use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers that are inclusive. Use commas (without spaces) to separate non-inclusive numbers in a multiple citation eg. (2-5,7,10).
As a general rule, reference numbers should be placed outside full stops and commas, inside colons and semicolons; however, this may vary according to the requirements of a particular journal.
References are listed in numerical order at the end of the paper:
Example: 1. Smith SD, Jones, AD. Organ donation. N Engl J Med. 2001;657:230-5. |
Reference list and bibliography
As well as acknowledging the information you have found in the body of your work you need to provide a list of it at the end. This can take two forms -
- a list of the sources you have directly quoted or paraphrased, in number order (a reference list or endnotes) or
- an alphabetical list, by author, of all the material you consulted regardless of whether you used that material directly (a bibliography).
Reference List
The sources that you refer to in your text should be numbered and then listed in number order.
Example: [1] Chan KS, Morton SC, Shekelle PG. Systematic Reviews for Evidence-based Management: How to Find Them and What to Do With Them. Am J Manag Care 2004;10 (11 Pt 1)):806-11. [2] Aaronson PI. Cardiovascular system at a glance. 2nd ed. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science; 2004. |
Bibliography
This is a list of all material you consulted, and is in alphabetical order by author.
Example: Aaronson PI. Cardiovascular system at a glance. 2nd ed. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science; 2004. Chan KS , Morton SC, Shekelle PG. Systematic Reviews for Evidence-based Management: How to Find Them and What to Do With Them. Am J Manag Care 2004;10 (11 Pt 1)):806-11. |
Creating a Reference List
Books
In the Vancouver style book details should be put together in the following order, with identical punctuation:
Author's surname Author's first name or initial. Title of the Book. Edition [if not first]. Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication.
Put a comma and 1 space between each name. The last author must have a full-stop after their initial(s)
One to six authors
Example: Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002. |
More than six authors
Give the first 6 names in full and add “et al”. The authors are listed in the order in which they appear on the title page.
Example: Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Isselbacher KJ, Wilson JD, Martin JB, Kasper DL, et al, editors. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. 14 th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, Health Professions Division; 1998. |
(Note: NLM now lists all authors.)
Author(s) and editor(s)
Example: Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. 2nd ed. Wieczorek RR, editor. White Plains (NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001. |
The title of the book is not put in italics or underlined.
Article or a Chapter within a book:
Author's surname Author's first name or initial. Title of chapter. In: Editor's surname Editor's first name or initial, editor. Title of the book. Edition [if not first] . Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication. p. page numbers of chapter .
Example: Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113. |
Journals
Author's surname Author's first name or initial. Title of article. Title of the Journal [abbreviated] Year of publication; Volume Number (Issue number): Page numbers of article.
Example: Halpern SD , Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7. |
Search for abbreviations in PubMed via the Journals Database http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
Note: no punctuation marks are used in the abbreviated journal name - just spaces
Newspaper Article
Citation and the order in which it is arranged:
Example: Kelly P. Medicare could benefit from government plan. The Australian 1999 Aug 15; Sect. C:1-2. |
Audio-Visual Media
The details required are the same as for a book, with the form of the item indicated in brackets after the title and edition statement .
Example: Summers R, Sproles ET, Davis G. Asthma [Videorecording]. New Orleans: Louisiana State University Medical Television; 1979. |
Electronic Information
Web pages
The details required are the same as for a book, with the form of the item indicated in brackets after the title and edition statement
Example: Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/. |
If you can't find the name of an editor or author use this format. Remember, consistency is what really counts:
Title of page. Title of site. Last update or copyright date. URL (Access date).
Web Document
Author/editor's surname author/editor's first name or initial. editor [if appropriate] . Title of page. Title of site. Last update or copyright date. URL (Access date).
Example: Kilmartin M. Women in GP: a strategy for women GPs. RACGP Online. Available at: URL:http://www.racgp.org.au/. Accessed Jul 30, 2003. |
Journal Articles
Citation and the order in which it is arranged.
Example: Who's Certified [database on the Internet]. Evanston (IL): The American Board of Medical Specialists. c2000 - [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: http://www.abms.org/newsearch.as |
Articles from electronic databases:
Citation and the order in which it is arranged.
Example: Garfinkel PE, Lin E, Goering P, Dausset J, Colombani J, Swartz MN. et al. Should amenorrhoea be necessary for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa? Br. J. Psych [journal online] 1996 Apr [cited 1999 Aug 17]; 168(4):500-506. Available from: PubMed Database |