This guide provides you with examples of how to correctly cite references in the Vancouver style within the text of your assignments.
The Vancouver system does allow for some variations in style, but you must remain consistent throughout your document. The Vancouver system is most commonly used in medical and clinical sciences.
Citations you include in the main body of your writing should only provide a number that refers to the reference that you are citing. These citations will then link to a fully detailed reference, which will be included in your list of references / bibliography.
The way in which you refer to a source within the text of your work should always follow this format:
The number of the reference appears in brackets outside of the sentence (i.e. after the full stop). * This is not the case for many science based journals that include them inside the full stop. Please clarify this with your student handbook or supervisor as to how they would like you to set it out.
The number can be in superscript.
The number remains the same throughout the paper.
Use a hyphen where there are more than 3 consecutive references being referred to.
Direct citations
If the author’s name forms a natural part of your sentence, then the surname should be followed by the number indicating the order that it appears in the document (in brackets), eg.
Albanese refers to problem based learning as...(1)
or
Albanese refers to problem based learning as...(1)
Indirect citations
If you do not mention the author’s name within your text, you should place the number in brackets at the end of the sentence, eg.
There are six distinctive conditions, which need to be satisfied, in order for a whistle-blowing case to be justified. (2)
In-text citations
You can always cite within the sentence structure providing it does not interfere with the flow of the sentence, eg.
There have been efforts to replace mouse inoculation testing with in vitro tests, such as enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (23) or polymerase chain reaction (6), however these remain experimental.
Multiple authors
Provide the numbers in brackets as they appear in the text after these sentence, eg.
Several drug trials proved that the antibody was released immediately. (2, 3, 9- 12)
Page numbers
There is currently no agreement among citation authorities as to the use of page numbers with in-text citations in Vancouver style. If you have been asked to include page numbers for direct quotations by your school, we recommend using one the following formatting methods:
Peterson (1, p. 20) discusses two examples of...
Or
Peterson 1 (p. 20) discusses two examples of...
Setting out quotations
Any quotations used should be relevant to the argument you are making. Short quotations (1-2 lines) can be set in quotation marks and included within the body of the text.
Vancouver Reference lists/bibliographies
Your reference list links with your in-text citations, enabling readers to easily trace the sources cited within your work. It is a list of the documents from which any direct quotations or examples have been taken.
N.B. A bibliography (where you give credit to sources that were used for background reading, but were not quoted within the body of the text), is not usually required. You should however always check this first, with the person who will be assessing your work.
Your reference list (and bibliography if you choose to provide one) should be arranged numerically in the order that the citations appear in the text.
Multiple authors:
If you have up to six authors for a reference then you list all the authors in your reference list, If you have more than six than six, list the first six authors followed by the term 'et al,' .
Different types of publication require different amounts of information. The Vancouver system lays down standards for the amount of information required for each document type; these are detailed below.
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.
3. 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.
E-books
Citation order
Author(s),
(editors if required).
Title of book.
[Internet]
Edition (if not 1st edition).
Place of publication;
Year.
[cited year month date].
[Available from: URL].
Reference list entry
4. Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: https://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029.html/
Journal articles (printed)
Citation order
Author(s) surname.
Initials.
Title of article
Abbreviated title of journal.
Year, first 3 letters of month, date;
Volume (issue):
Page numbers (without p).
Reference list entry
5. Endres M, Engelhardt B, Koistinaho J, Lindvall O, Meairs S, Mohr JP, et al. Improving outcome after stroke: Overcoming the translational roadblock. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2008, Feb, 22;25(3):268-78.
In the title of the article, only the first letter and proper nouns should be capitalised.
If the journal you are citing has continuous pagination it is unnecessary to cite the month and date of publication.
Where an organisation is the author simply replace the author with the name of the organisation.
Newspaper articles
Required information
Author (If no author provided use the title of the newspaper in italics).
Title of article.
Title of newspaper.
Year month date;
Page reference
Reference list entry
6. Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug 12;Sect. A:2 (col. 4).
Websites
Citation order
Author / Organisation
Title site
[Internet].
Place of publication:
Publisher;
[updated year month date; cited year month date].
Available from: URL.
It can often be difficult to identify the author of a web-page. If this is the case use the organisation (e.g. BBC) in place of the author. If a website has no discernible author or organisation you may want to strongly consider whether it is suitable for inclusion in a piece of academic writing! Again it is probably best to check with the person who will be assessing your work, if you find yourself in this situation.
Reference list entry
Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: https://www.cancer-pain.org/.
Wikipedia.org. Introduction to general relativity [Internet]. 2021 [updated 2021 May 28; cited 2021 July 13]. [9 screens]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_general_relativity.
Blogs
Use the name provided by the author of the blog post (even if this is informal or an alias). Put the blog title in capitals, eg.
Nixon, H. Families, Parenting and Asthma. PhD Thesis. The University Of Manchester; 2011.
Conference proceedings
Citation order
Author's name(s) and initials.
Title of paper,
Full title of conference (capitalise all words);
Year month date;
Location
If published, add details of place and publisher
Reference list entry
• Harnden P, Joffe JK, Jones WG, editors. Germ cell tumours V. Proceedings of the 5th Germ Cell Tumour Conference; 2001 Sep 13-15; Leeds, UK. New York: Springer; 2002.
DVD/videos
Citation order
Title.
Medium.
Director.
Distribution company
Year
Reference list entry
The Shining.DVD.Stanley Kubrick. Warner Bros.1980.
Articles not in English
Citation order - As per journal articles in English:
Author(s) surname.
Initials.
Title of article
Abbreviated title of journal.
Year, first 3 letters of month, date;
Volume (issue):
Page numbers (without p).
Reference list entry
Forneau E, Bovet D. Recherches sur l'action sympathicolytique d'un nouveau dérivé du dioxane. Arch Int Pharmacodyn. 1933;46:178-191. French.
The National Library of Medicine adds an English translation of the title enclosed in square brackets right after the title. The language is specified in full after the paginiation (page location), followed by a 'full stop'.
Disclaimer
The information contained within these pages is intended as a general referencing guideline.
Please check with your supervisor to ensure that you are following the specific guidelines required by your school.