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Vancouver style

Vancouver is a numbered referencing style commonly used in medicine and science, and consists of:

  • citations in the text, using numbers
  • a numbered reference list at the end of the document

It follows rules established by the International committee of Medical Journal Editors, now maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It is also knows as Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals.

Examples on this page:

  1. In-text Citing
  2. References
    1. Journal articles
    2. Books and book chapters
    3. Conferences & Conference proceedings
    4. Electronic sources
  3. Example of a reference list
  4. Abbreviations
  5. Further information

1. In-text Citing

A number is allocated to a source in the order in which it is cited in the text. If the source is referred to again, the same number is used.

Example:
...as one author has put it "the darkest days were still ahead" [1]: which is well documented in the literature. [2-5] This proves that "the darkest days were still ahead". [1]

The author's name can also be integrated into the text eg. Scholtz [2] has argued that...

General rules:

  • either square [ ] or curved brackets ( ) can be used as long as it is consistent.
  • superscripts can also be used rather than brackets eg. ...was discovered. 1,3
  • numbers should be inserted to the left of colons and semi-colons.
  • full stops are placed either before or after the reference number - check with your department/tutor/journal publisher to determine their preference. Whatever format is chosen, it is important that the punctuation is consistently applied to the whole document.

2. References

References are listed in numerical order in the Reference List at the end of the paper:

  1. Smith SD, Jones, AD. Organ donation. N Engl J Med. 2001;657:230-5.
  2. Brown JG. Asphyxiation. Med J Aust. 2003; 432:120-4.

Examples for common publication types are listed below. for more examples refer to Citing Medicine <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine>

2a. Journal Articles

Elements of a Citation: non continuous pagination

Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of article. Title of Journal. [abbreviated]
Year of publication Month date;Volume Number(Issue number):page numbers.

Example:
Smithline HA, Mader TJ, Ali FM, Cocchi MN. Determining pretest probability of DVT: clinical intuition vs. validated scoring systems. N Engl J Med. 2003 Apr 4;21(2):161-2.
  • Journal titles are abbreviated (to decipher abbreviations see: PubMed Journals Database <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=journals>)
  • Only first words of article title and words that normally begin with a capital letter are capitalised.
  • First 6 authors are listed; thereafter add an et al. after the sixth author.
  • If the journal has continuous page numbering, you may omit month/issue number
Example: continuous pagination; more than 6 authors
Gao SR, McGarry M, Ferrier TL, Pallante B, Gasparrini B, Fletcher JR, et al. Effect of cell confluence on production of cloned mice using an inbred embryonic stem cell line. Biol Reprod. 2003;68(2):595-603.

2b. Books

Elements of a Citation:

Author/Editor/Compiler's surname Initials. Title of the book. # ed.[if not 1st] Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication.

  • Only first words of the article title and words that normally begin with a capital letter are capitalised.

Personal author:

Example:
Carlson BM. Human embryology and developmental biology. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2004.

Edited book:

  • add editor or editors after the name/s
Example:
Brown AM, Stubbs DW, editors. Medical physiology. New York: Wiley; 1983.

Chapter in a book:

Elements of a Citation:
Author's surname Initials. Title of chapter. In: Editor's surname Initials, editor. Title of the book. # ed.[if not 1st] Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication. p. #. [page numbers of chapter]
  • Abbreviate page numbers to p. eg p. 12-25.
  • Abbreviate numbers where appropriate eg p. 122-8.
Example:
Blaxter PS, Farnsworth TP. Social health and class inequalities. In: Carter C, Peel JR, editors. Equalities and inequalities in health. 2nd ed. London: Academic Press; 1976. p. 165-78.

2c. Conferences

Conference paper:

Elements of a citation:

Author's surname Initials. Title of paper. In: Editor's surname Initials, editor. Title of the Conference; Date of conference; Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of Publication. p. page numbers.

Example:
Anderson JC. Current status of chorion villus biopsy. In: Tudenhope D, Chenoweth J, editors. Proceedings of the 4th Congress of the Australian Perinatal Society; 1986: Brisbane, Queensland: Australian Perinatal Society; 1987. p. 190-6.

Conference proceedings:

Example:
Harris AH, editor. Economics and health: 1997: Proceedings of the 19th Australian Conference of Health Economists; 1997 Sep 13-14; Sydney, Australia. Kensington, N.S.W.: School of Health Services Management, University of New South Wales; 1998.

2d. Electronic sources

CD-Rom / DVD:

  • The format is added after the title eg. [DVD]
Example:
Collier L, Balows A, Sussman M, editors. Topley and Wilson's microbiology and microbial infections [CD-ROM]. 9th ed. London: Arnold; 1998.

(i) Journal article on the internet:

Elements of a Citation:

Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [serial on the Internet]. Year of publication Month day [cited Year Month Day];Volume Number(Issue number):[about number of pages or screens]. Available from: URL

  • Only cite month/day if applicable
  • Can list either pages or screens
Example:
Aylin P, Bottle A, Jarman B, Elliott, P. Paediatric cardiac surgical mortality in England after Bristol: descriptive analysis of hospital episode statistics 1991-2002. BMJ [serial on the Internet]. 2004 Oct 9;[cited 2004 October 15]; 329:[about 10 screens]. Available from: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7470/825

(ii) Book/Monograph on the Internet:

Example:
Donaldson MS, editor. Measuring the quality of health care [monograph on the internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 1999 [cited 2004 Oct 8]. Available from: http://legacy.netlibrary.com/.

(iii) Web site / homepage:

Elements of a citation:
Author/Editor/Organisation's name . Title of the page [homepage on the Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher's name; [updated yr month day; cited yr month day]. Available from: (url)

Example:
HeartCentreOnline [homepage on the Internet]. Boca Raton, FL: HeartCentreOnline, Inc.; c2000-2004 [updated 2004 May 23; cited 2004 Oct 15]. Available from: http://www.heartcenteronline.com/

(iv) Web Site/part of a Homepage:

  • Add number of screens and title of page
Example:
American Medical Association [homepage on the Internet]. Chicago: The Association; c1995-2002 [cited 2005 Apr 20]. Group and Faculty Practice Physicians; [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1736.html

3. Example of a Reference list

Example:
1. Miller DM, The wisdom of the eye. San Diego: Academic Press; 2000

2. Rau JG, Wooten DC. Environmental impact analysis handbook. New
York: McGraw-Hill; 1980.

3. Richardson AJ. Traffic planning and modelling: a twenty year perspective.
Aust Road Res. 1990;20(1):9-21.

4. Meyer MD. Public transportation in the 21st century. In: Gray GE, Hoel
LA, editors. Public transportation. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall; 1992. p. 636-653.

4. Abbreviations

These are commonly used abbreviations:

  • c. = circa (about, approximately)
  • ch. = Chapter
  • ed. = edition
  • et al.. = and others
  • fig; figs = figure(s)
  • ill ills = illustrator(s)
  • p. = page(s)
  • para paras = paragraph(s)
  • pt pts = part(s)
  • rev = revised
  • suppl = Supplement

Check journal abbreviations in: PubMed Journals Database

5. Sources for further information

  • Patrias K. Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers [Internet]. 2nd ed. Wendling DL, technical editor. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007 [updated 2009 Oct 21; cited 2010 Jan 8]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine
  • Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: writing and editing for biomedical publication [Internet]. Philadelphia, PA:International Committee of Medical Journal Editors; [updated 2008; cited 2010 Mar 26]. Available from: http://www.icmje.org/.
  • Style manual for authors, editors and printers. 6th ed. Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons; 2002. Monash holdings

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