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Vancouver Referencing | A Quick Guide & Reference Examples

Published on 18 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 19 August 2022.

Vancouver is a system of referencing commonly used in biomedicine, among other scientific disciplines. In Vancouver style, you place a reference number in the text wherever a source is cited:

This number corresponds to an entry in your reference list – a numbered list of all the sources cited in your text, giving complete information on each:

This quick guide presents the most common rules for Vancouver style referencing. Note that some universities and journals have their own guidelines for the formatting of Vancouver references.

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Table of contents

Vancouver in-text citations, creating a vancouver reference list, vancouver reference examples, missing information in vancouver references, frequently asked questions about vancouver referencing.

In Vancouver style, citations are marked in your text with numbers. These numbers appear either in parentheses or in superscript – choose one option and stick to it consistently:

The numbers usually appear after the name of the author or after a direct quote. They may also appear at the end of the sentence:

Naming authors

You will often need to mention the author when referring to a work or introducing a quote. Only use the author’s last name in your text. If a source has multiple authors, name only the first author followed by ‘et al.’:

It’s not always necessary to mention the author’s name in your text – but always include the reference number when you refer to a source:

Numbering references

Sources are numbered based on the order in which they are cited in the text: the first source you cite is 1, the second 2, and so on.

If the same source is cited again, use the same number to refer to it throughout your paper. This means that the numbers might not appear in consecutive order in your text:

Citing multiple sources

You can also cite multiple sources in the same place:

To cite several sources that appear consecutively in your numbered list, you can use an en dash to mark the range.

In this case, the citation refers the reader to sources 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Citing page numbers

You must specify a page number or range when you directly quote a text, and it can be helpful to do so when you are paraphrasing a particular passage.

Place the page number after the reference number inside the same parentheses, preceded by ‘p.’:

If you’re using superscript numbers, the page number also appears in superscript, in parentheses after the reference number:

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Your reference list is where you provide the information your readers will need in order to look up the sources cited in your text. It consists of a numbered list of all your sources, providing key information including the author, title and publication date of each source.

The list appears in numerical order at the end of your paper. Each entry ends with a full stop, unless the last element is a DOI or URL.

Vancouver reference list example

Author names

Each entry starts with the author’s last name and initials.

When a source has more than one author, their names are separated by commas. If a source has more than six authors, list the first six followed by ‘et al.’

Source titles

Only the first word of the title and subtitle, along with any proper nouns, are capitalised:

Titles in Vancouver referencing are consistently written in plain text. Do not use italics or quotation marks.

The information you provide differs according to the type of source you’re citing, since different details are relevant in different cases. Formats and examples for the most commonly cited source types are given below.

• Book chapter
• Journal article

Some sources will be missing some of the information needed for a complete reference. See below for how to handle missing elements.

As shown in the website example above, when no individual author is named, you can usually name the organisation that produced the source as the author.

If there is no clear corporate author – for example, a wiki that is created and updated collaboratively by users – you can begin your reference with the title instead:

Sources such as websites may lack a clear publication date. In these cases you can omit the year in your reference and just include the date of your citation:

No page numbers

You may want to show the location of a direct quote from a source without page numbers, such as a website. When the source is short, you can often just omit this, but where you feel it’s necessary you can use an alternate locator like a heading or paragraph number:

Harvard referencing uses an author–date system. Sources are cited by the author’s last name and the publication year in brackets. Each Harvard in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the alphabetised reference list at the end of the paper.

Vancouver referencing uses a numerical system. Sources are cited by a number in parentheses or superscript. Each number corresponds to a full reference at the end of the paper.

A citation should appear wherever you use information or ideas from a source, whether by quoting or paraphrasing its content.

In Vancouver style , you have some flexibility about where the citation number appears in the sentence – usually directly after mentioning the author’s name is best, but simply placing it at the end of the sentence is an acceptable alternative, as long as it’s clear what it relates to.

In Vancouver style , when you refer to a source with multiple authors in your text, you should only name the first author followed by ‘et al.’. This applies even when there are only two authors.

In your reference list, include up to six authors. For sources with seven or more authors, list the first six followed by ‘et al.’.

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Caulfield, J. (2022, August 19). Vancouver Referencing | A Quick Guide & Reference Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 25 March 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/vancouver-style/

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A Vancouver citation generator is an online tool that creates citations in the Vancouver citation style. It does this automatically by taking in an identifier for a document, such as a website URL, book ISBN, or journal DOI, and then locating the remaining details to format the full citation.

🤓 What is the Vancouver citation style?

The Vancouver citation style is a citation style used in the fields of biomedicine, health, and physical sciences. It is used to correctly attribute the authors of work cited within your paper.

The Vancouver style uses numbers within the article body that refer to formatted citations in the reference list at the end of the paper. The complete collection of rules for citing in Vancouver style are documented in the official handbook: Citing Medicine , by authors Karen Patrias and Dan Wendling.

👩‍🎓 Who uses a Vancouver Citation Generator?

The Vancouver style is used broadly across the physical sciences--especially health and medicine. If you are studying health or medicine, or you are writing to be published in a journal that uses the Vancouver style (such as The Lancet and Revista MÉDICA de Chile ), then you will need to cite your sources using the Vancouver style.

🙌 Why should I use a Vancouver Citation Generator?

Every academic field, not just the sciences, will recommend using a tool to record references to others' work in your writing. A citation generator like MyBib can record this data, and can also automatically create an accurate reference list from it.

A referencing tool can also keep a list of the sources you have used as you are writing your paper, so is great for organization too.

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's Vancouver Citation Generator?

MyBib's Vancouver citation generator was designed to be accurate and easy to use (also it's FREE!). Follow these steps:

• Search for the article, website, or document you want to cite using the search box at the top of the page.
• Look through the list of results found and choose the one that you referenced in your work.
• Make sure the details are all correct, and correct any that aren't. Then click Generate!

The generator will produce a formatted Vancouver citation that can be copied and pasted directly into your document, or saved to MyBib as part of your overall reference list (which can be downloaded fully later!).

MyBib supports the following for Vancouver style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Vancouver Style Guide: Home

Introduction to vancouver.

The Vancouver Style is formally known as  Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals  (ICMJE Recommendations). It was developed in Vancouver in 1978 by editors of medical journals and well over 1,000 medical journals (including ICMJE members BMJ, CMAJ, JAMA & NEJM) use this style. This user guide explains how to cite references in Vancouver Style, both within the text of a paper and in a reference list, and gives examples of commonly used types of references.

Refer to the left hand column for written directions about how to cite Vancouver and refer to the right hand column for examples and formatting.

ICMJE Recommendations has many optional areas. This guide has been created for The Michener Institute and may differ from styles at other educational institutes and those required by individual journals.

• APA Citation Guide While Vancouver is one citation style, your professor may request that you use APA style for citations instead. Please see the Michener LRC APA Citation guide for information about using this citation style.
• Zotero A helpful tool for collecting resources and creating citations is Zotero software. Please see the Michener LRC Zetero guide to learn more.
• Plagiarism: How to Avoid it For more information on avoiding plagiarism and using other sources in your work, please visit the LRC's Plagiarism guide.

In-Text Citations

• Placement of citations:  In-text citation numbers should be placed after the relevant part of a sentence. The original Vancouver Style documents do not discuss placement of the in-text citation in regards to punctuation, so it is acceptable to place it before or after the period. Be consistent.
• References are numbered  consecutively in the order they are first mentioned. Place each reference number in parentheses or square brackets throughout the text, tables, and legends. Superscripts may also be used instead of square brackets or parentheses. Be consistent. If the same reference is used again, re-use the original number. To cite multiple references in one sentence, separate the numbers using a comma, eg. (2, 7), for non-consecutive reference numbers, and a hyphen, eg. (3-5), for consecutive reference numbers.
• Tables are numbered  consecutively. Supply a brief title for each table and give each column a short heading. Be sure that the table is mentioned in the text. If the data is taken from another source, include the source in the list of references at the end of the paper. Place explanatory matter in a note, not in the heading.
• Personal communication  used as a reference should be avoided, unless it provides essential information not available from a public source. These can be emails, personal interviews, telephone conversations, class notes, class handouts that are not posted, etc. Do not include them in the reference list as they are not recoverable by others; instead cite the name of the person, the type of communication, and the date of communication in parentheses in the text, eg. "In a conversation with A. Jones (January 2020)..."
• Internet sources  may, in time, be deleted, changed, or moved, so it is a good idea to keep a hard copy for your records. Also, take care to critically evaluate the reliability of the information.

Reference Page

• The last page  of your paper is entitled References. References are single spaced, with double-spacing between references.
• Numbering : List all references in order by number, not alphabetically. Each reference is listed once only, since the same number is used throughout the paper.
• Authors : In the order they appear on the resource, list each author’s last name followed by a space and then initials without any periods; there is a comma and space between authors and a period at the end of the last author. If the number of authors exceeds six, give the first six followed by “et al.” For edited books, place the editors’ names in the author position and follow the last editor with a comma and the word editor (or editors). For edited books with chapters written by individual authors, list the authors of the chapter first, then the chapter title, followed by “In:”, the editors’ names, and the book title.
• Title : Capitalize the first letter of the first word in the title. The rest of the title is in lower-case, with the exception of proper names. Do not underline the title; do not use italics. If there is an edition for a book, it appears after the title, abbreviated and followed by a period, for example: 3rd ed.
• Publication information: Books:  After the title (and edition if applicable), place a period and space, then enter the cit y. If the city is not well known or there could be confusion,  enter the postal abbreviation for the state (U.S.) or province (Canada), or enter the country (elsewhere) of publication, followed by a colon. Give the name of the publisher as it appears in the publication followed by a semicolon. If the author is also the publisher, it is acceptable to use part of the name as the publisher, e.g., The Association for publisher if the author is Canadian Medical Association. Give the year of publication followed by a period. If no date of publication can be found, but the publication contains a date of copyright, use the date of copyright preceded by the letter “c”, e.g. c2015.
• Publication information: Journals : List the abbreviated journal title, place a period and a space, year, (and abbreviated month and day if applicable), semi-colon, volume, issue number in parentheses, colon, page range, and a period. For example, Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6. (The issue number may be omitted if the journal is paginated continuously through the volume.) To find the journal title abbreviation, go to  Medline’s Journals Database  and search by journal title. If the title is not found, abbreviate according to the style used for similar titles in Medline.
• Pages : For journals, the entire page range of an article is given,  not  the specific page on which the information was found; usage is 124-7 (pages 124 to 127) or 215-22 (pages 215 to 222). For books, no page numbers are given, with two exceptions: the page number of a dictionary entry is included, as well as the page range of a chapter with its own author.
• Place the word Internet in square brackets after the book title or abbreviated journal title.
• Indicate date of retrieval, preceded by the word “cited”, in square brackets after the date of publication. When possible, include the most recent update date before the date of retrieval within the square brackets, followed by a semicolon and a space.
• Add retrieval information at the end of the citation using the full URL. There is no punctuation at the end of the URL unless it ends with a slash or if additional information such as a DOI follows it in the entry, in which case a period is added.
• If a DOI exists, it is optional to add it after the retrieval information.
• Include a short note after the URL if special access information is required.

Citation Examples

Journal article, up to 6 personal author(s):

1. Al-Habian A, Harikumar PE, Stocker CJ, Langlands K, Selway JL. Histochemical and immunohistochemical evaluation of mouse skin histology: comparison of fixation with neutral buffered formalin and alcoholic formalin. J Histotechnol. 2014 Dec;37(4):115-24.

Electronic journal article:

2. Poling J, Kelly L, Chan C, Fisman D, Ulanova M. Hospital admission for community-acquired pneumonia in a First Nations population. Can J Rural Med [Internet]. 2014 Fall [cited 2015 Apr 27];19(4):135-41. Available from: http://www.srpc.ca/14fal.html by selecting PDF link in table of contents.

Electronic journal article, 7 or more personal authors, optional DOI information:

3. Aho M, Irshad B, Ackerman SJ, Lewis M, Leddy R, Pope T, et al. Correlation of sonographic features of invasive ductal mammary carcinoma with age, tumor grade, and hormone-receptor status. J Clin Ultrasound [Internet]. 2013 Jan [cited 2015 Apr 27];41(1):10-7. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcu.21990/full. DOI: 10.1002/jcu.21990

Book, personal author(s):

4. Buckingham L. Molecular diagnostics: fundamentals, methods and clinical applications. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis; c2012.

Book or pamphlet, organization as both author and publisher:

5. College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario. Standards of practice. Toronto: The College; 2011.

Book, editor(s):

6. Kumar V, Abbas AK, Aster JC, editors. Robbins basic pathology. 16th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; c2013.

Book,editor(s), specific chapter with individual author(s) :

7. Altobelli N. Airway management. In: Kacmarek R, Stoller JK, Heuer AJ, editors. Egan’s fundamentals of respiratory care. 10th ed. St. Louis: Saunders Mosby; c2013. p. 732-86.

Electronic book, personal author(s), requiring password :

8. Martin A, Harbison S, Beach K, Cole P. An introduction to radiation protection [Internet]. 6th ed. London: Hodder Arnold; 2012 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available from: http://lrc.michener.ca:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=466903&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_iii with authorized username and password.

Electronic book, organization as author, freely available:

9. OpenStax College. Anatomy & physiology [Internet]. Version 7.28. Houston: The College; 2013 Apr 25 [Updated 2015 May 27; cited 2015 May 28]. Available from: http://cnx.org/content/col11496/latest/.

Dictionary entry:

10. Stedman’s medical dictionary for the health professions and nursing. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; c2012. Hematoma; p. 756.

Entry in a print reference work:

11. Canadian Pharmacists Association. CPS 2013: compendium of pharmaceuticals and specialties. 48th ed. Ottawa: The Association; c2013. Atropine: Systemic; p. 297-9.

Entry in an online reference work:

12. Canadian Pharmacists Association. eCPS. [Internet]. Ottawa: The Association; 2015. Methimazole; [revised 2012 Mar; cited 2015 May 28]; [about 6 screens]. Available from: http://lrc.michener.ca:2048/login/ecps with authorized username and password.

Wiki entry:

13. Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia [Internet]. St. Petersburg (FL): Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2001 –   Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa; [modified 2015 May 28; cited 2015 May 28]; [about 34 screens]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa

Newspaper article:

14. Carville O. Health ‘snooping’ cases on the rise. Toronto Star. 2015 May 27;Sect. GT:1 (col. 3).

Electronic newspaper article:

15. Wisniewski M. Five babies at Chicago daycare diagnosed with measles. Globe and Mail [Internet]. 2015 Feb 5 [cited 2015 Feb 6];Life:[about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/five-babies-at-chicago-daycare-diagnosed-with-measles-report/article22805944/.

Legal material (note: this is not addressed in Vancouver Style):

16. Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, S.O. 2005, c.11 [Internet]. 2009 Dec 15 [cited 2015 May 29]. Available from: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_05a11_e.htm

Report available on a web page:

17. Canadian Institute for Health Information. Depression among seniors in residential care [Analysis in brief on the Internet]. Ottawa: The Institute; 2010 [cited 2015 May 29]. 18 p. Available from: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/ccrs_depression_among_seniors_e.pdf

Page on a website:

18. Alzheimer Society of Canada [Internet]. Toronto: The Society; c2015. Benefits of staying active; 2013 Jan 28 [cited 2015 May 29];[about 1 screen]. Available from: http://www.alzheimer.ca/en/kfla/Living-with-dementia/Day-to-day-living/Staying-active/Benefits-of-staying-active

Streaming video:

19. Allen S, Waerlop I. The Gait Guys talk about great toe dorsiflexion [video on the Internet]. [place unknown]: The Gait Guys; 2014 May 11 [cited 2015 May 29]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8O8TLtunUQ

Electronic image:

20. Bickle I. Swallowed foreign body [radiograph]. 2014 Jul 14 [cited 2015 May 29]. Available from: http://radiopaedia.org/cases/swallowed-foreign-body-1

Blog post (no given name, so screen name used as author):

21.  Munkee. In-111 pentetreotide imaging. 2013 Mar 19 [cited 2015 May 29]. In: Nuclear Munkee [Internet]. [place unknown]:[Munkee]; [date unknown] [about 3 screens]. Available from:  http://nuclearmunkee.blogs pot.ca/2013/03/in-111-p entetreotide-imaging.html

Poster presentation/session presented at a meeting or conference:

22. Chasman J, Kaplan RF. The effects of occupation on preserved cognitive functioning in dementia. Poster session presented at: Excellence in clinical practice. 4th Annual Conference of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology; 2006 Jun 15-17; Philadelphia, PA.

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• Last Updated: Aug 23, 2022 9:19 AM
• URL: https://guides.hsict.library.utoronto.ca/vancouver-style

• University of Newcastle Library
• Referencing Guides
• Vancouver Referencing Style

Vancouver Referencing Style:  Articles

• About Vancouver
• In-text citations
• Reference list
• Books & eBooks
• Book chapters
• Web resources
• Govt documents
• Course material
• Conferences
• Images & tables
• Health specific
• Personal comm
• Other sources
• Secondary sources
• What are DOIs? This link opens in a new window
• Referencing Guide This link opens in a new window
• General rules - Articles
• 1-6 Author/s
• Corporate Authors
• Forthcoming
• Online Journal Article without DOI
• Print Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles

Journal articles

General rules:.

Journals are a particular type of periodical. The same rules and examples can be used for magazines and other types of periodicals.

Author Names

• List names in the order they appear on the publication
• Initials follow the surname of authors, no spaces or full-stops appear between initials, e.g. Smith CK
• Capitalise surnames and enter spaces as they appear on the publication. For example, Van Den Hoffer or van der Hoffer
• Where there are 6 or fewer authors, list all author names.
• Where there are 7 or more authors, list the first six authors followed by “et al.”
• Place a comma and space between each name when there are more than one author.
• Do not use “and” or “&” to separate the last two authors.
• Omit "The" preceding an organizational name / corporate author.
• A country code may be added after national bodies if needed for clarification, eg. National Academy of Sciences (US).
• If the article  does not have an author , just omit this element, and start the reference with the article title. 

Article Titles

• Capitalise only the first word of the article title (and words that normally begin with a capital letter).
• Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless some other form of punctuation (such as a question mark, etc.) is already present.
• End a title with a period unless a question mark or exclamation point already ends it or an Article Type (such as [letter], [abstract], etc.) follows it.
• Do not italicize, underline or use quotation marks for article titles.

Journal Title

• For accepted abbreviations see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals  
• No punctuation is used within abbreviations; a full-stop appears at the end of the journal title, eg. Am J Hosp Med.

Year of Publication

• Include the year of publication after the journal title.
• End date information with a semicolon unless there is no volume or issue, then end with a colon, followed by page range.
• When the publication date is unknown, use [date unknown].

Volume Number

• Volume number follows the year and is followed by issue and page range, eg. 2015; 95 (1):110-1.
• Omit "volume", "vol.", and similar wording preceding the number
• Volume with supplement or parts: Headache. 2002; 42 Suppl 2 :S93-9.;  or Int J Psychoanal. 2002; 83(Pt 2) :491-5.
• If no volume number is found, just simply omit the volume no, eg 2015;(1):110-1.

Issue Number

• The issue number, enclosed in parentheses, follows the volume number and precedes the page range, eg. 99 (4) :258-60.
• If no issue number is found, follow the volume number with a colon and the page range 2015; 95 :110-1.
• Issue with supplement or parts: 2020;96(6 Suppl 7 ):6-12; or 2020;88( 6 Pt 2 ):116-22
• The issue number is omitted if the pagination is continuous throughout a volume.

Page Numbers

• Include the page range (beginning and ending page numbers) of the entire article eg. 269-73.
• Limit the number of digits in the 2nd part of the page range to those needed for clarity. For example, use 351-7 (not 351-357).
• For online articles without page numbers, use the e-locator such as the article no if available in the place of page number.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Most individual articles are assigned an identifying "digital object identifier" or DOI. If a DOI is available, include it at the end of the reference.

DOIs are cited in the format of doi:10.xxxxxxx, e.g. doi:10.1086/679716.

Check the  What are DOIs?  site for more information on DOIs.

Online Article without a DOI

To reference a journal article found online which does not have a DOI:

• Include ‘Internet’ in square brackets directly after the abbreviated journal title, follow with a full-stop.
• Add the date the article was cited in square brackets after the year of publication in the format [cited year month day]. Follow with a semi-colon.
• At the end of the reference, after the page numbers, add the phrase ‘Available from:’ followed by the URL. Do not include a full-stop at the end.

Secondary Sources

For citations taken from secondary sources, see the Secondary Sources page.

Journal articles with 1-6 author/s

• Where there are 6 or fewer authors, list all author names in the reference

The following is the general format for a reference to an online journal article with 6 or fewer authors with a  DOI .

See the  general rules for journal articles  for more details. 

Reference list entry: format and example

  Citation No. 1-6 Author's Last Name Initials.   Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title.  Year; volume ( issue): page range. doi:10.xxxxxxxx .

1.         Bennett DS. Cryopreserved amniotic membrane and umbilical cord particulate for managing pain caused by facet joint syndrome: a case series. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(10):e14745. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000014745.

2.          Schreijenberg  M,  Koes  BW, Lin CC. Guideline recommendations on the pharmacological management of non-specific low back pain in primary care: is there a need to change?  Expert Rev  Clin   Pharmacol . 2019;12(2):145-57. doi:10.1080/17512433.2019.1565992.

3.         Akahane M, Maeyashiki A, Tanaka Y, Imamura T. The impact of musculoskeletal diseases on the presence of locomotive syndrome. Mod Rheumatol. 2019;29(1):151-6. doi:10.1080/14397595.2018.1452173.

4.         Zoia C, Bongetta D, Alicino C, Chimenti M, Pugliese R, Gaetani P. Usefulness of corset adoption after single-level lumbar discectomy: a randomized controlled trial. J Neurosurg Spine. 2018;28(5):481-5. doi:10.3171/2017.8.SPINE17370.

Journal articles with 7 or more authors

When a journal article has 7 or more authors, list only the first 6 authors followed by et al . in the reference.

The following is the general format of a reference to a journal article with seven or more authors. The first example is an online journal article with a  DOI . The 2nd example is a journal article in print.

  Citation No.  1-6 Author's Last Name Initials, et al.   Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title.  Year; volume ( issue): page range.  doi:10.xxxxxxxx .

1.         Stevens ML, Boyle E, Hartvigsen J, Mansell G, Sogaard K, Jorgensen MB, et al. Mechanisms for reducing low back pain: a mediation analysis of a multifaceted intervention in workers in elderly care. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2019;92(1):49-58. doi:10.1007/s00420-018-1350-3.

2.          Zadro JR, Shirley D, Ferreira M, Carvalho Silva AP, Lamb SE, Cooper C, et al. Is vitamin D supplementation effective for low back pain? a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain Physician. 2018;21(2):121-45.

Journal articles with corporate authors

'Corporate authors' are organisations,  associations, groups, or societies who have written publications. This includes universities, research groups, museums, government departments, professional associations, and so on.

• Omit "The" preceding an organizational name
• Cite the corporate author in descending hierarchical order, separated by commas, eg. University of Newcastle, School of Medicine
• Separate two or more different organizations by a semicolon
• A country code may be added after national bodies if needed for clarification, eg. National Academy of Sciences (US).

The following is the general format of a reference to a journal article by a corporate author with a  DOI . 

  Citation No.  Corporate Author.   Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title.  Year; volume ( issue): page range.  doi:10.xxxxxxxx .

1.          World Health Organization. Shanghai Declaration on promoting health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Health Promot Int. 2017;32(1):7-8. doi:10.1093/heapro/daw103. 

Journal articles with no author listed

When a work is published without an author's name, do not list the author as " Anonymous." Instead, skip the author element and begin the entry with the work's title.

The following is the general format of a reference to a journal article without an author.

  Citation No.    Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title.  Year; volume ( issue): page range.  doi if available .

1.           New accreditation product approved for systems under the ambulatory and home care programs. Jt Comm Perspect. 2005;25(5):8. 

2.           Giving birth: upright positions shorten first stage labour. MIDRS Mid Dig. 2009;16:233  . 

Journal articles - 'Forthcoming', 'In press', online first

Many journal publishers provide access to articles before they have been assigned a volume, issue or page number, referring to them as "Forthcoming", "In Press", "Advance Publication", "Epub ahead of print", or "Online First" articles.

It is important to re-check references prior to submitting assessment tasks in case a 'forthcoming' article has been assigned a volume, issue and page numbers. If this is the case, ensure you re-format the citation following the guidelines on the appropriate tab on this page for the number of authors the article has.

Referencing 'forthcoming' articles:

If an article has been accepted for publication by a journal but has not yet appeared, forthcoming stands in place of the year, volume, issue, and the page numbers. Any article not yet accepted should be treated as an unpublished manuscript.

  Citation No.  Author's Last Name Initials.   Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title.   Forthcoming  Year.   doi:10.xxxxxxxx .

1.           Laking G, Lord J, Fischer A. The economics of diagnosis. Health Econ. Forthcoming 2023.

2.           Hoopes M, Schmidt T, Huguet N, Winters-Stone K, Angier H, Marino M, et al. Identifying and characterizing cancer survivors in the US primary care safety net. Cancer. Forthcoming  2019. doi: 10.1002/cncr.32295.

Where possible always refer to the final versions of your sources.

Online journal articles without a DOI

To reference a journal article found online which does not have a DOI: 

• At the end of the reference, after the page numbers, add the phrase ‘Available from:’ followed by the URL. Do not omit the  http://  or  https://  from the URL. Do not include a full-stop at the end.

 Citation No.  Author's Last Name Initials.   Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title [Internet].  Year  [cited Year Month Day] ; volume (issue): page range.  Available from: URL

1.           Kemble R. The intolerable taboo of mental illness. Social Alt [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2016 Jun 27];33:20-3. Available from: https://socialalternatives.com/sites/default/files/pdf/issue/free/vol_33_3_small.pdf

2.           Maddison S. Private men, public anger: the men's rights movement in Australia. Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies [Internet] . 1999 [cited 2019 Jun 4];4(2):39-51. Available from:  http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1048435

Print journal articles

The following is the general format of a reference to a print journal article which does not have a  DOI .

  Citation No.  Author's Last Name, Initials.   Article title : subtitle .   Abbreviated Journal Title.  Year; volume ( issue): page range.

1.         Tong MJ, Strickland GT, Votteri BA, Gunning JJ. Supplemental folates in the therapy of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. JAMA.1970;214(13):2330-3.

2.         Zadro JR, Shirley D, Ferreira M, Carvalho Silva AP, Lamb SE, Cooper C, et al. Is vitamin D supplementation effective for low back pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain Physician. 2018;21(2):121-45.

Magazine articles

Magazine articles are cited in the same way as journal articles. However, for magazines not  published with volume and issue numbers

• Include the year, month, and day of publication in that order, e.g. 2004 Jul 5
• Abbreviate the months using their first three letters.

See the tabs above and t he  general rules for journal articles   for more details. 

Newspaper and newsletter articles

Newspaper  articles are cited in the same way as journal articles, but with full year, month and day details. 

See the tabs above and the  general rules for journal articles  for more details. 

However, s ome  newspapers may not be published with volume and issue numbers . See the examples of newspaper  citations  below. 

  Citation No.  Author's Last Names, Initials.   Article title : subtitle .   Newspaper Title.  Year Month Day; volume ( issue): page range.

1.           Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. Washington Post. 2002:Aug 12;Sect A:2(col 4).

2.           Pelvic floor exercise can reduce stress incontinence. Health News. 2005 Apr;11(4):11.

3.           AACN national study reports important critical pathways findings. AACN News. 1995 Jul:5.

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• Last Updated: Mar 20, 2024 9:18 AM
• URL: https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/vancouver

Reference guide for Vancouver

This guide gives you information on how to format references in Vancouver style. The references are numbered sequentially, following the order in which they first appear in the text. The reference list should be placed in the end of the document and be arranged numerically. It should contain all necessary bibliographic information.

The guide is primarily intended for students at Karolinska Institutet. The references should be considered as recommendations based on  International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Sample References  and  Citing Medicine  and in some cases with the support of Swedish cataloging rules for libraries.

When in doubt, double check with official manuals. You might also need to discuss with your supervisor or teacher at KI before submitting your thesis or assignment.

Book, 1-6 authors

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Lorig K. Patient education: A practical approach. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications; 2000.

Crossman AR, Neary D. Neuroanatomy: An illustrated colour text. 4th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 2010.

In the text, numbers are used in parentheses. The citations are numbered and the reference list is arranged in the same order.

More information

• Information about the edition shall be stated if you use any other edition than the first one. If there is no information about the edition of your source, you can assume that it is the first edition.Use the abbreviation “ed.”
• If there is no year of publication, use year of copyright instead, preceded by c. If neither a year of publication nor a year of copyright can be found, use [date unknown]
• The terms that are used in the references (for example editor, chapter, edition) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source

Book, more than 6 authors

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC, Surname DD, Surname EE, Surname FF, et al. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Doornbos MM, Groenhout ER, Hotz GK, Brandsen C, Cusveller B, Flikkema M, et al. Transforming care: a Christian vision of nursing practice. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; 2005.

Mer information

• The first six authors are mentioned, followed by “et al.”
• Information about the edition shall be stated if you use any other edition than the first one. If there is no information about the edition of your source, you can assume that it is the first edition. Use the abbreviation “ed.”

Surname AA , Surname BB, editor(s). Title. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Pryor JA, Ammani Prasad S, editors. Physiotherapy for respiratory and cardiac problems: adults and paediatrics. 4th ed. Edinburgh: Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone; 2008.

• Editor(s) is noted after the names
• Up to six editors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six editors, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”

Chapter in edited book

Author of chapter’s Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title of chapter. In: Editor(s) Surname AA, editor(s). Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. p. xx-x.

Spatz D. The use of human milk and breastfeeding in the neonatal intensive care unit. In: Wamback K & Riordan J, editors. Breastfeeding and human lactation. 5th ed. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2014. p. 469-522.

Skoog T. Adolescent and adult implications of girls' pubertal timing. In: Andershed A-K, editor. Girls at risk: Swedish longitudinal research on adjustment.New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London: Springer; 2012. p. 9-34.

• Up to six authors or editors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”
• Editor(s) is noted after the editors names
• State the chapter's first and last page. Omit the numbers that the first and the last page have in common, for example 12-8 instead of 12-18

Chapter in authored book

Surname AA. Title. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Number of chapter, Title of chapter; p. x..

Moody HR. Aging. Concepts and controversies. (6th ed.) Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press; 2010. Basic Concepts I, A life course perspective on aging; p. 1-26.

Steketee G, Frost RO. Treatment for hoarding disorder. Therapist guide [Internet]. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2014. Chapter 2, Evidence-based treatment for hoarding disorder; p. 13-22. Available from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ki/detail.action?docID=1573147

• The reference is constructed in the same way as the reference to the entire book, followed by information about the chapter
• For more information on how to format references to books and report, see these reference types
• Use the same name and number for the chapter as in the source. If a number is lacking, omit this information
• State the chapter's first and last page. Omit the numbers that the first and the last page have in common, for example 12-8 instead of 12-18. If page numbers are lacking, omit this information

Conference contribution

Author of contribution’s Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title of contribution. In: Editor(s) Surname AA, editor(s). Title of proceedings. Title of conference. Date of conference; Place of conference. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. p. xx-x.

Haglund L, Hanson UC. Making yourself indispensable: Experiences from 25 years of networking. In: Bakker S, editor. Health Information Management: What Strategies? Proceedings of the 5th European Conference of Medical and Health Libraries. September 18-21, 1996; Coimbra, Portugal. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1997. p. 45-8.

• Conference contributions can also be published as articles in journals; in such cases, follow the template for journal articles
• State the conference contribution's first and last page. Omit the numbers that the first and the last page have in common, for example 12-8 instead of 12-18
• If the material comes from an electronic source, state [Internet] after the title and state [cited date] “Available from: current URL” at the end of the reference

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title [Internet]. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. [cited date]. Available from: URL

Fromm HJ, Hargrove M. Essentials of Biochemistry [Internet]. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 2012. [cited 2014 Jan 17] Available from: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-642-19624-9

Translated book

Author’s surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title. Edition. Translator’s surname AA, translator. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Foucault M. Madness: The invention of an idea. Sheridan A, translator. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought; 2011.

• Up to six authors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six authors, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”.
• Information regarding the title, edition, publisher, and place of publication should apply to the translation (not the original)
• Information about the translator is not mandatory and can be omitted
• If there is no information regarding publication year, use [date unknown]

Forthcoming book

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher. Forthcoming Planned publication year.

Fleischman AR. Pediatric Ethics. Protecting the Interests of Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming 2016.

• Unpublished material is normally only cited in the text, and not included in the reference list
• If a book has been accepted for publication it may be included in the reference list even if it has not been published yet. State Forthcoming and planned publication year (if known) in the end of the reference
• Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to books with more than six authors or edited books.

Journal article, 1-6 authors

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC, Surname DD, Surname EE, Surname FF. Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Year;volume(issue):pages xx-x.

Müllersdorf M, Ivarsson A. Use of creative activities in occupational therapy practice in Sweden. Occup Ther Int. 2012 Sep;19(3):127-34.

• The same template applies to printed and electronic journals
• Use the abbreviated title of the journal in accordance with PubMed
• Sometimes, the day and month are stated in PubMed in connection to years (for example Dec 25) and then this should be stated in the reference
• State the article's first and last page. Omit the numbers that the first and the last page have in common, for example 12-8 instead of 12-18
• If information is missing, for example regarding issue or page numbers, this information is omitted from your reference
• You can chose to add a unique number from the database that the references is collected from, for example the PMID number in PubMed – you add the following after the page number: PubMed: PMID: 22489029
• Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC, Surname DD, Surname EE, Surname FF. Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Year;volume(issue):pages xx-x. Available from: URL

Journal article, more than 6 authors

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC, Surname DD, Surname EE, Surname FF, et al. Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Year;volume(issue):pages xx-x

Walsh JP, Ward LC, Burke V, Bhagat CI, Shiels L, Henley D, et al. Small changes in thyroxine dosage do not produce measurable changes in hypothyroid symptoms, well-being, or quality of life: results of a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Jul;91(7):2624-30.

• State the article's first and last page. Omit the numbers that the first and the last page have in common, for example 12-8 instead of 12 -18
• Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC, Surname DD, Surname EE, Surname FF, et al. Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Year;volume(issue):pages xx-x. Available from: URL

Forthcoming journal article

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC, Surname DD, Surname EE, Surname FF. Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Forthcoming Planned publication year.

Fasano A. Importance of response time of esophageal thermal probes. Heart Rhythm. Forthcoming 2016.

• If an article has been accepted for publication it may be included in the reference list even if it has not been published yet, State Forthcoming and planned publication year (if known) in the end of the reference
• It is possible to add a DOI number in the end of the reference: DOI: 10.1002/oti.1327
• Please see Journal articles, more than 6 authors for information on how to refer to articles with more than six authors

Newspaper articles, printed form

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title of article. Title of newspaper. Date; Ev section:beginning page.

Konnikova M. The joy of psyching myself out. International New York Times. 2016 Jan 11:8

• Up to six authors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six authors, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Journal article, more than 6 authors”

Newspaper articles, electronic form

Surname AA, Surname BB, Surname CC. Title of article. Title of newspaper [Internet]. Date [cited date]; Available from: URL

Medina J. California set to mandate childhood vaccines amid intense fight. New York Times [Internet]. 2015 Jun 25 [cited 2015 Sep 11]. Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/us/california-vaccines-religious-and-personal-exemptions.html

Entry in encyclopaedia

Unsigned article.

Title of encyclopedia [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Entry term. [cited date]. Available from: URL

Unsigned articlel

Encyclopaedia Britannica [Internet]. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc; c2015. Anemia. [cited 2015 Sep 14]. Available from: http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/24269/anemia

Signed article

Surname AA. Entry term. In Title of encyclopedia [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [cited date]. Available from: URL

Delinsky SS, St Germain SA. Anorexia Nervosa. In Cash T, editor. Encyclopedia of body image and human appearance [Internet]. London, San Diego, Waltman, Oxford: Academic Press; 2012 [cited 2015 Dec 18]. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978012384925000002X

• Up to six authors or editors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Journal article, more than 6 authors”..
• When referring to an entire encyclopaedia, see the example for books

Reports in printed form by named author(s)

Surname AA. Title. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Series; serial number.

Bánóczy J, Petersen PE, Rugg-Gunn AJ, editors. Milk fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009.

• If information is missing, for example regarding series or serial numbers, this information is omitted from the reference

Reports in printed form by agencies/institutions/organisations

Organisation. Title. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Series; serial number.

World Health Organization. WHO child growth standards: Growth velocity based on weight, length and head circumference: Methods and development. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009.

• If information is missing, for example regarding series and serial number, this information is omitted from the reference

Reports in electronic form by named author(s)

Surname AA. Title [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Series; serial number. [cited date]. Available from: URL

Lucas R, McMichael T, Smith W, Armstrong B. Solar ultraviolet radiation: Global burden of disease from solar ultraviolet radiation [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006. Environmental Burden of Disease Series; No. 13. [cited 2015 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.who.int/uv/health/solaruvradfull_180706.pdf

• Up to six authors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six authors, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”
• If information is missing, for example regarding series or serial number, this information is omitted from the reference

Reports in electronic form by agencies/institutions/organisations

Organisation. Title [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Series; serial number. [cited date]. Available from: URL

World Health Organization. Guideline: Vitamin D supplementation in pregnant women [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012. [cited 2015 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/micronutrients/guidelines/vit_d_supp_pregnant_women/en/

Dissertations and degree projects

Degree projects, bachelor's & master's theses.

Surname AA. Title [degree project/master's thesis on the Internet]. Place: University; Year [cited date]. Available from: URL

Duque-Arrubla M. Exploring the use of health communication in health policy implementation: response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone [master's thesis on the Internet]. Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet; 2015 [cited 2017 Jan 17]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10616/44903

• Up to six authors are stated in the reference list
• If there is no year of publication, use year of copyright instead, preceded by c. If neither a year of publication nor a year of copyright can be found, use [date unknown
• For degree projects and theses in printed form, omit date cited and URL

Doctoral and licenciate theses

Surname AA. Title [dissertation/ licentiate thesis (on the Internet)]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [cited date]. Available from: URL

Mattsson J. Uncovering pain and caring for children in the pediatric intensive care unit: nurses' clinical approach and parent's perspective [dissertation on the Internet]. Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet; 2013 [cited 2014 Jan 14]. Available from: http://publications.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/41340

Saidi S. An exploration of self-care practice and self-care support of patients with type 2 diabetes in Malaysia [dissertation on the Internet]. Manchester; University of Manchester; 2015 [cited 2015 Sep 14]. Available from: https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/uk-ac-man-scw:269816

• For theses, the academic department constitutes the publisher
• If a thesis is published as a part of a series, this information is stated at the end of the reference

Organisation/Surname AA. Title [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [updated date; cited date]. Available from: URL

World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data. Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014. [cited 2015 Nov 19] Available from: http://www.who.int/gho/neglected_diseases/dracunculiasis/en/

• Documents, for example reports, pdf-files or books, that have been downloaded from websites are referenced in the same way as printed documents. The only difference is that the supplement [Internet] comes after the title, and the URL in question, or any eventual DOI no. is stated at the end of the reference
• If information is missing, for example regarding author or when the web page was updated, this information is omitted from your reference

X post (Tweet)

Author/User name. Title [X post or tweet if before 2023]. Date [cited date]. Available from: URL

Biden, J. We're back in the Paris Climate Agreement. [X post]. 2021 January 21 [cited 2024 February 20]. Availble from: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1352072818847068163

Obama B. Women can no longer be charged more for health coverage just for being women [tweet]. 2015 June 25 [cited 2015 Nov 26]. Available from https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/614111236620427265

• Use the twitterers real name if this is known. If the twitter user is a group or organization, use the real name of the group
• If the real name of the twitterer is unknown, use the Twitter user name without brackets
• The terms that are used in the references (for example X post, cited, Availiable from) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source

Title of blog [Internet/Blog on the Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Publication date/Beginning date- . [cited date]. Available from: URL

Aspiring docs diaries [Blog on the Internet]. Washington: Association of American Medical Colleges; 2012 Aug 20- . [cited 2015 Dec 17]. Available from: http://aspiringdocsdiaries.org/

In the text, numbers are used in parentheses. The citations are numbered and the reference list is arranged in the same order. You can read more about how citations are inserted in the text in accordance with the Vancouver style  here

• If it is not clear from the title that the reference is a blog, this is included in accordance with the template above – [Blog on the Internet]

Surname AA. Title of blog post. Year of publication, date [cited date]. In: Title of blog [Internet/Blog on the Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Publication date/Beginning date- . Available from: URL

Besselink A. Is non-evidence-based clinical practice an ethical dilemma? 2011 Oct 3 [cited 2015 Nov 26]. In: Allan Besselink [Blog on the Internet]. Austin: Allan Besselink; 2006- . Available from: http://www.allanbesselink.com/blog/smart/854-is-non-evidence-based-clinical-practice-an-ethical-dilemma

With author

Surname AA. Title of article. Year [updated date; cited date]. In: Title of wiki [Internet/wiki on the Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Publication date / Beginning date - . Available from: URL

Without author

Title of wiki [Internet/wiki på Internet/wiki on the Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Publication date/Beginning date- . Title of article; [updated date; cited date]. Available from: URL

Smith D, Wijayagoonawardana PA. Direct inguinal hernia. 2009 [updated 2015 May, cited 2015 Dec 9]. In: Radiopaedia.org [wiki on the Internet]. [place unknown]: Radiopaedia.org; 2005- . Available from: http://radiopaedia.org/articles/direct-inguinal-hernia

Wikipedia [Internet]. St. Petersburg (FL): Wikimedia Foundation, Inc; 2001 - . Self care; [revised 2015 Nov 28; cited 2015 Dec 9]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_care

• If it is not clear from the title that the reference is a Wiki, this is included in accordance with the template above – [wiki on the Internet]

Database on the Internet

Name of the database [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Beginning date - . [cited date]. Available from: URL

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) [Internet]. Baltimore, Betsheda: McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, John Hopkins Medicine, National Human Genome Research Institute; 1966- .[cited 2015 Dec 10]. Available from: http://www.omim.org/

• If there is no beginning year, use year of copyright instead, preceded by c. If neither a beginning year nor a year of copyright can be found, use [date unknown]

Part of database on the Internet

Name of the database [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Beginning date- . Title of part [updated date; cited date]. Available from: URL

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) [Internet]. Baltimore, Betsheda: McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, John Hopkins Medicine, National Human Genome Research Institute; 1966- . 113705 Breast cancer gene, BTCA1; [updated 2015 Nov 10; cited 2015 Dec 10]. Available from:http://www.omim.org/entry/113705

Documents on closed networks

Karolinska institutet University Library. Searching with subject headings or free text [video file]. 2016, Nov 9 [cited 2018 Jul 31]. Available from https://pingpong.ki.se/courseId/15752/content.do?id=18249165/

• As a general rule, you should only refer to sources that are available to the general audience. Avoid references to documents on closed networks, for example password protected intranets or learning platforms
• In some situations you may refer to this kind of documents. This might be the case if the readers of your text also have access to the website, or if the information isn’t available elsewhere. Use the template for the appropriate source, for example web page or report

Surname AA/Organisation/Agency. Title [Internet]. Version. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. [updated date; cited date]. Available from: URL

Palin K, Pitkänen E, Turunen M, Sahu B, Pihlajamaa P, Kivioja T et al. Contribution of allelic imbalance to colorectal cancer [Internet]. Geneva: Zenodo; 2018. [cited 2019 Apr 3]. Available from: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1222172

Andersen LM. Data for group analyses in the Frontiers Reseach Topic: From raw MEG/EEG to publication: How to perform MEG/EEG group analysis with free academic software [Internet]. Version 2. Geneva: Zenodo; 2017. [cited 2019 Apr 3]. Available from: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1134776

World Health Organization. Adolescent birth rate. Data by country [Internet]. Geneva: Global Health Observatory data repository; [date unknown]. [updated 2018 Apr 9; cited 2019 Apr 4]. Available from: http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.REPADO39?lang=en

• Up to six creators are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six creators, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”
• Information about the version shall be stated if you use any other version than the first one. If there is no information about the version of your source, you can assume that it is the first version

Government publications

Laws and legislation, template printed form.

Title (SFS Year:number) Place of publication: Publisher

Example printed form

Hälso- och sjukvårdslag (SFS 1982:763) Stockholm: Socialdepartementet

Template electronic form

Title (SFS Year:number) [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher [cited date]. Available from: URL

Example electronic form

Hälso- och sjukvårdslag (SFS 1982:763) [Internet]. Stockholm: Socialdepartementet [cited 2014 Jan 14]. Available from: http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/Dokument- Lagar/Lagar/Svenskforfattningssamling/Halso--och-sjukvardslag-1982_sfs-1982-763/?bet=1982:763

• Most Swedish laws and regulations are now available electronically on the Internet

Socialstyrelsens författningssamling (HSLF-FS/SOSFS)

Title (HSLF-FS Year:number). Place of publication: Publisher

Title (SOFS Year:number). Place of publication: Publisher

Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om vissa åtgärder i hälso- och sjukvården vid dödsfall (HSLF-FS 2015:15). Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen

Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter om praktisk tjänstgöring för psykologer (SOSFS 2008:34). Västerås: Edita Västra Aros

Title (HSLF-FS Year:number). [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher [cited date]. Available from: URL

Title (SOFS Year:number). [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher [cited date]. Available from: URL

Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om vissa åtgärder i hälso- och sjukvården vid dödsfall (HSLF-FS 2015:15) [Internet]. Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen [cited 2018 Jul 31]. Available from https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/publikationer2015/2015-10-13

Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter om praktisk tjänstgöring för psykologer (SOSFS 2008:34). [Internet]. Västerås: Edita Västra Aros. [cited 2014 Jan 14]. Available from: http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/Lists/Artikelkatalog/Attachments/19244/2008-10-34.pdf

• Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd is now published as a part of a series common to several governmental agencies in the field of health care, social service, pharmaceutical drugs and public health. Regulations published before 1 July 2015 are included in the new collection but retain their old names with the abbreviation SOFS

Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU)

Organisation. Title (SOU Year:number) Place of publication: Publisher

Nationella folkhälsokommittén. Hälsa på lika villkor: nationella mål för folkhälsan: slutbetänkande (SOU 2000:91). Stockholm: Fritze

Institution. Title (SOU Year:number) [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher [cited date]. Available from: URLL

Nationella folkhälsokommittén. Hälsa på lika villkor: nationella mål för folkhälsan: slutbetänkande (SOU 2000:91) [Internet]. Stockholm: Fritze [cited 2014 Jan 14]. Available from: http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108/a/2822

• SOUs are handled as reports and the organisations are treated as the authors, for example the National Board of Health and Welfare
• The organisations often appoint committees or investigation groups who become the actual authors and who are to be listed as authors
• If the names of these authors cannot act independently (or if it is difficult to determine the name format) these shall be subservient to their respective administrative units. For example, authorities and departments or geographic units such as countries or cities
• The administrate unit for this example is “Sweden” but this can be omitted if it is entirely certain from the context that the organisation/committee is Swedish

Departementsserien (DS)

Organization. Title (Ds Year:number) Place of publication: Publisher

Socialdepartementet. Fysioterapeut: ny skyddad yrkestitel för sjukgymnaster (Ds 2013:4). Stockholm: Fritze

Institution. Title (Ds Year:number) [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher [cited date]. Available from: URL

Sverige. Socialdepartementet. Fysioterapeut: ny skyddad yrkestitel för sjukgymnaster (Ds 2013:4). [Internet]. Stockholm: Fritze [cited 2014 Jan 14]. Available from: http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108/a/207575

• Reports in Departementserien are handled as reports and the organisations are treated as the authors, for example the National Board of Health and Welfare

University. Title of curriculum. [Internet]. Place of publication: University, department; Year. [cited date]. Available from: URL

Karolinska Institutet. Utbildningsplan för tandläkarprogrammet; 2013. [Internet]. Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet, Styrelsen för utbildning; 2013. [cited 2014 Jan 14]. Available from: http://www.ki.se/ua/utbildningsplan/2TL13.pdf

• If there is no information regarding year of publication, use [date unknown]

Sound and images

Film, video, tv-programme.

Producer's/Director's Surname AA, producer/director.Title [type of medium]. Ev title of series. Place of publication: Publisher/distributor; Publication date.

Film or standalone programme

Hauben L, Goldman B, Douglas M, Zaentz S, producers; Forman M, director. One flew over the cuckoo's nest [film]. Berkeley: Fantasy Films; N. V. Zvaluw; 1975.

Episode in series

Crichton M; Holcomb R, director. 24 hours [TV programme]. ER. Universal City: Constant C Productions/ Amblin Television/ Warner Bros Television; Sep 19 1994.

• Specify the role of the creator after the name of directors and producers
• If there is no publication date, use copyright date instead, preceded by c. If neither a publication date nor a copyright date can be found, use [date unknown]
• If the programme has been downloaded from the Internet, this should be stated in the reference. State Available from: URL at the end of the reference and state which date the references was cited in accordance with the template [cited date] directly before the URL

Youtube, TikTok

Publisher/producer/User name. Title [video file]. Year, date [cited date]. Available from: URL

Gapminder Foundation. The relation between ebola & extreme poverty goes both ways — Factpod #9 [video file]. 2014, Dec 9 [cited 2015 Dec 18]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7m1E5nIRqg

docamen. New Research: PLOS One 'Benzodiazepine use associated with brain injury, job loss and unaliving by University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. [video file]. 2023, July 3 [cited 2023 Nov. 20]. Available from: https://www.tiktok.com/@docamen/video/7251705044372884778

• It is possible to use either the creator's real name or the user name
• The terms that are used in the references (for example video file, cited, available from) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source

Author/producer/narrator. Title [podcast on the Internet]. Ev series. Place of publication/Place of recording: Publisher; Year [cited date]. Available from: URL

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, producer. Meningococcal Immunizations for Preteens and Teens [podcast on the internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2015 [cited 2015 Dec 9]. Available from: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=9956

Sanford K. Chemical warfare at home [podcast on the Internet]. Dr Kiki’s science hour. Petaluma: Twit; 2015 [cited 2015 Dec 9]. Available from: https://twit.tv/shows/dr-kikis-science-hour/episodes/145

Image/table/figure that is part of another source

Reference to the source where the image/table/figure is included. Number of picture/table/figure, Title of image/table//figure; p. x

Cann AJ. Principles of molecular virology [Internet]. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press, 2005. Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/kiub/detail.action?docID=10167025. Figure 2.6, Icosahedra with triangulation numbers of 1, 3 and 4; p. 36

• The reference is constructed in the same way as the reference to the entire source, followed by information about the image, table or figure
• Use the same name and number for the image, table or figure as in the source

Standalone image

Creator's Surname AA. Title [type of medium]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.

Standalone image on the Internet

Creator' Surname AA/User name. Title [type of medium]. Year of publication [cited date]. Available from: URL. Licence

Monfils L. X-ray of the heelbone with plantar fasciitis [photography]. 2008 [cited 12 February 2015]. Available from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Plantar_fasciitis#mediaviewer/File:Fasciitis.jpg. (CC BY 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

CB Du Rietz. Öga [photography]. 2014 [cited 11 February 2015] Available from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cbdurietz/15687017165/. (CC BY 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

• It is possible to use the creator's real name or user name.
• If there is no information regarding publication year, use [date unknown].
• For AI generated images, see Other sources - Software, apps and AI tools. Make sure you citation is places next to the images.
• For images with a Creative Commons license, state the license that applies, and the URL of the license.
• The terms that are used in the references (for example editor, chapter, edition) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source.

Other sources

Surname AA, inventor; Organisation, assignee. Title. Country/region Patent number. Issue date/Grant date.

Boiten H, inventor; Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH, assignee. Prosthetic knee joint. European patent EP 3089711. Dec 6 2017.

• Up to six inventors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than six inventors, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”
• The patent assignee might also be a person
• Use the same template if you want to refer to a patent application. State the patent applicant instead of the assignee. Use the phrase Patent application followed by the number of the patent application. Use the publication date instead of the issue date.

Reference to the source. Number of appendix, Title of appendix; p. x.

Stirling JD, Elliott R. Introducing neuropsychology. 2. ed. Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press; 2008. Appendix, A primer of nervous system structure and function; p. 311-26.

Stoyanov SR, Hides L, Kavanagh DJ, Zelenko O, Tjondronegoro D, Mani M. Mobile app rating scale: a new tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015 Mar 11;3(1):e27. Appendix 2, Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS).

• The reference is constructed in the same way as the reference to the entire source, followed by information about the appendix
• Use the same name and number for the appendix as in the source. If a number is lacking, omit this information. If page numbers are lacking, omit this information too

Unpublished material

• Unpublished material such as an author's draft or manuscript for an article, book or other text is normally not included in the reference list, but only cited in the text
• In such a case, you must clearly state the nature of the source, the author and the date within parentheses
• Manuscripts that are available in an open and accessible archive can sometimes be included in the reference list. Then it is common to also specify where the source can be retrieved
• If a book or article has been accepted for publication it may be included in the reference list even if it has not been published yet. Please see Forthcoming article and Forthcoming book

Personal communication

• Personal communication includes letters, email, interviews, telephone conversations, non recorded lectures, study visits and similar material
• Personal communication should only be cited in the text, and is not included in the reference list. State the kind of source, inital of the person's given name, family name and date within parentheses Examples (Personal communication AB Higgins 10 Jan 2018) (Email A Svensson 22 May 2015) (Lecture L Jing 4 May 2017) (Study visit MT Bern 18 Feb 2017)
• Prefer other sources than personal communication, and check with teachers/supervisors if personal communication is an acceptable source
• Letters that are available in an open and accessible archive can sometimes be included in the reference list. Then it is common to also specify where the source can be retrieved

Pamphlets and brochures

Author. Title [pamphlet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.

American Heart Association, American Stroke Association. Let’s talk about Stroke, TIA and Warning Signs [pamphlet on the Internet]. Dallas: American Heart Association, American Stroke Association; 2015. [cited 2015 Dec 9]. Available from: http://www.strokeassociation.org/idc/groups/stroke-public/@wcm/@hcm/@sta/documents/downloadable/ucm_309532.pdf

• If the pamphlet/brochure is in electronic format, indicate this with [pamphlet on the Internet], state “Available from: URL” at the end of the reference and specify which day the reference was cited in accordance with the template [cited date] directly before the URL

Software, Applications and AI tools

Creator. Title of software/application/AI tool, version [computer program/mobile application/large language model/text-to-image model]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. [cited date]. Available from: URL

Skyscape. Skyscape Medical Resourses, ver. 2.6.24 [mobile application]. Northborough (MA): Skyscape Medpresso Inc; 2020. [cited 20 April 2022]. Available from: http://www.skyscape.com/Apps/

Region Stockholm. AlltidÖppet, ver. 1.40.0 [mobile application]. Stockholm: Stockholms läns sjukvårdsområde; [date unknown]. [cited 23 September 2023]. Available from: https://www.slso.regionstockholm.se/vard-hos-oss/alltid-oppet/ 

OpenAI. ChatGPT, 2023. [Large language model]. San Fransisco: OpenAI; 2023 [cited 23 September 2023]. Available from: https://openai.com/ 

Microsoft Bing. Copilot, 2024. [Large language model]. Redmond: Microsoft Corporation; 2024. [cited 21 January 2024]. Available from: https://www.bing.com/chat 

You.com. YouImagine. [Text-to-image model]. Palo Alto: You.com; 2024. [cited 22 February 2024]. Available from: https://you.com/search?q=ai&fromSearchBar=true&tbm=imagine&chatMode=default 

• Common software and mobile apps mentioned in the text, but not paraphrased or quoted, do not need citations. “Common” is relative to your audience – exampes include Microsoft Office, social media apps (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), survey software, Adobe products, Java and statistical programs (e.g. SPSS).
• The year of a computer software or mobile app reference is the year of publication of the version used. If there is no information regarding the year, use [date unknown].
• For AI tools use the year you used the tool both as version number and in the slot for year. See examples above.
• You should never use a text generated in an AI tool as your own, but AI generated material can be used as e.g. study material or basis for discussion. Whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content from a generative AI tool (whether text, image, data, or other) make sure you cite the tool you used to create it.
• AI generated material is always unique, therefore it is a good idea to copy the material (prompt and generated material) as an attachment to your work.
• The terms that are used in the references (for example large language model, mobile application) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source.

Surname AA. Title [Internet/PowerPoint presentation on the Internet]. Place of publicationt: Publisher; Year. [cited date]. Available from: URL

Bramer WM. A unique method for fast, high-quality systematic searching [PowerPoint presentation on the Internet]. Rotterdam: Erasmus MC; 2015. [cited June 21 2016]. Available from: http://www.slideshare.net/rocheam/systematic-searching-in-embase-webinar-march-25-2015.

• Up to six authors are stated in the reference list. If there are more than authors, this is indicated by “et al.”, see the reference example for “Book, more than 6 authors”
• If it is not clear from the title that the reference is a PowerPoint presentation, this is included in accordance with the template above – [Powerpoint presentation on the Internet]

Secondary source

When citing a secondary source, only provide a reference list entry for the secondary source that you used. In text, identify the primary source and then write “as cited in” the secondary source that you used.

According to Glaser and Strauss, as cited in Polit & Beck 7 , the Grounded theory method is used...

Retzius, as cited in a book by Bahlo 4 from 2001, classified humans in several ways.

• A secondary source refers to content first reported in another source.
• Avoid secondary sources if possible. Use it only when the original work is out of print, unavailable or available in a language that you don’t understand. If possible, as a matter of good scholarly practice, find the original source, read it and cite the original source rather than citing a secondary source.
• The primary source is not listed in the reference list, only in the text.. In the reference list, only the sources that you’ve actually read is listed, in this case, the secondary source.
• For information how to cite the secondary source in the reference list, see the template for the source in question.

Numbering and location of the citations

... (1). ... (2).

The reference list

1. ... 2. ...

In Sweden, about 30,000 cases of lung cancer are diagnosed annually (1). Between 1986 and 2005, the number of cases among women has increased by about 3% per year, while the increase among men has stopped (2). The difference between the sexes is connected to the differences in smoking habits in men and women, respectively. Since it takes a long time for lung cancer to develop, these changes reflect smoking habits of many years ago. Socialstyrelsen has indicated a delay of an average of 30 years (1).

• Socialstyrelsen. Cancerincidens i Sverige 2014: nya diagnosticerade cancerfall år 2014. Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen; 2015. Retrieved from http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/publikationer2015/2015-12-26
• Koyi H, Hillerdal G, Brandén E. A prospective study of a total material of lung cancer from a county in Sweden 1997-1999: gender, symptoms, type, stage, and smoking habits. Lung Cancer. 2002 Apr;36(1):9-14.
• In the text, the citations are indicated with a number. The citations are numbered sequentially and the reference list is arranged in the same order
• Citations are placed next to the statement they refer to and before the full stop when they appear in the end of the sentence
• Square brackets and superscript numbers can also appear in the Vancouver style. If superscript numbers are used, these are placed after the full stop when the citation appears in the end of the sentence

Citing the same source several times

Studies indicate that lung cancer may grow more slowly in women. Lindell et al. (1) showed that 85% of the lung tumours that took more than 400 days to double in volume were found in women. This result is a reflection of the higher incidence among women of forms of cancer with a slower disease progression such as alveolar cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, but Lindell et al. found that the time it took for the volume to double was greater in women, regardless of the histological type of lung cancer. Their study also showed that …

• If an entire paragraph or more than one statement have the same source, this can be shown in the text and the citation only needs to be included once.

More than one citation in the same parentheses

... (1, 2). ... (1-3). ... (2, 4).

Among non-smokers, lung cancer is significantly more common among women than men. Fifteen per cent of all women who get lung cancer have never smoked, while five per cent of men who suffer from lung cancer are non-smokers (1, 3). It is still not clear why this is. Several studies have investigated women's exposure to known risk factors for lung cancer, such as radon (4, 5) and passive smoking (4, 6-8), but no statistically significant link has been found. Studies investigating the link between hormone replacement therapy and lung cancer have arrived at contradictory conclusions (5-7).

• If more than one source is cited at the same time, the citations are placed in the same parentheses and separated by a comma and a space
• If more than two sequential sources are cited, they are written with a hyphen in-between them

Author names in the text

Note on vancouver.

Vancouver only regulates the formatting of references (ie. the in-text numbering and the bibliography) and the example below is therefore to be considered a recommendation

Surnname (1) showed that ... According to Surname et al. (2) ...

Holloway (1) describes ... According to Lindell et al. (2) ....

• It is possible to mention the author in the text. Use the author's surname
• You should still insert the citation as a number in parentheses
• Only the first author is mentioned in the text, followed by the abbreviation et al. if there are more than one

Double names with hyphens

Surname-Surname AA Surname AA.

Rodriguez-Vieitez E Hulting AL

In the text, numbers are used in parentheses. The references are numbered and the reference list is arranged in the same order. You can read more about how references are inserted in the text in accordance with the Vancouver style  here .

• Keep the hyphen in hyphenated double surnames
• Abbrievate hyphenated first names to initials and omit the hyphen

"..." (1, s./p.).

"Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients." (1, p. 71)

• If you use quotations in your text, you should give information about page number(s). Include the page number(s) after the citation in the same parentheses
• Use the abbreviation p./pp. for page number(s)

Please note that the Creative Commons license for the library's web content does not apply to this reference guide.

If you would like us to get back to you, please submit your contact information in the form below along with your feeback.

Referencing guide at the University of Manchester: Vancouver

• Harvard Manchester
• American Psychological Association APA
• Modern Humanities Research Association MHRA
• Referencing Software
• EndNote online

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.

Vancouver Citations within the text

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)

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.

Example Reference list

• Albanese MA. Problem-based learning. Edinburgh: ASME; 2007.
• Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
• 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.
• Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: Available from: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/10149/improving-palliative-care-for-cancer

Acts of parliament

Citation order.

• Title of Act,
• Year of Act,
• Statute details
• [cited year month day]
• Available from:URL

Reference list entry

2. Equality Act 2010, c.15 . [cited 2018 Dec 10].  Available from:  https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/pdfs/ukpga_20100015_en.pdf  

Printed books

• Number : as it appears in the text.
• Author/Editor : Surname with a capital letter, followed by a comma.
• Initials : In capitals with no full stops.
• Title : Full title with only the first word and proper nouns should be capitalised. Follow with a full stop (unless there is a subtitle).
• Sub-title : Follows a colon at the end of the full title. Only proper nouns should be capitalized. Followed by a full stop.
• Edition : Only include if it is not a first edition. Use the relevant number followed by “ed.” eg. 4th ed.
• Place of publication : Give town or city, and country if there is possible confusion with the UK. Follow with a colon.
• Year : Year of publication.

1. Albanese MA. Problem-based learning. Edinburgh: ASME; 2007.

N.B. For a book with multiple authors provide details of all the first 6 authors in the Reference list, followed by et al.

Edited books

• Initial(s). editors.
• (Year of publication)
• Title of book. Edition (if not 1st edition).
• Place of publication:

2. Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.

Chapter from an edited book

• Chapter author(s) surname(s),
• Initial(s).
• 'Title of chapter'.
• Name of editors,
• Title of book.
• Place of publication: publisher;
• Page numbers preceded by p.

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.

• (editors if required).
• Edition (if not 1 st edition).
• Place of publication;
• [cited year month date].
• [Available from: URL].

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)

• Author(s) surname.
• Title of article
• Abbreviated title of journal.
• Year, first 3 letters of month, date;
• Volume (issue):
• Page numbers (without p).

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.

Journal articles (electronic)

• Author(s) surname
• Abbreviated title of journal
• [cited year month date];
• Volume number (Issue number):
• Available from: URL or DOI

1. Fanta CH. Asthma. N Engl J Med. [Internet] 2009 [cited 2013 Jan 9]; 360(10):1002-14. Available from: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056.NEJMra0804579

2. Fanta CH. Asthma. N Engl J Med. [Internet] 2009 [cited 2013 Jan 9]; 360(10):1002-14. Available from: doi: 10.1056/NEJMra0804579

Things to note

• The recognised abbreviation of the journal title can be found here .
• 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

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).

• Author / Organisation
• [Internet].
• [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.

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.

Mantone J. Head trauma haunts many, researchers say. 2008 Jan 29 [cited 2009 Feb 13]. In: Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG [Internet]. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2008 -. [about 1 screen]. Available from: https://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/01/29/head-trauma-haunts-many-researchers-say/ .

Government reports (printed)

• Organisation name.
• Paper number.

Department of Health. Choosing Health: making healthier choices easier, CM6374. London: Stationery Office; 2001.

Government reports (online)

• [cited date]
• Available from: URL

Department of Health. Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS, CM7881. [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2013 Jan 9] .Available from: https://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_117353

Reports from organisations (online)

• Paper number. (if available)
• Edition. (if available and not the first)

General Medical Council. Good medical practice: working with doctors working for patients. Rev ed. [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2013 2018 Nov 19] .Available from: https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/Good_medical_practice___English_1215.pdf_51527435.pdf

• Author's name and initials.
• Level (PhD etc).
• Educational establishment.

Nixon, H. Families, Parenting and Asthma. PhD Thesis. The University Of Manchester; 2011.

Conference proceedings

• Author's name(s) and initials.
• Title of paper,
• Full title of conference (capitalise all words);
• If published, add details of place and publisher

• 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.

• Distribution company

The Shining.DVD.Stanley Kubrick. Warner Bros.1980.

Articles not in English

Citation order - as per journal articles in english:.

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'.

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Vancouver referencing conventions

Vancouver uses numbers in the text and a references list.

In-text citation

At every point in the text where a particular work is referred to by quoting or paraphrasing, include the number which identifies the reference used, in brackets. References are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text. 

References list

References are presented in numerical order by the order in which they appear in the document.

You should only include sources that you have referenced in your work. 

If you are asked to include a bibliography (in addition to, or in place of, a references list) you can include further items that were read that informed your research and thinking for the assignment, in addition to those that you directly referenced . 

How to reference using Vancouver style

Examples on how to reference particular sources using Vancouver style:

Act of Parliament

Book chapter from an edited book.

• Conference proceeding

Journal article

Newspaper article, radio broadcast, television broadcast, thesis or dissertation.

• Website / webpage

Country. Title of Act and year. Chapter. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Great Britain. Environment Act 1995. Chapter 25. London: The Stationery Office.

Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title of blog entry. Date blog entry written. Title of blog [online]. Year. [Accessed date]. Available from: URL.

Welle K. Impressions from the Stockholm World Water Week. 25 August. ODI blog: commentary from leading development experts [online]. 2006. [Accessed 9 July 2007]. Available from:  http://blogs.odi.org.uk/blogs/main/archive/category/1020.aspx

Author surname Initial(s). Title: subtitle. Edition (if it is not the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Cooke A. A guide to finding quality information on the Internet: selection and evaluation strategies. 2nd ed. London: Library Association Publishing; 2001.

Two to six authors:

First author surname Initial(s), second author surname Initial(s), third author surname Initials. Title: subtitle. Edition (if it is not the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Feldman RS, Meyer JS, Quenzer LF. The American Psychiatric Press textbook of psychopharmacology. 2nd ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1998.

Seven or more authors/editors:

If there are 7 or more authors/editors, only the first 6 are listed followed by et al.

First author surname Initial(s), second author surname Initial(s), third author surname Initial(s), fourth author surname Initial(s), fifth author surname Initial(s), sixth author surname Initial(s), et al., editors.  Title: subtitle. Edition (if it is not the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Isselbacher KJ, Wilson JD, Martin JB, Kasper DL, et al., editors. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 14th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 1998.

Book with organisation as author:

SCONUL Advisory Committee on Information Literacy.   Learning outcomes and information literacy. London: SCONUL; 2004.

Edited book:

Editor(s) surname Initial(s), editor(s). Title: subtitle. Edition (if it is not the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Ennis F, editor. Infrastructure provision and the negotiating process. Aldershot: Ashgate; 2003.

Editors should have editor or editors after their name or list of names. If there are no authors or editors given, the title should be listed first, followed by place of publication.

Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title of chapter: subtitle. In: Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. p. page numbers.

Haefner H. Negative symptoms and the assessment of neurocognitive treatment response. In: Keefe RSE, McEvoy JP, editors. Negative symptom and cognitive deficit treatment response in schizophrenia. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2004. p. 85-110.

When the author's name is the same for the chapter as for the book it does not need to be repeated.

Greenhalgh T. Checklists for finding, appraising, and implementing evidence. In:   How to read a paper: the basics of evidence based medicine. London: BMJ Publishing Group; 2000. p. 177-9.

Page numbers should be preceded by p.

Conference proceedings

Individual conference paper.

Author(s) Initial(s). Title of contribution. In: Editor(s) surname Initial(s). editor(s). Title of conference proceedings, date, place of conference. Place of publication: publisher; Year. p. page numbers.

Nelmes G. Container port automation. In : Corke P., Sukkarieh S. editors. Field and service robotics: results of the 5th international conference, 29-31 July 2005, Port Douglas. Berlin: Springer; 2006. p. 3-8.

If conference proceedings are published in a journal, the article/contribution should be cited as for a journal article.

If the proceedings have been published as chapters in a book, treat the entire proceedings as a book, and individual presentations as a book chapter. Add details of the conference to the book title.

Conference proceedings as a whole

Editor(s) surname Initial(s). editor(s). Title of conference proceedings, date, place of conference. Place of publication: publisher; Year.

Corke P., Sukkarieh S. editors. Field and service robotics: results of the 5th international conference, 29-31 July 2005, Port Douglas. Berlin: Springer; 2006

Title. [DVD]. Place of production: Production company; year.

Acland's DVD atlas of human anatomy: the lower extremity. [DVD]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004.

Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title: subtitle [online]. Edition (if not the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication [Accessed Date]. Available from: URL of database / location in which the book is held

Greenhalgh T. How to read a paper: the basics of evidence based medicine [online]. London: BMJ Publishing Group; 2000 [Accessed 8 September 2008]. Available from:  http://www.netlibrary.com/AccessProduct.aspx?ProductId=66703

e-book reader format, e.g. Kindle

Author(s)/Editor(s) surname Initials(s). Title: subtitle. Edition (if not the first edition). [Name of e-book reader]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Llewelyn H, Ang HA, Lewis KE, Al-Abdullah A. Oxford handbook of clinical diagnosis. 2nd ed. [Kindle DX e-book]. Oxford: OUP; 2009.

Title of film. [film]. Directed by: Full name of director. Place of production: Production company; year.

An inconvenient truth. [film]. Directed by: Davis Guggenheim. USA: Paramount; 2006.

If the film is a video recording (on DVD or VHS) use the same format but change [film] to the relevant media.  This is because video recording may contain extra footage not shown in the film.

Journal article (print)

Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Year of publication;volume number(issue number):page numbers.

Meric F, Bernstam EV, Mirza NQ, Hunt KK, Ames FC, Ross M I, et al. Breast cancer on the world wide web: cross sectional survey of quality of information and popularity of websites. BMJ. 2002;324(7337):577-81.

Journal article (electronic)

Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal [online]. Year of publication;volume number(issue number):page numbers. [Accessed date]. Available from: URL

Ross CTF. A conceptual design of an underwater vehicle. Ocean engineering [online]. 2006;33(16):2087-2104. [Accessed 6 July 2007]. Available from:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/

When citing online journal articles, it is now widely preferred to include a DOI (Direct Object Identifier) where available rather than a URL.

De Pinto M, Jelacic J, Edwards WT. Very-low-dose ketamine for the management of pain and sedation in the ICU. Acute Pain [online]. 2008;10(2):100. [Accessed 8 September 2008]. Available from:<doi:10.1016/j.acpain.2008.05.023>

Author(s) surname Initial(s). Title of article: subtitle of article. Newspaper title (in full) Year Month and date of publication; section name (if applicable):page numbers of contribution.

Rowbottom M. The Big Question: how prevalent is the use of drugs in sport, and can it be defeated? The Independent 2006 Aug 1;Sect. Sport:5

Title of programme/Series title, Episode number, Episode title. Transmitting organisation/channel. Date and year, Time of transmission.

Desert island discs, Lily Allen. BBC Radio 4. 29 June 2014, 11:15.

Yes, Prime Minister, Episode 1, The Ministerial Broadcast. BBC2. 16 January 1986, 20:30.

News at ten. ITV. 27 January 2001. 22:00.

Author's surname Initial(s). Title: subtitle. Award level of thesis, Awarding institution; Year of publication.

Deb S. Psychopathology of adults with a mental handicap and epilepsy. MA thesis, University of Leicester; 1991.

Croser C. Biochemical restriction of root extension under mechanical impedance. PhD thesis, University of Birmingham; 1997.

Surname(s), Initial(s) (or organisation). Full text of tweet. [Twitter]. Date and year tweet posted [Date accessed]. Available from: URL

Cruciform Library. MedTech Week 2014 at UCL Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME)16-20 June via @UCL_IBME  http://bit.ly/1pbWe53   pic.twitter.com/pzXx3P4DlP [Twitter]. 9 June 2014 [Accessed 2 July 2014]. Available from:  https://twitter.com/ucl_crucitwit

Website or webpage

Author(s)/Editor(s) surname Initial(s). Title. [online]. Publisher: place of publication; Year [Accessed date]. Available from: URL

SukYin A. Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) gene and breast cancer. [online]. Human Genome Epidemiology Network, National Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta GA; 2002 Jun [Accessed 8 September 2008]. Available from:  http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/hugenet/factsheets/FS_COMT.htm

Year can include month if preferred.

If a specific author cannot be found, attribute to the organisation or corporation.

Overseas Development Institute, Humanitarian Policy Group. Welcome to HPG. [online]. ODI: London; 2007 [Accessed 9 July 2007]. Available from:  http://odi.org.uk/hpg/index.html

Wiki name. Title of article .  [online]. Year [Date accessed]. Available from: URL

Wikipedia. Jeremy Bentham .  [online]. 2014 [Accessed 2 July 2014]. Available from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_bentham

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Vancouver Style Citations: Introduction

The Vancouver Island University (VIU) Dental Hygiene Program, like most dental hygiene programs, uses the ‘Vancouver Style’ referencing style for citing sources within academic work. The complete guide to the Vancouver style referencing is  Citing Medicine  by the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

Giving credit to the origin of the information is a sign of respect and an expectation of your academic integrity and professionalism. Additionally, citations allow the reader the ability to find the article quickly and easily. The VIU Dental Hygiene Program uses a modified version of the 2 nd edition of Citing Medicine. VIU dental hygiene students should follow the guidelines and examples provided below.

Please keep in mind each scholarly journal or publisher sets standards for referencing expectations. Modifications in style may occur for reasons such as editorial board preferences or limitations in publication space. As such, when seeking publication always refer to the specific guidelines for the journal or publisher.

Vancouver Style: In-text References

The Vancouver style uses the citation-sequence system, meaning that references at the end of your paper are numbered in the order in which the corresponding citations appear in your text, rather than listed alphabetically by author. 

In-text references consist of consecutive numbers formatted in superscript  and placed after the period.

Let's say the first citation in your research paper is a sentence paraphrasing this online article .  In Vancouver style, your in-text reference would look like this: 

Recent analysis suggests that  marijuana use is associated with increases in oropharyngeal cancer cases, but decreases in oral tongue cancer. 1

The corresponding entry in the reference list at the end of your paper would look like this:

• Marks MA, Chaturvedi AK, Kelsey K, Straif K, Berthiller J, Schwartz SM, Smith E, Wyss A, Brennan P, Olshan AF, Wei Q, Sturgis EM, Zhang ZF, Morgenstern H, Muscat J, Lazarus P, McClean M, Chen C, Vaughan TL, Wunsch-Filho V, Curado MP, Koifman S, Matos E, Menezes A, Daudt AW, Fernandez L, Posner M, Boffetta P, Lee YC, Hashibe M, Souza G. Association of marijuana smoking with oropharyngeal and oral tongue cancers: pooled analysis from the INHANCE Consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2014 Jan;23(1):160-71.

If your text requires the citing of more than one source, separate the numbers with a comma (no spaces), or indicate a range by separating the first and last numbers in the range with a hyphen, e.g.:

Recent analysis suggests that marijuana use is associated with increases in oropharyngeal cancer cases, but decreases in oral tongue cancer. 1,2

Recent analysis suggests that marijuana use is associated with increases in oropharyngeal cancer cases, but decreases in oral tongue cancer. 3-5

If you are quoting directly from your source, include the page number for the quoted passage in brackets following the reference number, and precede the page number with "p", e.g.:

Marks et al. "observed that marijuana use was strongly inversely associated with oral tongue cancer specifically, which is similar to what has been reported previously among oral cavity cancers in general." 1(p167)

Vancouver Style References: Journal Articles

Journal article references contain the following elements in order: Author(s), Article title, Journal Title Abbreviation, Date of Publication, Volume and Issue number, Location (Pagination).

• List names in the order they appear in the text
• Convert given (first) names and middle names to initials, for a maximum of two initials following each surname
• Include all the authors listed for the article
• Article title in  sentence case  followed by a period.
• Journal title abbreviation  followed by a period.
• Four-digit year of publication followed by semi-colon.
• Journal volume number followed by issue number in brackets, followed by a colon.
• Page range, hyphenated, followed by a period. (Page numbers are not repeated. For example, 452-468 would become 452-68 or 241-248 would become 241-8).

Loesche WJ, Bromberg J, Terpenning MS, Bretz WA, Dominguez BL, Grossman NS, Langmore SE. Xerostomia, xerogenic medications and food avoidances in selected geriatric groups. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1995;43(4):401-7.

Abrams AP, Thompson LA. Physiology of aging of older adults: systemic and oral health considerations. Dent Clin North Am. 2014;58(4):729–38.

Batchelor P. The changing epidemiology of oral diseases in the elderly, their growing importance for care and how they can be managed. Age Ageing. 2015;44(6):1064–70.

Vancouver Style References: Books

Entire book, written or compiled by the same author(s).

Author(s). Title of book. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date.

• List all author names in the order they appear in the text
• Include all author(s) contributors listed for the chapter
• Book title in  sentence case  followed by a period.
• Edition number (if applicable) followed by "ed." 
• Place of publication (if more than one city is listed, use the first one) followed by a colon and a space.
• Publisher name followed by a semi-colon and a space.
• Four-digit year of publication followed by a period.

Malamed SF. Handbook of local anesthesia. 7 th ed. St. Louis: Elsevier; 2020.

Chapter of book compiled by an editor with various chapter contributors

Author(s) of Contribution. Title of contribution. Connective Phrase: Editor(s) of Book. Title of book. Place of Publication. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date of Publication. Location of Contribution (page numbers).

• Title of chapter in  sentence case  followed by a period.
• Connector phrase followed by a colon and a space ‘In: ’
• List all editor(s) names in the order they appear in the text
• Include all editor(s) of the book.
• Edition number (if applicable) followed by period "ed." 
• Place of publication (if more than one city is listed, use the first one) followed by a colon and a space
• Publisher name followed by a semi-colon and a space
• Page range, hyphenated, followed by a period. (Page numbers are not repeated. For example, 452-468 would become 452-68 or 241-248 would become 241-8)

Forrest JL, Miller SA. Evidence-based decision making. In: Bowen DM, Pieren JA, editors. Darby and Walsh dental hygiene theory and practice. 5 th ed. Maryland Heights: Elsevier; 2020. p. 25-33.

Vancouver Style References: Websites

Website references contain the following elements in order: Author(s). Title [Internet]. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date of Publication [Date of Citation]. Available from: URL

• If a personal author(s), list last name(s) and initial(s) separated by commas and ending with a period.  If a corporate author, provide the organization name followed by a period.
• Title in  sentence case  followed by [Internet], ending with a period.
• Place of publication, if available, followed by a colon.
• Publisher (this will often be the same as the corporate author) followed by a semi-colon.
• Date of Publication - Four-digit year of publication, Month, Day (if available) as follows YYYY Month DD (use three-letter month abbreviations rather than the full month name). 
• Followed by the date you referenced the material as follows: [cited YYYY Month DD] (use three-letter month abbreviations rather than the full month name).  End with a period.
• Available from: URL

Marchildon GP, DiMatteo L. Health care cost drivers: the facts [Internet]. Canadian Institute for Health Information; 2011 Oct [cited 2015 Jan 15]. Available from: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/health_care_cost_drivers_the_facts_en.pdf

Statistics Canada. The Canadian population in 2011: age and sex [Internet]. Ottawa: Statistics Canada; 2015 [cited 2016 Dec 30]. Available from: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/censusrecensement/2011/as-sa/98-311-x/98-311-x2011001-eng.cfm

Canadian Dental Hygienists Association. Our history [Internet]. Ottawa: CDHA; 2018 [cited 2019 Sep 16]. Available from: https://www.cdha.ca/cdha/About_folder/History_folder/CDHA/About/History.aspx?hkey=065b136f-72d3-4a84-a7aa-51cc7b519cd5

Journal Title Abbreviations

Another characteristic of Vancouver style references is the use of  journal title abbreviations  rather than full titles.  Journal title abbreviations are standardized and can be looked up in the  NLM Catalogue  or the  Web of Science List of Journal Title Abbreviations .  

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention is abbreviated as  Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev

Clinical Advances in Periodontics is abbreviated as  Clin Adv Periodontics

Vancouver Style: Resources

Examples and help for using Vancouver style:

• Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2nd Edition)
• Journal Title Abbreviations from the National Library of Medicine
• Web of Science List of Journal Title Abbreviations
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The Vancouver Style is formally known as  Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations.)   It was developed in 1978 by editors of medical journals and well over 1000 medical journals have adopted this style. This is  the  style for individuals who will be publishing in the medical field to be familiar with. 

• Preparing a Manuscript for Submission to a Medical Journal The official ICMJE (Vancouver) citation guide with complete reference guidelines in section g.
• Samples of Formatted References for Authors of Journal Articles Examples of correctly formatted Vancouver style citations created by the National Library of Medicine.
• Citing Medicine, 2nd ed.: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers The official citation handbook for ICMJE, published by the National Library of Medicine. It includes the guidelines and examples of how to correctly cite both common and complex examples of citations. Last updated in 2015.
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Information

•   Only the author's initials are given, regardless of the presentation of the author's name on the journal article.

•   List the first six authors followed by et al.

•   Capitalisation practice should also be consistent

•   Capitalise only the first word of the article title, proper nouns and acronyms.

•   The titles of journals should be abbreviated as they appear in the NLM Catalog .

•   Volume, issue and page numbers are given but not labeled.

•   To indicate a page range use 123-9, 126-34 or 111-222. If you refer to only one page, use only 111.

•   Include the name of the full text database used to source the article (e.g. ProQuest, ScienceDirect and PsycARTICLES).

•   Include the  DOI  of the article.

•   If no DOI is available, include the complete internet address.

When including the internet address of articles retrieved from searches in full-text databases, please use the Recommended URLs for Full-text Databases , which are the URLs for the main entrance to the service and are easier to reproduce.

Standard format for citation

Journal article from a full text database:

DOI available:

No DOI available:

Journal article f rom the internet:

No DOI available

From print journal:

Journal article from a full text database

1. Palsson G, Hardardottir KE. For whom the cell tolls: debates about biomedicine (1). Curr Anthropol. 2002;43(2):271+. doi:10.1086/338302.

2. Abalos E, Carroli G, Mackey ME. The tools and techniques of evidence-based medicine. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2005;19(1):15-26. doi:10.1016/j.bpogyn.2004.10.008.

3. Allen C, Crake D, Wilson H, Buchholz A. Polycystic ovary syndrome and a low glycemic index diet. Can J Diet Pract Res [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2005 Jun 30];Summer:3. Available from: http://il.proquest.com.

Journal article from the internet

4. Scholz T. Evidence based medicine: from science to patient. J Tissue Sci Eng. 2012;3:e113. doi: 10.4172/2157-7552.1000e113.

5. Eisen SA, Kang HK, Murphy FM, Blanchard MS, Reda DJ, Henderson WG, et al. Gulf War veterans' health: medical evaluation of a U.S. cohort? Ann Intern Med [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2005 Jun 30];142(11):881+. Available from: http://www.annals.org/.

6. Sillick TJ, Schutte NS. Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Jnl Appl Psych [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2010 Aug 6];2(2):38–48. Available from: http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap/article/view/71/100.

Journal article from a preprint database

7. Kording KP, Mensch B. Ten simple rules for structuring papers. BioRxiv [preprint]. 2016 bioRxiv 088278 [posted 2016 Nov 28; revised 2016 Dec 15; revised 2016 Dec 15; cited 2017 Feb 9]: [12 p.]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/088278v5.

Journal article from a print journal

1. Drummond PD. Triggers of motion sickness in migraine sufferers. Headache. 2005;45(6):653-6.

2. Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(7):284-7.

3. Geck MJ, Yoo S, Wang JC. Assessment of cervical ligamentous injury in trauma patients using MRI. J Spinal Disord. 2001;14(5):371-7.

Journal article from a print journal : More than six authors

4. Gillespie NC, Lewis RJ, Pearn JH, Bourke ATC, Holmes MJ, Bourke JB, et al. Ciguatera in Australia: occurrence, clinical features, pathophysiology and management. Med J Aust. 1986;145:584-90.

Journal article from a print journal : No author

5. 21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ. 2002;325(7537):184.

Journal article from a print journal : Organization as author

6. Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002;40(5):679-86.

Journal article from a print journal : Volume with supplement

7. Geraud G, Spierings EL, Keywood C. Tolerability and safety of frovatriptan with short- and long-term use for treatment of migraine and in comparison with sumatriptan. Headache. 2002;42 Suppl 2:S93-9.

Journal article from a print journal : Issue with supplement

8. Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology. 2002;58(12 Suppl 7):S6-12.

Journal article from a print journal : Volume with part

9. Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491-5.

Journal article from a print journal : Issue with part

10. Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002;13(9 Pt 1):923-8.

Journal article from a print journal : Issue with no volume

11. Banit DM, Kaufer H, Hartford JM. Intraoperative frozen section analysis in revision total joint arthroplasty. Clin Orthop. 2002;(401):230-8.

Journal article from a print journal : Forthcoming

12. Staartjes VE, Siccoli A,  de Wispelaere  MP, Schröder, ML. Do we need 2 years of follow-up? Spine J. Forthcoming 2019.

See the  All Examples  page for examples of in-text and reference list entries for specific resources such as articles, books, and web pages.

• A digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique alpha-numeric string used to identify electronic documents and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet.

• A DOI is assigned to a document when it is published.

• All DOI numbers begin with 10 and contain a prefix of four or more digits and a suffix separated by a slash: 10.1037/0278-6133.27.3.379.

• When referencing a document with a DOI in Vancouver style, the information regarding the doi should be given in the following format: doi:10.1037/0278-6133.27.3.379.

• A DOI is usually located with the author and title information or on the first page of an electronic article. You may need to open the abstract or full text of an article to find it.

• When referencing an electronic document;

• Include the DOI if one is assigned.

• If no DOI is assigned, include the internet address.

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BibGuru Vancouver Citation Generator

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If you need to know more about Vancouver citations check out our How do I cite in Vancouver style? section.

Why, when, and what do I have to cite?

Why The broad scientific knowledge we have today is the accomplishment of many researchers over time. To put your own contribution in context , it is important to cite the work of the researchers who influenced you. Cited sources can provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer important definitions and data. Citing also shows that you have personally read the work.

When In addition to crediting the ideas of others that you used to build your own argument, you need to provide documentation for all facts and figures that are not common knowledge. Common knowledge is knowledge that is known by everyone, or nearly everyone, and can basically concern any subject. An example for common knowledge would be "There are seven days in a week".

What The number of sources you cite in your work depends on the intent of the paper. In most cases, you will need to cite one or two of the most representative sources for each key point. However, if you are working on a review article, the aim is to present to the readers everything that has been written on a topic, so you will need to include a more exhaustive list of citations.

What is the Vancouver citation style?

The Vancouver citation style is a numeric citation system used in biomedical, health and some science publications. It uses numbers within the text that refer to numbered entries in the reference list.

Hundreds of scientific journals use author-number systems, which essentially follow the same logic (numbered citations pointing to numbered list entries), but are different in trivial details such as punctuation, casing of titles and italic.

The Vancouver style is pretty new amongst these citation styles, it was first defined in 1978 at the conference of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) in Vancouver, Canada.

The Vancouver style is now published in Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (NLM), and is mainly focused on citation style and bibliographic style.

How do I cite in Vancouver style?

These are the main conventions when using the Vancouver style for your paper:

• Numeric references are used in the text, mostly numbers in brackets, e.g. (1)
• The same citation number is used whenever the same source is cited in the text
• These in-text numbers are matched to full, numbered references for each publication in the reference list
• The reference list is sorted in the order the citations appeared in the text, not alphabetically
• Very little punctuation is used
• Abbreviations which are already well-established are used for journal titles
• If you have written a section of your text with several references, you can indicate that by listing each source separated by a comma
• Authors should be cited by last name, then initials (e.g. Levoy G.), with no comma between last name and initials, nor full stop after the initials or spaces between the initials. Indicate the end of the author's name with a full stop
• If there are more than 6 authors, cite the first six followed by et. al. or 'and others'

This is how you would cite a book with one author:

Reference list:

1. Cox T. Cultural diversity in organizations. San Francisco, Calif: Berrett-Koehler; 2005.

And this is how you would cite a journal article:

2. Leach P. James Paine's Design for the South Front of Kedleston Hall: Dating and Sources. Architectural History. 1997;40:159.

The list above summarizes the essential rules of Vancouver referencing, but there are many variations within the style which can make it very complicated. But you don't need to worry about getting your Vancouver citations wrong with BibGuru.

Use our Vancouver citation generator above to create the fastest and most accurate Vancouver citations possible.

You can create a reference list in the BibGuru Vancouver citation generator by entering all of your sources (one by one) into the main search box, choose the source category of each, click enter, and that's it. BibGuru organizes your references according to Vancoucer style’s guidelines. All you have to do after is copy and paste the list into your paper.

Yes, you can have different lists of references in your BibGuru Vancouver citation generator. You only need to create a 'new project' for a different list of references.

Yes, the BibGuru Vancouver citation generator creates in-text citations for every reference. All you have to do is click the 'Bibliography and in-text citations' view option, and this will automatically create an accurate in-text citation for each source.

The Vancouver style was defined in 1978 at the conference of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) in Vancouver, Canada. Therefore, the style took the name of its birth place.

Yes, one of the citation systems of Vancouver style is to make in-text references with superscript numbers. These numbers are then listed sequentially in a reference list at the end of the paper.

Yes, one of the citation systems of Vancouver style is to make in-text references with numbers in round brackets. These numbers are then listed sequentially in a reference list at the end of the paper.

Every source referenced in-text is given a number according to the order in which they are introduced. The same citation number is used whenever the same source is cited throughout the text. These in-text numbers are matched to full, numbered references for each publication in the reference list. Finally, the reference list is sorted sequentially, meaning: in the order the citations appeared in the text, not alphabetically.

Yes, the official Vancouver style is now published in Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (NLM) .

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What is Vancouver referencing?

Vancouver referencing is an author-number citation style used widely in the scientific and medical disciplines. The Vancouver system was created in 1978 as a way of standardising and clarifying the formatting in its related fields, to make things as clear as possible for the reader.

How to Vancouver reference

There are many variations within the Vancouver style, so it’s important to find out exactly which version your academic institution expects. In Vancouver citation, a number is assigned to each reference as it is used. The original number assigned to the reference is used each time that reference is cited in the text.

References are also listed in numerical order in a bibliography at the end of the essay. The number can be placed either outside or inside the text punctuation and you’ll need to check with your academic institution to find out which style they prefer.

When it’s time to complete your Vancouver referencing, why not give Cite This For Me a try? We’ll have the whole thing done for you in moments using our mobile app or web tool. Free yourself up to work on other things and save yourself the worry of incorrect referencing with Cite This For Me.

Vancouver referencing example

Popular vancouver style citation examples, how to cite a book in vancouver style.

Use the following template to cite a book using the Vancouver citation style.

Reference List

Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.

In-text citation

Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.

How to cite a Journal in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a journal using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite Film or Movie in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a film or movie using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite an Online image or video in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite an online image or video using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a Website in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a website using the Vancouver citation style.

Additional Vancouver style Citation Examples

How to cite a blog in vancouver style.

Use the following template to cite a blog using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a Court case in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a court case using the Vancouver citation style.

” “

How to cite a Dictionary entry in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a dictionary entry using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite an E-book or PDF in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite an e-book or pdf using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite an Edited book in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite an edited book using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite an Email in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite an email using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite an Encyclopedia article in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite an encyclopedia article using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite an Interview in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite an interview using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a Magazine in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a magazine using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a Newspaper in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a newspaper using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a Podcast in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a podcast using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a Song in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a song using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite The Bible in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite The Bible using the Vancouver citation style.

How to cite a TV Show in Vancouver style

Use the following template to cite a TV Show using the Vancouver citation style.

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Journal article: how to cite in Vancouver Style?

Create a spot-on reference in vancouver, general rules.

In the general case, Vancouver Style imposes the following template for referencing an article published in a scholarly journal:

Author(s) . Article title . Journal Title . Date of publication ; volume ( issue ): pages .

Attention :

• For the rules of giving authors’ names, see  this article .
• The journal title is usually given in its abbreviated form without the full stops: Archives of neurology → Arch Neurol . However, Vancouver Style also allows giving the full journal title or the abbreviated title with full stops.
• For the rules of abbreviating the titles of English and foreign-language journals, see the manual of Vancouver Style – Citing Medicine .
• The date of publication element should be given in full as it appears in the source: day, month, and year; month and year; or year only.
• The date format to be used in English is the following: ‘2020 Dec 19.’
• The volume and issue elements are given as numbers, without the signatures ‘vol.,’ ‘no.,’ etc.
• The page range is given as numbers, without the preceding abbreviation ‘p.’ For the principles of abbreviating the numbers and other specifics of dealing with the page range in Vancouver Style, see  this article .
• For the articles in a foreign language, give also the original language in the reference.
• The DOI can be indicated optionally in notes at the end of the reference in the format ‘doi: xxxxx.’

For citing the online version of a journal article, use the following bibliographic reference template:

Author(s) . Article title . Journal Title [Internet]. Date of publication [cited date cited ]; volume ( issue ): pages . Available from: URL

• Put a full stop after the URL only if the URL ends with a slash (‘/’).
• If you give the DOI separately after the URL, do not put a full stop at the end.

Examples in a list of references

Gutierrez   M, Ditto   R, Roy   S. Systematic review of operative outcomes of robotic surgical procedures performed with endoscopic linear staplers or robotic staplers. J Robot Surg [Internet]. 2018 May 9 [cited 2021 Mar 16];13(1):9-21. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11701-018-0822-5 doi: 10.1007/s11701-018-0822-5

Harju   J, Juvonen   P, Eskelinen   M, Miettinen   P, Pääkkönen   M. Minilaparotomy cholecystectomy versus laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Surg Endosc [Internet]. 2006 Jan 25 [cited 2021 Jun 28];20(4):583-6. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00464-004-2280-6 doi: 10.1007/s00464-004-2280-6

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How to Cite a Newspaper Article in Vancouver Referencing

3-minute read

• 9th August 2019

Even in an era of fake news , you can’t get away with fake referencing. Thus, if you need to cite a newspaper article in your work , make sure you know how to do it properly. In this post, for example, we’re looking at how to cite a newspaper article in Vancouver referencing .

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in the Main Text

When citing a newspaper article in Vancouver referencing, the basic citation format is the same as for any other source. This means using numbers in brackets to indicate a citation when you refer to a source:

The Shonky Awards highlight problematic products (1).

These bracketed numbers point to an entry in the reference list at the end of the document, with sources numbered in the order they are first cited. Above, for example, we’d be citing the first entry in the reference list (which would also be the first source cited in the document).

The main variations on this format are as follows:

• You can cite sources mid-sentence when an author is named in the text.
• You should include page numbers when quoting a source directly.

We can see both variations in the following passage:

A report by Clun (1) on the Shonky Awards sheds light on current consumer culture. These awards publicize brands, products and companies that are “taking advantage of Australian consumers” (1: p. 84).

Here, we give the first citation immediately after the author’s surname. And in the second citation, we show that we’ve quoted page 84 of the newspaper.

Newspaper Articles in the Reference List

The general format for a print newspaper article in your reference list is:

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(Citation Number) Author Surname and Initial(s). Title of article. Title of Newspaper : Section. Year Month Day: Page number(s).

Typically, you would also abbreviate the month here (e.g., “October” would become “Oct”). In practice, then, a reference might look like this:

(1) Clun R. Choice awards Shonky to Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmite program. Sydney Morning Herald : Business. 2018 Oct 4: 84-85.

The format is mostly the same for an online article, but you should include:

• A date of citation (i.e., when you last accessed the article) followed by the words “cited in” in square brackets after the date of publication.
• A URL for the article instead of page numbers. This should be placed after a period and the words “Available from.”

We would therefore list an online version of the article above like this:

(1) Clun R. Choice awards Shonky to Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmite program. Sydney Morning Herald : Business. 2018 Oct 4 [cited 2018 Nov 25]. Available from: https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/choice-awards-shonky-to-commonweath-bank-s-dollarmite-program-20181004-p507nv.html

Vancouver Variations

You can use the format above to cite a newspaper article. However, there are many versions of Vancouver referencing. You should therefore check your university’s style guide (if available) for their preferred reference format.

If you do not have a style guide , simply apply a clear and consistent referencing style throughout your document.

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A Review of Towards an Ecocritical Theatre: Playing the Anthropocene

Author: Iris Goode-Middleton (Hampton University)

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This book review looks Mohebat Ahmadi’s  Toward’s an Ecocritical Theatre: Playing the Anthropocene. Ahmadi’s book presents a compelling exploration of the intersection between theatre and the ecological challenges of the Anthropocene. Each chapter delves into the comprehensive analysis of key theatrical works and practices that explore the ways theatre can serve as a powerful medium for engaging and responding to the environmental crises of our time.

Keywords: Ecocritical theatre, towards an Ecocritical theatre, environmental theatre, Mohebat Ahmadi, theatre in the Anthropocene

Goode-Middleton, I., (2024) “A Review of Towards an Ecocritical Theatre: Playing the Anthropocene”, the Black Theatre Review 2(2), 44-47. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/tbtr.5877

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Published on 26 mar 2024, peer reviewed, creative commons attribution-noncommercial 4.0, harvard-style citation.

Goode-Middleton, I. (2024) 'A Review of Towards an Ecocritical Theatre: Playing the Anthropocene', the Black Theatre Review . 2(2) :44-47. doi: 10.2458/tbtr.5877

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Vancouver-Style Citation

Goode-Middleton, I. A Review of Towards an Ecocritical Theatre: Playing the Anthropocene. the Black Theatre Review. 2024 3; 2(2) :44-47. doi: 10.2458/tbtr.5877

Show: Harvard Citation Style | APA Citation Style

APA-Style Citation

Goode-Middleton, I. (2024, 3 26). A Review of Towards an Ecocritical Theatre: Playing the Anthropocene. the Black Theatre Review 2(2) :44-47. doi: 10.2458/tbtr.5877

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