Vancouver Style Citation & Referencing - An Easy Manual

If you’re a student of medicine, biology, and related scientific fields, you may encounter the Vancouver Style for writing academic papers.

The Vancouver Style is widely adopted by biomedical and pharmaceutical departments and journals worldwide. So, what's it like to format your citations in Vancouver style, and what are its requirements? 

Let’s dive in to find out!

What is the Vancouver Style?

Vancouver format is a commonly used citation style in the medical and scientific fields. It was developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), also known as the Uniform Requirements Style.

The Vancouver citation style is known for using numerical in-text citations, which are preferred in scientific and technical fields over parenthetical citations. 

In other words, sources are indicated in the text by a number [such as (5)], and the complete reference is provided in the corresponding reference list entry.

Vancouver In-Text Citations

Vancouver style uses numerical citations. That is, a source is indicated by a number written after the text that comes from an external source. 

More of the journals using the Vancouver style recommend that you add a number within brackets to indicate a source. Like this: (6). However, some institutions and journals also use the superscript form, such as ⁷.

Here’s an example of how it works:

If the author’s name is provided in the text, you should put the parentheses after the author’s name. Like this:

These are the basic and simple rules for in-text citation. However, what if you need to put multiple citations at the same point or cite a direct quotation? Head to our Vancouver in-text citations guide to learn about the special cases you may encounter while citing your paper.

Formatting the Reference List in Vancouver Style

The reference list in Vancouver Style is arranged numerically according to the order of appearance of citations in the text. Each reference begins with the same number as its corresponding in-text citation. 

Here's how to format the reference list in Vancouver Style:

• Add the title “Reference List” at the top, centered and bold.
• Arrange sources numerically, in sequence in which they appeared in the paper.
• Leave a one-line gap between each reference entry.

Here’s what your reference page should look like:

Reference Entry Format for Different Sources

Different types of sources require you to provide different elements of information in the complete reference. Here’s how you format the references for different kinds of sources:

Books

Book Chapters 

Journal Articles

Website

General Reference Guidelines to Remember

When providing references, you may encounter a few different situations. Here are some common cases and how to address them:

• If a source is written by more than two authors, separate the names of the authors with commas. Example: John S., Emily R., Sarah L.
• If it has 7 or more authors, provide the names of the first six authors followed by “et al.”. Example: Emily R., Sarah L., Michael W., David S., Maria G., Christopher P., et al.
• If there’s no author, you should start the reference with the title of the source.
• If your source does not have a publication date, you can add the date of your citation instead.

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Note: All information given in this article about the Vancouver Style Referencing has been obtained from the official manual, that can be accessed at: https://dal.ca.libguides.com/CitationStyleGuide/Vancouver