General information on how to use the Vancouver Referencing Style

(Faculty of Health Sciences - UP, July 2013)

Vancouver is a "numbered" style and, follows rules established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Using Vancouver style means you're obeying the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals.

However when we're writing articles for publication we have to consult the "Instructions to authors" for the specific journal in which we want to publish.

• Your list of references should identify all references cited (eg books, journal articles, pamphlets, internet sites, CDRom, DVD, etc) in sufficient detail so that others can locate and consult your references.
• The Vancouver reference style is the one that is commonly used in the medical field and when publishing in medical journals.
• It is very important that you use the right punctuation and that the order of details in the reference is correct.
• A List of reference at the end of the assignment, research report or journal manuscript contains the full details of all the in-text citations.

In-text referencing

• The identification of references within the text of your assignment are identified by Arabic numerals in superscript.
• A number is assigned to each reference as it is cited. A number must be used even if an author was named in the sentence, eg. Smith¹² argued that.....
• Use double quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation. Type [sic] after a misspelled word or an incorrect or apparently absurd statement in quoted material to indicate that this is an accurate rendition of the original source. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations.
• The original number assigned to a reference is re-used every time the reference is cited in text, regardless of the previous position in text.

Example:
... as one author has put it "the darkest days were still ahead"¹: which is well documented in the literature.^2-3 This proves that "the darkest days were still ahead".¹

• When multiple references are cited at a given place in a text, use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers that are inclusive, eg. ^6-8
• Use commas (no spaces) to separate non-inclusive numbers eg. ^2,3,4,5,7,9 is abbreviated to ^2-5,7,9
• Placement of referencing numbers with a text should be carefully considered, eg. a particular reference may be relevant to only part of a sentence. However, as a general rule, reference numbers should be placed outside full stops and commas, inside colons and semi-colons.

Examples:

• The coach can carry out his own assessment of the athlete^5,9 in relation to the agreed constructs and so pinpoint areas of agreementon the one hand,^2-4 and differing perceptions on the other.
• Butler and Hardy maintain "that people's intrinsic motivation could be weakened by the application of external controls".¹
   
• The main advantage of the Vancouver style is that the text reads more easily, without the intrusion of in-text quotations which can be difficult to keep brief. Reader can also check the list of references as they read through the text, without having to search through the list of references alphabetically for the first author of a particular referenced publication.

How to create a 'List of references'

• Your reference list should appear at the end of your assignment/report with the entries listed numerically and in the same order that they were given in the text.

Examples:

1. Baker PN, editor. Obstetrics by ten teachers. 18th ed. London: Hodder Arnold; 2006.

2. Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002; 347(4):284-7.

It is very important that you use the right punctuation and that the order of details in the reference is also correct.

• Book and journal titles are not italicised or placed in quotation marks.
• Only first words of the article title and words that normally begin with a capital letter are capitalised.
• Journal titles are abbreviated. A list of abbreviations for the titles is available online at either NLM Catalog: Journal abbreviation
• If the journal has continuous page numbering, you may omit month/issue number.
• Some commonly used abbreviations:
  • c. = circa (about, approximately in time)
  • ch. = chapter
  • ed. = edition
  • et al. = and others
  • fig; figs = figure(s)
  • ill; ills = illustrator(s)
  • p. = page(s)
  • para; paras = paragraph(s)
  • pt; pts = part(s)
  • rev = revised
  • suppl = Supplement

Examples of the most common publication types are listed below.

For examples of bibliographic references, click on the type of reference you would like to see:

BOOKS:

Main elements of a reference to a book:
Author/Editor/Compiler's surname initials. Title of the book. # ed. (if not the 1st) Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication.

**Give the first six names in full and add "et al". The authors are listed in the order in which they appear on the title page.

Follow the same methods used with authors but use the word "editor" or "editors" in full after the name/s. The word editor or editors must be in lower case. (Do NOT confuse with "ed." which is used for "edition")

**The first edition of a book is never mentioned. However from the 2nd edition onwards always give the specific edition of the book, eg 2nd ed.

Elements of the reference:
Author's surname initials. Title of the book [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication [cited year month day].Available from name of database: URL

Elements of the reference:
Author's (of the chapter) surname initials. Title of chapter. In: Editor's surname initials, editor. Title of the book. # ed. [if not 1st] Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication. p. #. [page numbers of chapter]

• Abbreviate page numbers to p. eg p. 12-26.
• Abbreviate numbers where appropriate eg. p. 122-8.

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

PLEASE NOTE: Journal titles are always abbreviated. Go to either NLM Catalog: Journal abbreviation.

Recommended to always cite an article as a print copy except when pages clearly indicate e3-e5.

Main elements of a journal reference:
Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of article. Title of Journal. [abbreviated] Year of publication Month date; Volume number (issue number): page numbers.

**Give the first six names in full and add "et al". The authors are listed in the order in which they appear on the title page.

Supplement and/or parts

OTHER PUBLICATIONS:

Elements of a reference to a conference paper:

Editor's/Authors surname Initials, editor. Title of the Paper. Number and Name of Conference; Date of conference; City where conference took place: Place of publication.

(if available include additional information eg place of production, printer)

Note: Include the definition looked up - in this case "Filamin"

INTERNET:

Elements of a citation:

Author/Editor/Organisation's name [Internet]. Title of the page. Place of publication: Publisher's name; [updated year month day; cited year month day]. Available from: URL