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Vancouver Referencing

Instructions and links for Referencing support

What is Vancouver referencing style?

The Vancouver style of referencing is predominantly used in the medical field.

  • When referencing your work in the Vancouver style, it is very important that you use the right punctuation and that the order of details in the reference is also correct.
  • This guide is based on Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers (2nd edition), with supplementary guidance from AMA manual of style.

Important iconBefore you write your list of references, check with your lecturer or tutor for the referencing style preferred by the school. There may be differences in the style recommended by the school.

Vancouver format and examples

In-text citation:

Puri and O'Brien11 argue that ...

More information about in-text citations

Reference list:

Author(s) - Family name and initials. Title of article. Abbreviated journal title [Internet]. Publication year, month, day (month and day only if available) [cited date - year month day];volume number(issue number):page numbers. Available from: URL

Important icon Months are abbreviated to their first 3 letters; no URL - just enter the DOI number

  1. Puri S, O'Brian MR. The hmuQ and hmuD genes from Bradyrhizobium japonicum encode heme‐degrading enzymes. J Bacteriol [Internet]. 2006 Sep [cited 2012 Aug 2];188(18):6476‐82. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00737-06

Edited eBook 

In-text citation:

La Placa and Morgan3 explore global health through a social justice lens.

More information about in-text citations

Reference list:

Editor(s) - Family name and initials (no more than 2 initials with no spaces between initials). Title of book [Internet]. Edition of book if later than 1st ed. Place of publication: Publisher name; Year of publication [revised/updated - year month day; cited date - year month day]. Pagination - if available (follow page total with a space and the letter p). Available from: URL or DOI

Important iconMonths are abbreviated to their first 3 letters; no URL - just enter the DOI number; only capitalise the first word of the title (except for proper nouns eg. place names or organisations).

  1. La Placa V, Morgan J, editors. Social science perspectives on global public health [Internet]. London (GB): Routledge; 2023 [cited 2023 Dec 13].  250 p. Available from: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63309

 

In-text citation:

 

Caballero2 states that diabetes does not equally affect all racial/ethnic groups.

More information about in-text citations

Reference list:

Author(s) of chapter - Family name and initials, Title of chapter. In: Editor(s) of book - Family name and initials, editors. Title of book [Internet]. Edition of book if later than 1st ed. Place of publication: Publisher name; Year of publication. p. (chapter pages). [cited date - year month day]. Available from URL

Important icon Months are abbreviated to their first 3 letters; no URL - just enter the DOI number

  1. Caballero, AE. (2010). Diabetes in culturally diverse populations: from biology to culture. In: Poretsky L, editor. Principles of Diabetes Mellitus [Internet]. Springer, Boston (MA). p. 129-44. [cited 2023 Dec 13]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09841-8_9 

In-text citation:

Strategies for families coping with ADHD are discussed.2

More information on in-text citations

Reference list:

Title [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher's name (unless unknown); Publication date or year [updated date (if available); cited date - year month day]. Available from: URL

Important iconMonths are abbreviated to their first 3 letters; no URL - just enter the DOI number

  1. The family impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) [Internet]. [place unknown: publisher unknown]; 2009 Nov 1 [updated 2010 Jan 1; cited 2010 Apr 8]. Available from:http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com.au/healthandlifest yle.asp?sid=192&title=The‐Family‐Impact‐of‐Attention‐ Deficit‐Hyperactivity‐Disorder‐%28ADHD%29page=2