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Vancouver Referencing

Instructions and links for Referencing support

Personal communication (oral, written and email)

Personal communication:

  • is entered manually in the text of your document. It cannot be done through EndNote.
  • should be included in the text of your document – cited in text only.
  • should not be included in your reference list when unpublished unless it is available as archived material, e.g. through the author's website, library, archive, repository, etc. 
  • Date is formatted YYYY MMM DD for reference list if all 3 parts are known, use year only if not or [date unknown] when date can't be located. For online sources also use [cited YYYY MMM DD].

More information about in-text citations.

Personal communication in the text of your document must include:

  • Date of communication​
  • ​Type of communication – oral, written (eg. Letter, written communication) or email (include email address)
  • ​Affiliation (university, organisation, City, State or Country) ‐ optional and highest academic degree​.

Important iconIt is recommended you get permission from the source/author of your personal communication.

Conversation:
In a conversation with a A. B. Smith, MD (April 2010) ...

Letter:
According to a letter by C. D. Jones (Assoc. Prof., Dept of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, PA, unreferenced) in November 2010 ...
According to C.D. Jones , PhD (written communication, November 2010) ...

E‐mail:
In‐text: In an email from E. Ferguson, PhD (efergus@uq.edu.au) in August 2010 ...

Important iconIt is important to keep a copy of the email.

Reference list for archived personal communication:

Author Last Name, First Name (Author Affiliation). Letter (Email, Telegram, etc.) to: Recipient (Recipient Affiliation). YYYY MMM DD ([cited YYYY MMM DD] if needed). Pagination. Located at: Library, City, State/Country; Box number, Folder number. Language other than English or Note (if available). OR Available from: URL

Examples:

Kerr, J. Auston (Chevy Chase, MD). Letter to: Ramon Cordoba Palacio (Medellin, Colombia). 1974 Nov 11. 11 p. Located at: Modern Manuscripts Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD; MS C 456. 

Hennen, John (Edinburgh, Scotland). Letter to: Dr. Duncan. [date unknown]. 9 p. Located at: History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD; W6 P3 v.1575. Observations on the cure of syphilis without mercury.

Michaels, Kristin (Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, Collingwood, AU). Letter to: Kate Thomann (Department of Health, Canberra, AU). 2019 Jul 17 [cited 2021 Sep 16]. 5 p. Available from: https://www.shpa.org.au/sites/default/files/uploaded-content/website-content/Submissions/shpa_submission_to_doh_-_review_of_pip_ihi.pdf

Pina, Luciano (Santiago, Chile). Letter to: D.M. Arroyo de Veracruz ([Mexico]). 1845 Jun 26. 4 leaves. Located at: Modern Manuscripts Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD; MS F 196. Spanish.

Source for reference list:

Patrias K. Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers [Internet]. 2nd ed. Wendling DL, technical editor. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007 [updated 2009 Oct 21].