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Referencing and Citation Styles: Vancouver

Recommended manual for Vancouver referencing style

Vancouver is a term used to describe the referencing style developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME).  The following publication provides a comprehensive set of examples of application of the style;

References in the body of your essay

The Vancouver referencing style is a numeric style used in the medical sciences.

Single Reference

References in text, tables, and legends should be numbered consecutively in the order they are cited in the text using Arabic numbers in parentheses. The use of Arabic numbers in superscript format is also acceptable, but is dependent on the requirements of individual journals and/or academic departments.

  • Weber (16) reported that....

Multiple references

When multiple references are cited at the same place in the text of a document, use a hyphen to join the first and last references if they are inclusive. Use commas without spaces to separate exclusive references.

  • ...on the discipline and profession and management many studies (1-4) reported that...
  • A number of studies reported that the treatment was ineffective. (1,5,8)

Consideration should be taken on the location of numbers within the text of a document. Use Arabic numbers outside periods and commas, inside colons and semi-colons.

  • Methodologic guidelines for studies of etiology,(5,7) diagnosis,(8) prognosis,(9) and therapy(10-11) are available.
  • ...such as an intra-class correlation co-efficient (49) or Χ statistic.(50)

Citing Specific Pages

If an author needs to cite different page numbers from a single reference at different places within the text of a document the formatting used in the example should be used. Please note that the source needs to appear only one in the reference list.

  • Weber 23(p56) found that...

Reference List

In the Vancouver style references should appear at the end of the text of your essay/paper listed numerically in the order that they were cited in the text.

Journal article:

  • Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Ann Intern Med 2009;151(4):264-9, W64.

Book (1-6 authors):

  • Arens AA. Auditing in Australia : an integrated approach. 5th ed. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia; 2002.

Book (More than 6 authors):

  • Goering RV, Dockrell HM, Wakelin D, Zuckerman M, Chiodini PL, Roitt IM, et al. Mims' medical microbiology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier; 2008.

Book chapter:

  • Thomas, G. Medicinal Chemistry. 2nd ed. Chichester: John Wiley; 2007. Chapter 8.2, The chemical nature of the binding of ligands to receptors; p.252-254.

Newspaper article:

  • Beale, B. Our apocalypse now. Biodiversity and the threat to it from environmental destruction. Sydney Morning Herald 1989 Jul 15:71,6.

Report (Online):

  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Drinking patterns in Australia, 2001-2007. Cat. no. PHE133. [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010 [cited 2021 Jan 19]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/29697ff8-c90d-45e4-979d-39672d95ffd5/11895.pdf.aspx?inline=true.

Thesis:

  • Evans PR. Motor and sensory function of the upper digestive tract in health and in irritable bowel syndrome [Ph.D Thesis]. Sydney, NSW: University of Sydney; 1998.

Conference Paper:

  • Passey M, Gale J, Stirling J, Sanson-Fisher R. Caring for pregnant Aboriginal women: provider views on managing tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use. In: 2017 Primary Health Care Research Conference, 2017 Aug 7 - 9; Brisbane.

Web page:

  • Queensland University of Technology. Writing literature reviews. [Internet] 2010 [updated 2020 Jun 23; cited 2020 Dec 6]; Available from: http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/litreviews.jsp.

Journal Title Abbreviations

EndNote

EndNote comes installed with a Vancouver output style for your use. Additional resources are available from the following external sites.

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