Vancouverreferencing - Library extended guide

Updated: 15 July 2014

Important:This document is meant for use as a guide only.

To avoid losing marks, confirm referencing requirements of your School with your Lecturer, and consult the Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers, on which this document is based, for clarification and additional examples.

Introduction

The Vancouver style of referencing is predominantly used in the medical field. Each reference cited in a work is assigned a consecutive number, the details of which are placed in numerical order at the end of the work in a Reference List.

Where can I find information about referencing?

Information about referencing can be found on:

  • Library’s Referencing guides [
  • Study Smart: Referencing [
  • Learning Lab’s Writing skills [

Plagiarism

Information about plagiarism can be found on theInformation for Studentspage [

In-text references: examples

In the Vancouver style, each reference is allocated a consecutive number as it is used. The original number assigned to a reference is used each time that reference is cited in the text. The number appears in parentheses or as superscript in the text, e.g. …was discovered(3). OR ...was discovered.3

If quoting from a source, ensure that quotation marks are used along with the relevant page number(s).

From the in-text reference, the reader can consult the Reference List for full publication details.

The theory was first propounded in 2010 by Larsen (21).

Larsen (21) was the first to propound the theory...

Larsen (21, p.245) noted that "many of the facts in this case are incorrect."

Multiple references cited at the same place in the text:

A number of researchers (3, 6) discovered that...

A number of researchers (4-7) discovered that... [Use when references are consecutive]

Reference List

A Reference List (or endnotes) contains details only of those works cited in the text. The Reference List is placed at the end of the work and is arranged numerically by citation number. If other sources are used, but not cited in the text, then the list is called a Bibliography.

Abbreviations

The journal name should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Consult either

  • the website of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
  • or PubMed click on "Journal Database" and then enter the journal’s full title to view its abbreviation.

Points to remember

Some things to note with the Vancouver style:

  • Each superscript citation numeral refers to a single source, and thus several superscript numerals may appear together at one point in the text.
  • Citation numerals are linked to sources listed in numerical order in a Reference List at the end of the work.
  • The Reference List includes only bibliographic sources, not explanatory notes.
  • Titles of books and articles are given minimal capitalisation.
  • Book and journal titles are not italicised.
  • Journal titles are abbreviated. See the section on Abbreviations.
  • Titles of journal articles are not placed in quotation marks.
  • Authors’ initials follow the surname and are set without full stops or spaces. E.g. SmithAB
  • All authors should be listed if there are six or fewer. When there are seven or more authors, only the first six are listed and the expression 'et al.' is added. E.g. Lodish HF, Berk A, Kaiser CA, Krieger M, Bretscher A, Ploegh H, et al.
  • For citations that end with a URL: End with a full stop only if the URL ends with a slash, otherwise end with no punctuation.

Books: examples

Books

Standard elements: Authors(s). Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Logothetis DD. Local anesthesia for the dental hygienist. St Louis (MO): Elsevier/Mosby; 2012.

Colbert BJ, Ankney J, Lee KT. Anatomy, physiology & disease: an interactive journey for health professionals. 2nd ed. UpperSaddleRiver (NJ): Pearson Education; 2013.

Edited book

Editor(s), editor(s). Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Redhead J, Gordon J, editors. Emergencies in sports medicine. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press; 2012.

Chapter in an edited book

Author. Title of chapter. In: Editors, editors. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Page numbers.

Carandang CG, Martin A. Clinical assessment of children and adolescents with depression. In: Rey JM, Birmaher B, editors. Treating child and adolescent depression. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2009. p. 23-40.

e-Book from a Library-subscribed database

Author. Title of book. [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication [cited Year Month Day]. Available from:

Wagner, HN. Brain imaging: the chemistry of mental activity [Internet]. London: Springer London; 2009 [cited 2012 Aug 24]. Available from: Springer eBooks.

Journal articles: examples

Journal article - Print

Author(s). Title of article. Title of Journal (abbreviated). Date of publication;Volume(Issue):Page numbers.

Channell MK, Mueller LL, Hahn R. Management of chronic posttraumatic headache: a multidisciplinary approach. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):509-13.

Journal article on the internet

Author. Title of article. Title of Journal [Medium]. Date of publication [Date cited];Volume(Issue):Page numbers. Available from: URL

Lewith GT. The cultural context of CAM. J Altern Complement Med [Internet]. 2008 Dec [cited 2012 Jan 15];14(10):1179-1180. Available from:

Other sources: examples

Conference paper

Author(s) of paper. Title of paper. In: Editor(s) surname and initials, editor(s). Title of conference; Date of conference; Place of conference. Place of publication: Publisher’s name; Year of publication. Page numbers.

Benham SA, Amyot D, Forster AJ, Peyton L, Shamsaei A. Goal-driven development of a patient surveillance application for improving patient safety. In: Babin G, Kropf P, Weiss M, editors. E-Technologies: innovation in an open world. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference MCETECH; 2009 May 4-6; Ottawa, Canada. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag; 2009. p. 65-76.

Thesis

Author(s). Thesis title [type of thesis]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.

Krejany M. The hospital experience of elderly Greeks of Hobson's Bay: the challenge to identity [master’s thesis]. Melbourne (AU): VictoriaUniversity; 2006.

Thesis (Online)

Author(s). Thesis title [type of thesis and medium]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [date cited]. Available from:

Cauduro J.In vitro testing of inorganic phosphorus sources for phosphorus availability in swine [master’s thesis on the Internet]. [Melbourne (AU)]: RMITUniversity;2009 [cited 2012 Aug 23]. Available from:

CD-ROM

Author. Title of CD-ROM [format]. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.

Hale PJ. Real world community health nursing: an interactive CD-ROM [CD-ROM]. 2nd ed. St Louis (MO): Mosby; 2005.

Website

Author. Title of web page [Medium]. Place of publication: Publisher; Date of publication [updated Year Month Day; cited Year Month Day]. Available from: URL

Fehrenbach MJ. Dental hygiene education [Internet]. Chicago: Fehrenbach and Associates; 1997 [updated 2012 Feb 9; cited 2012 Aug 24]. Available from:

Newspaper article

Author. Title of article. Title of Newspaper (Edition). Year Month Day:Sect. section:page number (column number).

Stark J. Surge in ‘super obese’ alarms doctors. Sunday Age. 2010 Jan 17:Sect. A:1 (col. 8).

/ Document: Library guide on Vancouver Referencing-v.1.doc
Author:RMITUniversity Library
Updated: 15/07/2014
Page 1 of 4