Vancouver referencing is a numbered citation style used across medicine, biomedical science and many biology and health courses. Sources are numbered in the order you first cite them, and the reference list follows that order.
This page covers in-text citations, the format for journal articles, books, chapters, web pages and datasets, journal abbreviations and a worked example. It follows the conventions of the ICMJE recommendations and the NLM's Citing Medicine, which most university Vancouver guides are based on.
How Vancouver Referencing Works in Brief
Number each source the first time you cite it, using brackets, parentheses or superscript as your course prefers. Reuse the same number whenever you cite that source again.
The reference list is numbered in the same order. Author names appear as surname then initials with no full stops, and journal names use their standard NLM abbreviations.
In-Text Citations
- Number sources consecutively in order of first citation: the first source cited is 1, the next new source is 2.
- Reuse a source's original number every time you cite it.
- Use one format throughout: square brackets [1], round brackets (1) or superscript ¹.
- Cite several sources with commas, and a run of three or more with a hyphen: (1,4,6) or (2-5).
- You can name authors in the sentence, but the number is still required: "Fleming (1) observed..."
Guides differ on whether numbers go before or after punctuation. Follow your department's guide and apply the rule consistently.
Journal Articles
The basic pattern is: Author(s). Title of article. Journal abbreviation. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages.
Journal article
1. Fleming A. On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae. Br J Exp Pathol. 1929;10(3):226-36.
Pattern with more than six authors
2. Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF, et al. Title of article. Journal Abbrev. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx
- Article titles are in sentence case and not italicized.
- Page ranges drop repeated leading digits: 226-36, not 226-236.
- Many guides list the first six authors and then add "et al." when there are more, following the ICMJE convention.
- Add the DOI at the end when available, if your guide asks for it.
Books and Chapters
Book pattern
3. Author AA, Author BB. Title of book. 3rd ed. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.
Chapter in an edited book
4. Author AA. Title of chapter. In: Editor AA, Editor BB, editors. Title of book. 2nd ed. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. p. 120-35.
Leave out the edition for a first edition. A colon separates place and publisher, and a semicolon comes before the year.
Web Pages, Guidelines and Reports
Online sources add the medium in square brackets, a citation (access) date and the URL.
Web page pattern
5. Organization or Author. Title of page [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year [updated Year Month Day; cited Year Month Day]. Available from: URL
Report or guideline pattern
6. Organization. Title of report. Place: Publisher; Year. Report No.: number if any.
Clinical guidelines are usually cited as reports, with the issuing organization as author. Give the version or publication date, since guidelines are updated.
Databases, Sequences and Datasets
Biology students often need to cite a database record or a published dataset. Treat these like web sources, giving enough detail for a reader to reach the exact record.
- Name the database or repository and its publisher.
- Give the record title and its accession number or identifier.
- Add the date you accessed it, since records can be updated.
- Use the dataset's DOI where one exists.
If your course provides a specific format for sequence records, follow it, because guides vary in this area.
Vancouver Compared with IEEE
| Feature | Vancouver | IEEE |
|---|---|---|
| Used in | Medicine, biomedical and health sciences | Engineering, computing, physics |
| In-text form | (1), [1] or superscript | [1] |
| Author names | Surname then initials, no full stops: Fleming A | Initials then surname: A. Fleming |
| Article title | Plain text, sentence case | In quotation marks |
| Journal details | Year;Volume(Issue):Pages | vol., no., pp., then date |
| List order | Order of first citation | Order of first citation |
A Worked Example
Text. Penicillin's antibacterial effect was first described in 1929 (1). Later reviews have traced how that observation led to mass production during the 1940s (2,3), and the same review examines the later rise of resistance (2).
Reference list.
1. Fleming A. On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae. Br J Exp Pathol. 1929;10(3):226-36.
2. [second source cited, in full Vancouver format]
3. [third source cited, in full Vancouver format]
Source 2 keeps its number when cited again. The list is numbered by first appearance, not alphabetically.
Journal Abbreviations
Vancouver uses the standard abbreviations listed in the NLM Catalog, written without full stops. Examples include N Engl J Med, Br J Exp Pathol and J Biol Chem. Single-word titles such as Nature, Lancet and BMJ are not abbreviated further.
Reference managers can apply abbreviations automatically, but check each one against the NLM Catalog, since imported data often contains the full title.
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Frequently Asked Questions
It is the standard numbered style in medicine and is widely used in biomedical science, nursing, pharmacy and many biology courses.
Many guides list the first six authors, then add "et al." if there are more. Check your department's guide.
Either can be correct. Use whichever your course specifies and apply it consistently.
Use the number it was given when first cited. Do not give it a new number.
Name the database, the record title and its accession number, the publisher and the date you accessed it, following your course's format.
No. It is numbered in the order sources are first cited in the text.
Many guides now ask for it. Add it at the end of the reference when it is available.