Vancouver Referencing Style

Vancouver citation style is used in Medical Sciences and Biology. It implies using endnotes that include a list of used sources and in-text citations with superscript numbers.

Important Features

A distinctive feature of Vancouver is that every source has its specific number assigned. This number is written in text and corresponds to the same number in the list of references at the end of the document. If a certain part of the text mentions several sources, it might look as follows:

‘According to the latest studies (1, 3-5, 11), prices for petroleum products are growing.’

You can also include the author’s name. In case some work has several authors, use ‘et al.’

‘Brown et al. (6) proved a theory.’

All sources in the reference list should be sorted by number, regardless of the alphabetical order.

Books

If a book has one author, the citation must start with the number, followed by the author’s last name, first initial, the title of the book, edition (if it’s not the first edition), the city of publication, publisher, and year:

(7) Brown, J. Title. 2nd ed. City: Publisher; 2006.

If a book has more than one author, you need to include the first author’s name followed by ‘et al.’ On the other hand, you still need to list all the authors in the reference list.

(3) Brown, J., Smith, S. and Jackson, P. Title. City: Publisher; 2013.

When you need to cite a particular chapter from a book, you have to specify numbers of cited pages. In this case, it’s especially important to include the edition, even if it’s the first edition. You also need to include the editor’s name before the title of the book.

(5) Smith, S. Secret CIA projects. In: Brown, J. (ed.) How I Became a CIA Agent, 1st ed. Langley: Awesome Publications; 2005. p. 34-53.

Sometimes you may need to cite several books written by the same author. In this case, you need to list them according to their chronological order. If an author has published two or more books in the same year, use letters ‘a,’ ‘b,’ ‘c,’ etc. after the year of publication.

(3) Brown, J. My Story. 2nd ed. City: Publisher; 2009.

(4) Brown, J. How I Wrote My Story. City: Publisher; 2010.

(5) Brown, J. My New Book. City: Publisher; 2012a.

(6) Brown, J. How to Become a Productive Writer. City: Publisher; 2012b.

Articles

This is what citations of printed journals look like:

(11) Belcher, B. Biggest Burgers in the World. Daily Burger, 2015; Volume 6(9), p. 56-59.

Citations for online journals are similar to those for print articles, however, they also require you to include the Digital Object Identifier, if possible. If you cannot provide DOI, include the article’s URL.

(7) Belcher, B. History of Royal Cheeseburger. Daily Burger, 2015; Volume 6(9), pp. 23-34. Available at: www.dailyburgerjournal.com/historyofroyalcheeseburger [Accessed: 16 June 2018].

Online Sources

Citing websites, you need to determine the authorship. If the cited article is not from a magazine or online journal, it may have a particular author, otherwise, you need to specify the name of the website or organization with authorship.

(10) TastyBurgers. Best toppings. Available at: www.tastyburgers.com/besttoppings [Accesed 16 June 2018].

To cite an email, include the sender’s last name with the first initial, and the recipient’s name, followed by the date:

(9) Belcher, B. Email sent to: Stan Smith. 16th June 2018.

You can also cite videos and DVDs, including the country of origin, and the studio:

(3) The World’s Best Burgers. U.S: Bun Studios; 2012.

This is what citations of YouTube videos look like:

(5) Yummyburgers. Avocado sandwich — best recipe! [YouTube video]. Available at: www.youtube.com/avocadosandwichyummyburgers [Accessed 18 June 2018].

You can also refer to images:

(12) Smith, S. [Internet]. Sandwich with avocado topping. Available from: http://burgerpics/sandwichwithavocadotopping

Other Sources

Check other types of sources with examples below.

Reports:

(11) Smith, S. A report on aliens. CIA. Report number: 153, 2018.

Dissertations:

(13) Belcher, B. An examination of burgers in American culture [Masters level]. University of California; 2009.

Acts of Parliament:

(5) Alien Rights Act 1989 (c6). London: Official Publications; 1989.

Government publications:

(5) UK Government. Tea and Old People. London: Official Publications; 2007.

Interviews:

(13) Belcher, B. Discussing burgers. New York: 2007.

Presentations and lectures:

(15) Belcher, B. The benefits of cheese. Presentation; 2014; New York.

Music:

(7) Simpson, H. My Donut. Springfield: Moe’s Music; 2017.

Dictionaries:

(13) Smith. Smith’s modern dictionary. 3rd ed. New York: Great Publications; 2005. p. 34.