A Quick and Complete Guide to Vancouver Referencing

What is Referencing?

It is necessary to acknowledge other people’s work or ideas when writing, hence, the sources used in your work must be referenced. This is usually done via an in-text citation within the body of a text that refers to the work or ideas by others. Also, a complete reference list is provided at the end of the written materials of works or ideas taken from others.

What is Vancouver Referencing?

It is a referencing style that is used in the domain of medicine and sciences. It uses numbered citations to indicate the part of a source used. Its reference list is arranged numerically and not alphabetically. Each work in your text should have a unique number assigned in the citation.

In-text Citation

To write an in-text citation, always include the surname of the author, followed by the citation number.

In-text citation can be done in different ways. For example:

Paul (1), at the beginning of his research…(p. 2)
…he stated that at the end (1).
Whenever we want the middle (2), we say…
A number of researchers (1, 4, 7, 10) disagree…
There is a ton of research (3, 6, 56-60, 14 – 19) that speak…
Trump et al. (7)
- ‘et al. is used where you have one name

NOTE:

The in-text citation makes use of the author’s surname
If the same author writes different works in the same year, assign different numbers to each.
Use the corporate author where no author is in sight.
When writing about what an author in an edited book said, cite the author of the chapter, not the editor.
Where the author cites the work of another, and the primary source is unavailable, cite the two authors. E.g., Alex as cited by Ekueme et al. (8) stated that the presidency is not a dream.
Direct quotes from a book must be quoted using single quotations.
- Double quotations is used for direct speech.
- Also state the page number. E.g, Adrenaline et al. addressed the need for his lady to ‘stand by me’, because he ‘sees his future in her eyes’ (p.5)
- Long quotations should be indented. For example:

Yam stated that:

‘The call to stand out in the crowd demands a lot from the individual food called upon to fully give itself to the consumer. The consumer is allowed the priviledge to fully examine the food before he tates it.’ (p.23)

REFERENCES

Where there are more than six authors, list the first six, followed by ‘et al.’
The list is in numerical order, as in the text
The Author’s surname is followed by their initials (where there are two initials, they are not separated using a period
Where there are more than one author, don’t include ‘and’ before the last author
Begin the references on a new page titled ‘References’
Abbreviate journal titles

Books

Print: Author/Editor (ed.). | Title. | Series title and number (if part of a series) | Edition (if not first edition) | Place of publication (if there is more than one, use the first) | Publisher; | Year of publication: Carlson BM. Human embryology and developmental biology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2009. 541 p.
Online/electronic: Author/Editor (ed.). | Title. | Series title and number (if part of a series) | Edition (if not first edition) | Place of publication (if there is more than one, use the first) | Publisher; | Year of publication | Available from: URL | [Date of access]: Grech ED. ABC of interventional cardiology. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley blackwell; 2011 Available from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/imperial/detail.action?docID=822522 [Accessed 6th July 2017].
Chapter in an edited book: Author of the chapter. | Title of chapter followed by, In: | Editor (ed.). | Title of book. | Series title and number (if part of a series) | Edition (if not first edition) | Place of publication (if there is more than one, use the first) | Publisher; | Year of publication | Page numbers (use ‘p.’ before single and multiple page numbers): Spicker P. Austerity and poverty. In: Bent G, editor. Handbook on austerity, populism and the welfare state. Cheltenham (UK): Edward Elgar Publishing; 2021. p. 142-153.

Journals

Print: Author | Title of journal article | Title of journal | Year of publication | Volume number | (Issue number) | Page numbers of the article: Petitti DB, Crooks VC, Buckwalter JG, Chiu V. Blood pressure levels before dementia. Arch Neurol. 2005 Jan;62(1):112-6.
Journal article: online/electronic: Author. | Title of journal article | Title of journal | Year of publication | Volume number | (Issue number) | Page numbers of the article | Available from: URL (Include [Date of access]) or DOI (if available): Milofsky C, Butto A, Gross M, Baumohl J. Small town in mass society: Substance abuse treatment and urban-rural migration. Contemporary Drug Problems. 1993; 20(3):433-72. Available from: https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/small-town-mass-society-substance-abuse-treatment/docview/233177988/se-2?accountid=12528 [Accessed 20 July 2021]

Conference proceeding: individual paper

Author | Title of conference paper followed by, In: | Editor (ed.)/Organisation | Title | Place of publication | Publisher | Year of publication | Page numbers (use ‘p.’ before single and multiple page numbers): Wittke M. Design, construction, supervision and long-term behaviour of tunnels in swelling rock. In: Van Cotthem A, Charlier R, Thimus J-F, Tshibangu J-P. (eds.) Eurock 2006: multiphysics coupling and long term behaviour in rock mechanics: Proceedings of the International Symposium of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, EUROCK 2006, 9–12 May 2006, Liège, Belgium. London: Taylor & Francis; 2006. p.211–216.

Standard

Name of Standard Body/Institution | Standard number | Title | Place of publication | Publisher | Year of publication: British Standards Institution. BS EN 1993-1-2:2005. Eurocode 3. Design of steel structures. General rules. Structural fire design. London: BSI; 2005.

Report

Author/Editor (ed.) | Title | Organisation | Report number: (the actual number in figures) |Year of publication: Leatherwood S. Whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the western North Atlantic. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Report number: 63, 2001.

Web page/website

Author/Editor (corporate author if no individual author or editor is named) | Title (this should be in italics) | Available from: URL | [Date of access]: European Space Agency. Rosetta: rendezvous with a comet. Available from: http://rosetta.esa.int [Accessed 15th June 2015].

Personal communication

Name of practitioner | Occupation | Personal communication | Date when the information was provided: Law J. Engineering consultant. Personal communication. 2014 March 26th

Newspaper article

Author. | Title. | Newspaper Organisation (Edition.). | Date of publication YYYY Mon DD | Section: Page where article begins: Beale, B. Our apocalypse now. Biodiversity and the threat to it from environmental destruction. Sydney Morning Herald 1989 Jul 15:71,6.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, I hope you found this very easy if you have any problem with any of the steps stated above, feel free to drop a comment and I will try as much as possible to reply. Thanks for reading and enjoy your research.

A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing

A Quick Guide to Vancouver Referencing

A Quick Guide to MLA (8th edition) Referencing

A Quick Guide to IEEE Referencing in Microsoft Word

A Quick Guide To IEEE Referencing

A Quick Guide To APA 7 Referencing

A Quick Guide To American Meteorological Society (AMS) Style Referencing

A Quick And Complete Guide To Chicago Referencing

A Quick Guide To MHRA Referencing

A Quick Guide To OSCOLA Referencing

← Back