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The Vancouver referencing style was developed by the Internal Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). This referencing style is predominantly used in the medical and scientific disciplines. The Vancouver style uses a numeric citation system where sources are cited using numbers in brackets or as superscripts.
1. Vancouver in-text citation examples
Each source is given a unique number and this number is used to cite the source in the text. Sources are numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. If you cite the same source more than once in the text, the same citation number that was originally assigned to the source should be used. There are many different ways to cite sources in the text in Vancouver style. Let’s look at some examples.
✔ Citing the source at the end of a sentence
A simple approach to treat obesity is to cut food intake (1).
(OR)
A simple approach to treat obesity is to cut food intake1.
✔ Citation integrated into the text
A recent study (1) has proposed a simple approach of cutting food intake to treat obesity.
(OR)
A recent study1 has proposed a simple approach of cutting food intake to treat obesity.
✔ Author’s name is given before the citation number. This is normally done if you want to draw the readers attention to the author.
According to Smith (1), the simple and more effective approach to treating obesity is cutting food intake.
(OR)
According to Smith1, the simple and more effective approach to treating obesity is cutting food intake.
2. Citing multiple sources in Vancouver style
If you want to cite multiple sources you can use commas to separate the citations. If you have a continuous range of sources then you can use a hyphen.
✔ Comma used for multiple sources and hyphen used for a range of sources
Mobile diet apps available widely in app stores can help accelerate weight loss (1, 3, 6-9).
(OR)
Mobile diet apps available widely in app stores can help accelerate weight loss1, 3, 6-9.
3. Direct quotes from sources
If you are making a direct quote from a paper word-for-word, you must enclose the text in double quotes. You can also include the page number in your citation number if you want. In the following example, the quote was found in citation number 1 on page 23. Please note that ‘p’ is used for a single page and ‘pp.’ is used for multiple pages.
✔ Direct quote from a paper – page number(p) mentioned in the citation
“More than 70% of papers rejected by scientific journals are written by non-native English speakers” (1, p. 23).
(OR)
“More than 70% of papers rejected by scientific journals are written by non-native English speakers” 1(p. 23).
4. Reference list
A reference list should be provided at the end of the text. The list should include all the sources cited in the text. The references should be numbered in the order in which they were cited in the text.
Example below shows a list of references formatted in Vancouver style. The following reference list includes a journal, a book, a website, and a conference proceeding. If you use a good citation tool, the reference list will be automatically generated for you. If you choose to format the references manually, please read this blog, you will find formatting rules for various sources.
5. Summary
If you have any questions, please drop a comment below, and we will answer as soon as possible. We also recommend you to refer to our other blogs on academic writing tools, academic writing resources, academic writing phrases, research paper examples and research paper writing tips which are relevant to the topic discussed in this blog.
