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The Vancouver (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) Style is used primarily for publications in medicine, biomedicine, medical technology and allied health sciences.
Please remember to check with your lecturer before submitting your assignments, as their style preference may vary from the guidelines presented here.
When using Mendeley referencing software, please use the following output style - Vancouver. For information about Mendeley, please see the Mendeley LibGuide.
This LibGuide follows the principles and examples given in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and editing for biomedical publication published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) in 2004 and the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition, 2007.
These publications constitute authoritative international guides to Vancouver publication standards and style.
This guide is based on the one from Murdoch University and is used with permission. Any errors should not be attributed to them.
Vancouver Style uses a notational method of referencing when referring to a source of information within the text of a document.
In its simplest form, a number in superscript format placed in the text of the essay, indicates the relevant reference:
Citations are numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text and each citation corresponds to a numbered reference containing publication information about the source cited in the reference list at the end of the publication, essay or assignment.
Once a source has been cited, the same number is used in all subsequent references. No distinction is made between print and electronic references when citing within the text.
A numbered list of references must be provided at the end of the paper:
The list should be arranged in the order of citation in the text of the publication, assignment or essay, not in alphabetical order.
List only one reference per reference number.
See Reference Formats or All Examples for details on how to construct references for specific resources such as books, journals and web pages.