Vancouver

A numbered citation style developed for biomedical journals, widely used in medicine and health sciences.

Overview

Vancouver style uses sequential numbers for citations, similar to IEEE. It was established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and is the standard for most medical and health science journals.

Common Use Cases

  • Medical and health sciences research
  • Biomedical journal publications
  • Clinical and nursing studies

Format Examples

Journal Article

1. Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(4):284-7.

Book

2. Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.

Website

3. World Health Organization. Tuberculosis fact sheet [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2020 [cited 2020 Oct 14]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis

Key Elements

Reference Number

Sequential number (superscript or in brackets).

Author Names

Last name followed by initials, no periods: Smith JK.

Journal Abbreviation

Use standard NLM journal abbreviations.

Publication Details

Year;Volume(Issue):Pages format.

Tips for This Format

  • Use NLM (PubMed) standard abbreviations for journal titles.
  • List up to 6 authors; use et al. for 7 or more.
  • Include DOI or URL for electronic sources when available.

Other Citation Styles

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