Vancouver Citation and Reference Guide

SAER Journal · Academic Writing Guide

Vancouver is a numbered referencing system widely used in medicine, health sciences, biomedical research, and clinical fields. Sources are numbered in the order in which they first appear, and the same number is reused whenever the source is cited again.

How Does the Vancouver System Work?

  • In-text citation: a number assigned according to first appearance in the text.
  • Reference list: a numbered bibliography arranged in the same order.

Unlike author-date systems, the Vancouver reference list is not alphabetical.

How Are In-Text Citations Shown?

Depending on journal practice, numbers may appear in parentheses, square brackets, or superscript.

Example: Health literacy may be associated with patterns of healthcare use. (1)

Another common form is [1]. Use one system consistently throughout the manuscript.

Repeated Citation of the Same Source

Do not assign a new number when a source is cited again. If it first appeared as (3), it remains (3) throughout the article.

Citing Multiple Sources Together

Non-consecutive sources: (2,4,7)

Consecutive sources: (3-6), where permitted by the journal's Vancouver variant.

How Are Reference Numbers Assigned?

Numbers are based only on the order of first appearance in the manuscript, not on author name, publication year, or source type.

How Is the Reference List Ordered?

References are listed numerically in citation order, and the numbers in the text must match the numbered reference list exactly.

How Are Author Names Written?

Vancouver style generally uses surname followed by initials, usually without periods between initials.

Example: Yilmaz A, Demir B, Kaya C.

Journal Article

Format: Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages.

Example:
Yilmaz A, Demir B. Health literacy and access to health services among adults. J Public Health Res. 2024;13(2):145-152.

Journal Abbreviations

Biomedical journals commonly use standard abbreviations, often based on NLM Catalog or MEDLINE. If no standard abbreviation is available, follow the target journal's instructions.

DOI

Where available, a DOI should generally be included.

Example:
Yilmaz A, Demir B. Health literacy and access to health services among adults. J Public Health Res. 2024;13(2):145-152. doi:10.0000/example.

Article Numbers and e-Locations

For electronic journals that use article numbers instead of page ranges, include the journal's article identifier or e-location.

Books and Book Chapters

Book: Author(s). Book title. Edition. Place: Publisher; Year.

Edited book: Editor(s), editors. Book title. Place: Publisher; Year.

Book chapter: Chapter author. Chapter title. In: Editor(s), editor(s). Book title. Place: Publisher; Year. p. xx-xx.

Theses and Dissertations

Format: Author. Title [type of thesis]. City: University; Year.

Websites

Online references may include author or organisation, page title, Internet designation, publication/update date, cited date, and URL.

Format: Organisation or Author. Page title [Internet]. Place: Publisher; date [cited Year Mon Day]. Available from: URL

Reports, Guidelines, Conference Papers, Data Sets, and Software

Reports: include organisation, title, place, publisher, year, and online details where relevant.

Clinical guidelines: the issuing institution, panel, or expert group may be listed as author.

Conference papers: format depends on whether proceedings have been published.

Data sets: include creator, title, version, year, repository, and DOI/URL when relevant.

Software: cite according to the developer's recommended form when the software itself is an important research object.

Direct Quotations and Secondary Sources

Direct quotations should include the relevant reference number and, where needed, a page number.

Whenever possible, consult and cite the original study rather than citing it as though it had been read when it was only mentioned in another source.

Reference Managers and Vancouver

Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, and similar tools can generate Vancouver-style references, but the selected style file must match the target journal.

  • Author names and order
  • Journal abbreviation
  • Year
  • Volume and issue
  • Pages or article number
  • DOI
  • Reference-number order

Common Vancouver Errors

  • Alphabetising the reference list
  • Assigning a new number when the same source is cited again
  • Mismatch between in-text numbers and the reference list
  • Incorrect journal abbreviations
  • Incorrect author-name formatting
  • Missing year, volume, issue, or page information
  • Incorrect DOI
  • Mixing citation-number formats
  • Failing to check reference-manager output
  • Appearing to cite an original source that was not actually consulted

A Simple Numbering Example

The first cited source becomes (1), the second (2), and the third (3). If source 1 is cited again later, it remains (1).

Vancouver Pre-Submission Checklist

  • Are references numbered in order of first appearance?
  • Is the same number reused for repeated citations?
  • Do in-text numbers match the reference list exactly?
  • Is the reference list numerical rather than alphabetical?
  • Are author names formatted correctly?
  • Have journal abbreviations been checked?
  • Are year, volume, issue, and page details correct?
  • Have DOI and online details been verified?
  • Do web sources include cited dates where required?
  • Is one numbering format used consistently throughout the manuscript?