Vancouver Referencing

Original Editor - Rachael Lowe

Top Contributors - Laura Ritchie, Rachael Lowe, Mariam Hashem, Admin, Kim Jackson, Amanda Ager, James Crick, Didzis Rozenbergs and Lauren Heydenrych

Introduction

Referencing is an essential part of academic writing and editing on Physiopedia. There are many different ways to reference academic work but in Physiopedia we use Vancouver style referencing.

Please Note: There are different versions of Vancouver referencing and this article is a guide for Physiopedia referencing; if you have any doubts about referencing your other academic work should always check with your lecturer, supervisor, course handbook and/or coursework guidelines.

How to Write a Reference

There are three basic bibliographic information that you need to be aware of to write a reference of a material regardless of its type:

• Author or editor
• Date of publication
• Title of the item

Using the Vancouver style you can reference any source of information such as: journal articles, books, websites, conference papers etc.

This table provides the method for different sources and an example for each:

	Generic Example	Example
Journal Article	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s) et al. Title of article. Title of Journal. Year;Volume:Page-range.	Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med 1996;124:980-3.
Journal Article in a Supplement	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s) et al. Title of article. Title of Journal. Year;Volume (Suppl number):Page-range.	Warner JO, Jones CA, Kilburn SA, Vance GHS, Warner JA . Pre-natal sensitization in humans. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2000;11(Suppl 13):6-8.
Books	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s). Title of book. Volume (if applicable). City of Publication: Publisher, Year.	Hill C. Practical guidelines for cystic fibrosis care. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1998.
Edited book	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), editors. Title of book. Edition (if not first). Volume (if applicable). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. p111-12.	Johnson CD, Taylor I, editors. Recent advances in surgery. Vol 23. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2000.
Chapter in a book	Surname Initial(s), Chapter Title. In: Surname, Initial(s) editor. Title of book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. p111-12	Watkins AD, Neuropharmacology. In: Kay, AB editor. Allergy and allergic diseases. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1997. p505-17.
Conference proceedings	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), editors. Title of paper. Proceedings of the #th Name of Conference; Year Mon Day(s); City, Country. City of Publisher: Publisher, Year of Publication	Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology; 1995 Oct 15-19; Kyoto, Japan. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1996.
Conference paper	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s). Title of paper. In: Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), editors. Title of Published Proceedings: Proceedings of the #th Name of Conference; Year Mon Day(s); City, Country. City of Publisher: Publisher, Year of Publication. p1111-2.	Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoff O, editors. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1992. p1561-5.
Dissertations	Surname Initial(s). Title of dissertation [dissertation]. City of publication: Institution Name. Year of publication.	Bunker VW. Nutrition in the elderly with particular reference to essential trace elements [dissertation]. Southampton: Univ. Southampton. 1987.
Pamphlets and booklets	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s) OR Name of Organisation. Title of pamphlet. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.	Buck SF, Brown DA. Mortality from lung cancer and bronchitis in relation to smoke and sulphur dioxide concentration, population density and social index. London: Tobacco Research Council, 1964. (Tobacco Research Council research papers 7).
Audiovisual material	Surname Initial(s). Title of audiovisual item [DVD]. Version X. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication	Acland RD. Acland's DVD atlas of human anatomy. DVD 3. The trunk [DVD]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004.
Cochrane Library	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s) et al. Title of article (Cochrane review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Year;(Edition):CDXXXX	Lord JM, Flight IHK, Norman RJ. Insulin-sensitising drugs for polycystic ovary syndrome (Cochrane review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2003;(2):CD003053 Generic Sample
Government publications	Institute,Title [No. of guideline if available], Date of publication, Available from: URL (if available), [Date of access]	National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Tuberculosis: NICE Guideline [NG33]. 2016. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng33/resources/ tuberculosis-1837390683589 [Accessed 27th May 2017].
Reports	Surname Initial(s), Surname Initial(s), Title of report. Place of publication: Publisher; Date of publication. Total number of pages. Report No.	Rowe IL, Carson NE. Medical manpower in Victoria. East Bentleigh (AU): Monash University, Department of Community Practice; 1981. 35 p. Report No.: 4.
Websites	Surname Initial(s) OR Name of Organisation/Department. Title of electronic publication/webpage. Available from: http://URLofelectronicpublication (accessed Day/Month/Year)	Department of Health. Policies and guidance. Available from: www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/fs/en (accessed 2 May 2018).
Online Articles (Blogs)	Surname Initial (S) Title [Internet]. Publication Title. Year Published [cited Date Accessed]. Available from:http://URLofwebsite	Holey L, Rau B, From fragile to sustained physiotherapy practice: improving quality of care and patient outcomes through enhanced standards of practice [Internet]. 2018 [cited 18 February 2021]. Available from:https://odihpn.org/blog/fragile-sustained-physiotherapy-practice-improving-quality-care-patient-outcomes-enhanced-standards-practice/

Resources

• Imperial College London. Citing & Referencing: Vancouver Style. 
• Monash University Library, Quick reference guide Vancouver Citing & Referencing style