The Vancouver system, also known as the 'author-number' system, is a way of writing references in academic papers. It is popular in the physical sciences, and is one of two referencing systems normally used in Medicine^[1], the other being the Harvard system.

History

The Vancouver system takes its name from a meeting in Vancouver in 1978 which led to the establishment of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). This was further developed by the National Library of Medicine in the US^[2] whose version "should be considered as the authoritative style" according to the British Medical Association (BMA)^[1].

Usage

Labelling citations

References are numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text – they are identified by Arabic numerals in parentheses (1), square brackets [1], superscript¹, or a combination^[1] such as used in Wikipedia.

Format of citations

Different formats exist for different types of sources, e.g. books, journal articles etc.

Journal articles

Standard journal articles

• Leurs R, Church MK, Taglialatela M. H₁-antihistamines: inverse agonism, anti-inflammatory actions and cardiac effects. Clin Exp Allergy. 2002 Apr;32(4):489-98.

As an option, if a journal carries continuous pagination throughout a volume (as many medical journals do) the month and issue number may be omitted:

• Thomas MC. Diuretics, ACE inhibitors and NSAIDs - the triple whammy. Med J Aust. 2000;172:184–185.

If there are more than six authors, the first six authors are listed followed by "et al.":

• Guilbert TW, Morgan WJ, Zeiger RS, Mauger DT, Boehmer SJ, Szefler SJ, et al. Long-term inhaled corticosteroids in preschool children at high risk for asthma. N Engl J Med. 2006 May 11;354(19):1985-97.

Note, however, that the NLM lists all authors for articles.

As an option, a unique identifier from a database may be added to the citation:

• von Itzstein M, Wu WY, Kok GB, Pegg MS, Dyason JC, Jin B, et al. Rational design of potent sialidase-based inhibitors of influenza virus replication. Nature. 1993 Jun 3;363(6428):418-23. Cited in PubMed; PMID 8502295.

Articles not in English

As per journal articles in English:

• Forneau E, Bovet D. Recherches sur l'action sympathicolytique d'un nouveau derive du dioxane. Arch Int Pharmacodyn. 1933;46:178-91.

The NLM adds an English translation of the title enclosed in square brackets and a language designator.

Books

Personal author(s)

• Rang HP, Dale MM, Ritter JM, Moore PK. Pharmacology. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 2003.

Editor(s) or compiler(s) as authors

• Beers MH, Porter RS, Jones TV, Kaplan JL, Berkwits M, editors. The Merck manual of diagnosis and therapy. 18th ed. Whitehouse Station (NJ): Merck Research Laboratories; 2006.

Authored chapter in edited publication

• Glennon RA, Dukat M. Serotonin receptors and drugs affecting serotonergic neurotransmission. In: Williams DA, Lemke TL, editors. Foye's principles of medicinal chemistry. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002.

Electronic material

Website

• Drug-interactions.com [homepage on the Internet]. Indianapolis: Indiana University Department of Medicine; c2003 [updated 2006 May 17; cited 2006 May 30]. Available from: http://medicine.iupui.edu/flockhart/

Further Information

Many medical institutions maintain their own style guides, with information on how to cite sources:

• University of Queensland (PDF; accessed September 30 2006)
• University of Leicester Library, Vancouver Style Guide (accessed 24 December 2006)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "bmj.com - Advice to contributors". Retrieved on 2006-12-24. “At the end of the article the full list of references should follow the Vancouver style”
2. ^ "International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Sample References". Retrieved on 2006-12-24.