A Thorough Discussion Of The Vancouver Referencing Style With Examples

Are you looking for Vancouver referencing examples to get an idea about this particular style of citations? It’s possible that you find the elaborate guidelines too confusing. In such cases, it’s always wise to gain clarity on this citation generator and referencing style.

Some students use the online Vancouver referencing generator websites to prepare the referencing and citations in a hassle-free way. But even then having a basic understanding of the citation is necessary. On that note, we can provide some insights to simplify the process of Vancouver referencing.

What Is Vancouver Referencing?

Vancouver referencing was introduced by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, who assembled in Vancouver to decided on a referencing style for all biomedical journals.

The committee decided on an “author–number” system. This style employs numbered citations to point to entries in a reference list, where the author and text are named.

However, Vancouver isn’t a “system” in the strict sense. Rather it’s a reference style with different variations (for instance, the style of punctuation and use of italics). As such, if your college or university recommends using Vancouver referencing, make sure to read through the style guide carefully.

Tips on creating the Vancouver referencing list

The final page of your academic papers should be titled “References” and list all of your sources by maintaining the order they are cited in the text. You should go through the list of guidelines on Vancouver referencing to maintain accuracy. Here are some of the major aspects of this style that you must remember.

· Books and journal names should not be placed within quotation marks or italicized. Journal titles have to be abbreviated.

· The symbol “&” must not be used between author names.

· Page numbers should be abbreviated to “p”. For instance, pages 15-42 would be written as p. 15-42.

· In the reference list, “et al” should only be included when there are more than six authors. In this case, “et al” should be added after the surnames of the first three authors. So, a publication written by Robinson, Powell, Howard, Phillipe, Wilson and Xiang, would be written in the reference list as “Robinson, Powell, Howard et al.”

Citations in Vancouver

This style employs numbers to indicate an entry in the reference list. The format for citing a source may differ in the case of this particular style. But this usually includes square brackets [2], parentheses (1), or superscript numbers.  If the author’s name is incorporated in the text, the citation generally comes after their name. Otherwise, the citation goes at the end of the relevant passage. For instance-

According to Dr. Wilson (1), X and Y are the same. However, several studies disagree (2).

Each number denotes a different source, with sources numbered in the exact order they are first cited. If you use the same source again, simply repeat the number you used the first time.

With all these details, Vancouver referencing won’t seem daunting to you anymore.