Vancouver system

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 author-date, or "Harvard", system.

Contents

History

The Vancouver system takes its name from a meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in 1978 that 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 U.S.[2] whose version "should be considered as the authoritative style" according to the British Medical Association (BMA).[1]

The 2007 ICMJE edition, at paragraph IV.A.9.b. Reference Style and Format, refers to the detailed style guide at the NLM's Citing medicine.[3] Several versions of the Uniform requirements were published, including the 1991 BMJ publication,[4] the 1995 CMAJ publication[5] and the 1997 Annals of Internal Medicine publication.[6] Journals were asked to cite the 1997 JAMA version[7] when reprinting the Uniform requirements. As of 2004, the editors of Haematologia simply "invite[d]" their authors to visit www.icmje.org for the 2003 revision of the Uniform requirements.[8]

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].

Format of citations

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

Journal articles

Standard journal articles

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:

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

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:

Articles not in English

As per journal articles in English:

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

Books

Personal author(s)

Editor(s) or compiler(s) as authors

Authored chapter in edited publication

Electronic material

Website

References

  1. ^ a b Reference styles: Harvard and Vancouver; 2006 Sep 25 [cited 2009 Apr 16]. "The NLM has an ICMJE page which gives sample references for 41 different circumstances, and should be considered as the authoritative style:...www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html"
  2. ^ International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Sample References [cited 2006 Dec 24].
  3. ^ Citing medicine [cited 2010 October 9].
  4. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). 1991;302(6772):338–41. doi:10.1136/bmj.302.6772.338. PMID 2001512.
  5. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1995;152(9):1459–73. PMID 7728695.
  6. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors [Free full text]. Annals of internal medicine. 1997;126(1):36–47. PMID 8992922.
  7. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. JAMA: the journal of the American Medical Association. 1997;277(11):927–34. doi:10.1001/jama.277.11.927. PMID 9062335.
  8. ^ International Committee Of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: writing and editing for biomedical publication [Free full text]. Haematologica. 2004;89(3):264. PMID 15020262.

External links

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