Vancouver Style Made Easy: 5 Tips to Get Your Reference Format Right

What if after you’ve spent months writing up your research and hit “Submit” on the journal website, but a tiny formatting slip in your reference list or in-text citations returns your manuscript for corrections? That’s now several frustrating hours of revisions, which is time researchers often don’t have to spare.

In the field of health and medical research, Vancouver style is often the go-to format, and getting it right can save you hours of revision. Let’s go through the five tips to ensure you get it right the first time.  

1. Referencing sources in text

For citing sources in text, the Vancouver style of reference formatting typically uses Arabic numerals in superscript format, placed after the relevant sentence or next to the source author’s name. For instance: It has been noted that these symptoms can present as quickly as six hours after first exposure.¹ If you mention an author by name in your running text, and the paper has three or more authors, you can write the first author’s last name followed by et al.  and attach the citation number. However, at times, depending on the journal instructions, numerals may be presented within brackets or parentheses, for e.g., [1] or (1). So, be sure to check carefully and follow what the journal or university guidelines specify. 

When you cite a source for the first time and assign it a number, repeat that same number for subsequent citations of the same source. But what about citing multiple references? In that case you can separate the numbers with commas or use a hyphen while citing sequential numbers. For e.g., Previous studies showed similar trends.^2-4,7 In the reference list at the end of your document, ensure you list your sources in the order they first appear in your text. 

2. Polishing author and title formatting

Whether you’re citing a journal article, book, book chapter or thesis, author names and title of the source are common elements and formatting them right can help eliminate chunks of formatting errors. 

When you prepare the reference list, for each source, if the number of authors is six or less, mention all names in the format: Last name and initials of the first and middle names. For example, Sommariva M. On the other hand, if the source has seven or more authors, you can list the first three authors followed by et al, for e.g., Sommariva M, Dolci M, Triulzi T, et al. In some cases, the author may not be individuals but in fact a professional group or association. In such instances, spell out the full organization name, e.g., American Heath Association. 

Next comes the title. Write the title as it appears in the original source but ensure it is written in sentence case, i.e. capitalizing only the first word, the first word after a colon or dash, and any proper nouns. For example: Impact of in vitro SARS-CoV-2 infection on breast cancer cells. 

3. Ensuring source identification

Once you’ve formatted the names and titles correctly, then comes the part of a reference where the source or where each reference comes from is identified and formatted as required. For journals, this would be the journal name, which should be abbreviated in the style of the NLM guidelines, for e.g., N Engl J Med for New England Journal of Medicine. Similarly, for books, add the full book title and include the edition as well when applicable. For other sources like a dissertation or thesis, mention the university name and do also add the type of dissertation, for e.g., if it is a PhD Thesis, specify it after the dissertation title. For preprints, specify that it is indeed a preprint and include the repository or server name, for e.g., Dryad, bioRxiv, etc. so readers know where to look up the source. 

4. Citing non-English sources

While it may not be that often, you may encounter important sources which may be published in languages other than English. And while the Vancouver style, like most reference styles, is more specific to English language sources, there is guidance available for those citing non-English sources. It is key to make sure your references are both accurate and accessible, which can be done by combining original titles, transliterations, and language tags.

For sources in Latin languages, with an English translation available, write the translated title first, then include the original title in brackets. For example, Understanding the financial and ecological costs to optimize the prescription of additional tests or medications [Connaître le coût financier et écologique pour rationaliser les prescriptions d’examens complémentaires ou de médicaments]. 

For works published in a non-Latin language, which can include Korean, Japanese, Russian, etc., provide a Romanized transliteration of the author names and title. What does this mean? For instance, let’s consider an article published in the Journal of the Korean Medical Association. Here the title in Korean is: 정맥혈전증 환자의 수술 전후 직접 경구 항응고제 관리 전략 and Romanizing it would look like: jeongmaekyeoljeonjeung hwanjaui susul jeonhu jikjeop gyeonggu hangeunggoje gwalli jeollyak (Revised Romanization style) or chŏngmaek’yŏlchŏnjŭng hwanjaŭi susul chŏnhu chikchŏp kyŏnggu hangŭnggoje kwalli chŏllyak (McCune-Reischauer system). Furthermore, if the English translation for the title is available, it can be added within brackets, after the Romanization. For e.g., Jeongmaekhyeoljeonjeung hwanjaui susul jeonhu jikjeop gyeonggu hangeunggoje gwanri jeonryak [Clinical strategies for perioperative management of direct oral anticoagulants in patients treated for venous thromboembolism]. Last but equally important is to always tag the language of original publication. 

By combining these elements, you can ensure that every source is accessible for an international audience, traceable in its native context, and gives the due credit to the original version.

5. Using tools to assist in reference formatting

While the old-school way of manually preparing reference lists and in-text citations still works and can give you more control over making minor tweaks in case of varying instructions, there are tools available to help automate the process. 

Traditionally used reference managers like EndNote and Mendeley can offer Vancouver output styles and optimize your library. And today, there’s more options available, including AI assistance. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Paperpal can offer you a flexible toolkit for creating reference lists in different styles, speeding up the process, and ensuring consistency. While it is not mandatory to use these tools, they can be of assistance, especially when you’re pressed for time. You can try out the different tools available and see what works best for you. However, always cross check your list and details included as automated tools may follow traditional styles and may not always incorporate custom requirements that your target journal requires.

Additional tip: Over time, many reference styles have evolved to incorporate different variations. So be sure to always double check that you follow your target journal’s or university guide’s requirements to the T, as these specifics will always trump the standard style guidelines.