Published February 12, 2021. Updated August 10, 2021.

Referencing is used to showcase the research of appropriate literature you explored to back up the information you are using in your work, may it be a scientific article, news article, PDF or even a YouTube video. Similarly, when you’re referencing, you’re using ideas and works of other authors to support your own work, but acknowledging that the information was previously exposed by someone else. The Vancouver style is used mostly in medical literature, but nowadays can be found referencing many other types of sources.

To cite in Vancouver style, it’s helpful to know basic information about your source including author(s) name(s), the title of the source and/or article, date published, edition and/or volume, and page numbers (if applicable).

This guide will give you in-text citations and full reference examples using Vancouver style for the following types of sources:

1. Website

2. Book

3. Journal article

4. Newspaper or magazine article

5. PDF

6. YouTube video

7. Online image

If you’re trying to easily cite in Vancouver, check out the Chegg Writing citation generator.

Formatting in Vancouver style

Vancouver citation style has two parts:

1. In-text citation number either inside parenthesis or in the superscript form.

2. Reference list.

1. In-text citation number

When you want to cite information from a source within the text of your article/document, place a number inside a parenthesis or in superscript at the end of the sentence you wish to cite. In-text citations are arranged sequentially in the text and, therefore, in the reference list at the end of your document.

You can also cite more than one source at a time using a hyphen when linking numbers that are inclusive and a comma when numbers are not consecutive:

• Example sentence (1,2) or Example sentence^1,2

• Example sentence (1–3) or Example sentence^1–3

• Example sentence (1,2–4,9) or Example sentence{a *1,2–4,9}

If you wish to use the author(s) name(s) in your text, insert the family/surname followed by the citation number in parenthesis:

• Doe (1) described the process as a cycle.

• Doe et al. (1) described the process as a cycle.

The citation number corresponds to the source’s number in the reference list. You can use the same citation number in different sentences and/or paragraphs throughout your document when referencing the information from that source. In this guide, we will only cite examples of citations using parenthesis.

2. Reference list

The reference list contains information about the work you cited and its author(s). Create a numerical list at the end of your paper and title it “References”. References are listed in the order the sources are mentioned in your paper; they are not in alphabetical order. The 3 main information you will always need are the author or editor’s name, the title of the source, and the date of publication.

Other information you may need depending on the type of source you’re referencing could be name of the publisher, total number of pages or the exact page the information was found in, editorials and their edition’s or volume’s number, URL (for websites), DOI (for published articles), journal title, and the date when you accessed the information of the source.

Citing a website page in Vancouver style

In-text citation template and example:

“The results demonstrate teens are under depression (4).”

Reference list template and example:

Citing a book in Vancouver style

In-text citation template and example of a printed book:

“Side effects began appearing about 2 weeks after the trial had begun (3).”

Reference list template and example of a printed book:

In-text citation template and example of an online book:

“Side effects began appearing about 2 weeks after the trial had begun (3).”

Reference list template and example of an online book:

Citing a journal article in Vancouver style

The title of journals should be abbreviated according to the National Library of Medicine List of Serials Indexed for Online Users (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lsiou.html).

In-text citation template and example of a printed journal article:

“Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers (7) …”

Reference list template and example of a printed journal article:

In-text citation template and example of an online journal article:

“Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers (7) …”

Reference list template and example of an online journal article:

Citing a newspaper article in Vancouver style

In-text citation template and example:

“Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers (6) …”

Reference list template and example:

Citing a PDF in Vancouver style

In-text citation template and example:

“Despite repeated and comprehensive efforts by the researchers (7) …”

Reference list template and example:

Citing a YouTube video in Vancouver style

In-text citation template and example:

“There are several approaches to washing hands, including the one shown in this image (7).”

Reference list template and example:

Citing an online image in Vancouver style

In-text citation template and example:

“There are several approaches (12) to ….”

Reference list template and example:

Automatically create citations in 7,000+ styles with the Chegg Writing citation generator.