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Vancouver referencing generator

Vancouver is the numbered style used by most medical and health journals, based on the US National Library of Medicine’s rules. WriteOrbit numbers and formats your references as you write.

Your list

Sources you add appear here, formatted in your style.

Your list stays in this browser. Copy keeps italics when you paste into Word or Google Docs. Check every citation against the source.

Vancouver example

The 1953 paper in which Watson and Crick described the structure of DNA (DOI 10.1038/171737a0), cited in Vancouver.

In the text

Number
…was described in 1953 (1).

References

1. Watson JD, Crick FH. Molecular structure of nucleic acids; a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature. 1953 Apr 25;171(4356):737-8. doi: 10.1038/171737a0

Vancouver format for common sources

Journal article
Last AA, Last BB. Title of the article. Abbrev Journal. Year Mon Day;Volume(Issue):pages.
Book
Last AA. Title of the book. Edition. Place: Publisher; Year.
Web page
Last AA. Title of the page [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year [cited Year Mon Day]. Available from: URL

Main Vancouver rules

  • Number sources in order of first citation, in brackets, parentheses or superscript (follow your journal).
  • No italics; journal names use NLM abbreviations without full stops.
  • List up to six authors, then “et al.”

Your course, publisher or university may change these rules. When they differ, follow them.

How to use it

  1. Find the source

    Paste a DOI or search by title, or enter a website, book or other source by hand.

  2. Pick a style

    APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, IEEE or any of over 10,000 styles.

  3. Copy

    Copy the reference and the in-text citation. Add more sources to build a list.

Good to know

  • A citation is only as good as its record. Check names, dates and capitalisation for unusual sources.
  • Your list stays in this browser. Sign in to keep references with your documents.

Questions

More in the help center.

Is Vancouver the same as AMA?

Both are numbered medical styles, but they differ in punctuation and italics. AMA italicises journal names; Vancouver does not.

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