Vancouver (Numbering) list of references

At the end of your work the references you have cited in text is listed in numerical order by citation number.

There are style rules which you must follow when referencing sources.  The main rules are as follows -

  • Authors.  Write the first author's last name first and follow with their initial or initials.  Do not separate initials with a full stop.  Separate each author's name with a comma. e.g. Walton J, Bardondess JA, Lock S.
  • Multiple Authors.  List all authors when six or less, when seven or more, list the first six authors followed by et al as shown in reference no. 5 in the example below.
  • Capitalise the first letter.  The first letter of the author's last name and initial(s) are in capitals.  Also capitalise the first letter of the publication title, the first letters of all main words in the title of a journal and all first letters of a place name and publisher.
  • Abbreviate journal name.  The name of the journal must be abbreviated. Journal abbreviations can be found by looking at the complete reference (on Medline) and then looking under the heading abbreviated source. They can also be found listed on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Links to an external site. website. 
  • Page Numbers.  Page numbers can be shown in full e.g. 260-263 or they can be shortened to 260-63.  There is no definite rule about how page numbers should be written, however, you need to be consistent so decide how you are going to show page numbers and stick to it. 

Below is an example of a list of references based on the Vancouver style used in Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 9th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, and in Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 11th revised and expanded edn. London: Macmillan International. 

'Cite them right' has been developed into an online subscription resource from Bloomsbury Publishing, available to UoB students and staff (login as institution 'University of Birmingham' when off-campus or if prompted). This has many detailed examples for all styles, and includes a detailed page for Vancouver Links to an external site. with a sample text and reference list.

Example

List of References

  1. Martin EA, editor. Concise medical dictionary. 8th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2010
  2. Parkinson J. An essay on the shaking palsy. London: Whittingham and Rowland; 1817
  3. Mayo R, Stern P, Williams TW. An estimate of the prevalence of dementia in idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Arch Neurol 1988; 45: 260-263
  4. Brown RG, Robinson PJ. The level of depression in Parkinson's disease. Am J Psychiatry 1987; 149: 122-129
  5. Meakin CJ, King DA, White J, Scott JM, Handley H, Griffiths A, et al. Screening for depression in the medically ill. J Nerv Ment Dis 1991; 12: 45-53
  6. Lin H, Cai X, Zhang D, Liu J, Na P, Li W. Functional connectivity markers of depression in advanced Parkinson's disease. Neuroimage Clin [Internet]. 2020;25:102130. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102130
  7. Parkinson’s UK.  Parkinson’s and mental health [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 June 13]. Available from: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/parkinsons-and-mental-health Links to an external site. Links to an external site.