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Vancouver system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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
1 History
2 Usage
2.1 Labelling citations
2.2 Format of citations
2.2.1 Journal articles
2.2.2 Books
2.2.3 Electronic material
3 References
4 External links

History
The Vancouver system takes its name from a meeting in Vancouver BC, Canada, in 1978 which 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 US[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 (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine/) . Several versions of the Uniform
requirements were published, including the 1991 BMJ publication,[3] the 1995 CMAJ publication[4] and the 1997
Annals of Internal Medicine publication.[5] Journals were asked to cite the 1997 JAMA version[6] 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.[7]

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].

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Format of citations

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

Journal articles

Standard journal articles

Leurs R, Church MK, Taglialatela M. H1-antihistamines: inverse agonism, anti-inflammatory actions and
cardiac effects. Clin Exp Allergy. 2002 Apr;32(4):489-98.

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:

Thomas MC. Diuretics, ACE inhibitors and NSAIDs – the triple whammy. Med J Aust. 2000;172:184–
185.

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

Guilbert TW, Morgan WJ, Zeiger RS, Mauger DT, Boehmer SJ, Szefler SJ, et al. Long-term inhaled
corticosteroids in preschool children at high risk for asthma. N Engl J Med. 2006 May 11;354(19):1985–
97.

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:

von Itzstein M, Wu WY, Kok GB, Pegg MS, Dyason JC, Jin B, et al. Rational design of potent sialidase-
based inhibitors of influenza virus replication. Nature. 1993 Jun 3;363(6428):418-23. Cited in PubMed;
PMID 8502295.

Articles not in English

As per journal articles in English:

Forneau E, Bovet D. Recherches sur l'action sympathicolytique d'un nouveau dérivé du dioxane. Arch Int
Pharmacodyn. 1933;46:178-91.

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

Books

Personal author(s)

Rang HP, Dale MM, Ritter JM, Moore PK. Pharmacology. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 2003.

Editor(s) or compiler(s) as authors

Beers MH, Porter RS, Jones TV, Kaplan JL, Berkwits M, editors. The Merck manual of diagnosis and
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therapy. 18th ed. Whitehouse Station (NJ): Merck Research Laboratories; 2006.

Authored chapter in edited publication

Glennon RA, Dukat M. Serotonin receptors and drugs affecting serotonergic neurotransmission. In: Williams
DA, Lemke TL, editors. Foye's principles of medicinal chemistry. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins; 2002.

Electronic material

Website

Drug-interactions.com [homepage on the Internet]. Indianapolis: Indiana University Department of Medicine;

2003 [updated 2006 May 17; cited 2006 May 30]. Available from: http://medicine.iupui.edu/flockhart/

References
1. ^ a b Reference styles: Harvard and Vancouver
(http://www.bma.org.uk/library_medline/electronic_resources/factsheets/LIBReferenceStyles.jsp) ; 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
(http://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 (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html) [cited 2006
Dec 24].
3. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1669007/) . BMJ (Clinical research ed.).
1991;302(6772):338–41. doi:10.1136/bmj.302.6772.338 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.302.6772.338) . PMID
2001512.
4. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1337910/) . CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association
journal. 1995;152(9):1459–73. PMID 7728695.
5. ^ Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors (http://www.annals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=8992922) [Free full text]. Annals of
internal medicine. 1997;126(1):36–47. PMID 8992922.
6. ^ 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 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1001%2Fjama.277.11.927) . PMID 9062335.
7. ^ International Committee Of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted
to Biomedical Journals: writing and editing for biomedical publication
(http://www.haematologica.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=15020262) [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:

University of Queensland (http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/vancouv.pdf) (PDF; accessed

September 30 2006)

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University of Leicester Library, Vancouver Style Guide
(http://www.le.ac.uk/li/sources/subject8/vancouver.html) (accessed 24 December 2006)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_system"
Categories: Bibliography | Research

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