Vancouver Reference List

    Create comprehensive reference lists following Vancouver style for medical and scientific publications

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    Published: September 15, 2025
    By heypaperhero Team

    Reference List Fundamentals

    Vancouver reference lists are numbered consecutively in the order sources appear in the text. The list appears at the end of the manuscript under the heading "References".

    Key Guidelines:

    • • Number references consecutively (1, 2, 3...)
    • • List in order of first appearance in text
    • • Use abbreviated journal names (NLM standards)
    • • Include up to 6 authors; use "et al." for more
    • • End each reference with a period
    • • Use hanging indent formatting

    Journal Articles

    Standard Format:

    Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue):pages.

    Examples:

    1. Smith J, Wilson K, Brown M. Effects of new cardiovascular therapy on patient outcomes. J Cardiol. 2023;45(3):123-135.

    2. Johnson A, Davis R, Miller S, et al. Long-term efficacy of combination therapy in diabetes management. Diabetes Care. 2023;46(8):1456-1468.

    💡 Journal Abbreviations

    Use the National Library of Medicine (NLM) catalog to find correct journal abbreviations:J Am Med Assoc for Journal of the American Medical Association.

    Books

    Entire Book:

    Author AA. Title of book. Edition (if not 1st). City: Publisher; Year.

    Book Chapter:

    Author AA. Chapter title. In: Editor BB, editor. Book title. City: Publisher; Year. p. pages.

    Examples:

    3. Harrison TR. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 20th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2023.

    4. Smith J. Cardiovascular disease prevention. In: Johnson A, editor. Modern cardiology. Boston: Medical Publishers; 2023. p. 45-67.

    Electronic Sources

    Online Journal Article:

    Author AA. Article title. Journal Name [Internet]. Year [cited Year Mon Day];Volume(Issue):pages. Available from: URL

    Website:

    Organization. Title of webpage [Internet]. City: Publisher; Year [cited Year Mon Day]. Available from: URL

    Examples:

    5. Wilson K, Brown M. Digital health interventions in chronic disease management. J Med Internet Res [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Oct 15];25(4):e12345. Available from: https://www.jmir.org/2023/4/e12345/

    6. World Health Organization. Global health statistics [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2023 [cited 2023 Oct 15]. Available from: https://www.who.int/data/global-health-statistics

    Special Publication Types

    Conference Abstract

    7. Miller S, Davis R. Novel treatment approaches in oncology [abstract]. Proceedings of the Annual Cancer Conference; 2023 Jun 15-17; Chicago, IL. Abstract nr 123.

    Thesis/Dissertation

    8. Johnson A. Molecular mechanisms in drug resistance [dissertation]. Boston: Harvard University; 2023.

    Government Report

    9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health disparities in cardiovascular disease. Atlanta: CDC; 2023. Report No.: CDC-2023-CVD-001.

    Sample Reference List

    Here's an example of a properly formatted Vancouver reference list:

    References

    1. Smith J, Wilson K. Cardiovascular risk assessment in elderly patients. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2023;20(4):234-245.

    2. Brown M, Davis R, Miller S, et al. Efficacy of combination therapy in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2023;46(5):892-901.

    3. Harrison TR. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 20th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2023.

    4. World Health Organization. Global burden of disease report [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2023 [cited 2023 Oct 15]. Available from: https://www.who.int/data/global-burden-disease

    5. Johnson A. Precision medicine in oncology [dissertation]. Boston: Harvard University; 2023.