Vancouver Citation Style: Guide for Medical Students
A practical guide to Vancouver citation style with examples for medical and health science papers.
Vancouver style is the citation system used by most biomedical journals, including those indexed in PubMed. If you're studying medicine, nursing, pharmacy, or any health science, you'll likely need Vancouver referencing.
How Vancouver Works
Vancouver is a numbered citation system, similar to IEEE:
- Sources are numbered in the order they first appear in the text
- In-text citations use superscript numbers or numbers in parentheses/brackets
- The reference list is ordered numerically, not alphabetically
In-Text Citation Styles
Superscript (most common in journals):
Recent studies have shown improved outcomes with early intervention.^1
Parentheses:
Recent studies have shown improved outcomes with early intervention (1).
Brackets:
Recent studies have shown improved outcomes with early intervention 1.
Your journal or institution will specify which format to use. Superscript is the most common in medical journals.
Multiple Citations
Several studies^1-4 have shown...
This finding is supported by multiple sources.^2,5,8
Reference List Format
Journal Article
For a cross-style breakdown of journal article citations, see our journal article citation guide.
- Smith JD, Johnson MK. The impact of citation accuracy on academic publishing. J Acad Writing. 2025;15(3):45-62. doi:10.1234/example.
Key formatting rules:
- No periods in initials (Smith JD, not Smith J.D.)
- Abbreviated journal name (following MEDLINE/PubMed abbreviations)
- Year;Volume(Issue):Pages format with no spaces
- Up to 6 authors listed, then "et al."
Journal Article with More Than 6 Authors
- Smith JD, Johnson MK, Brown A, Wilson R, Taylor S, Lee P, et al. Title of article. J Name. 2025;15(3):45-62.
Book
- Brown A. Academic writing: a complete guide. 3rd ed. London: Routledge; 2024.
Book Chapter
- Wilson R. Citation practices across disciplines. In: Taylor S, Lee P, editors. Handbook of academic standards. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2025. p. 112-34.
Website
- World Health Organization. Global health statistics 2025 Internet. Geneva: WHO; 2025 cited 2025 Mar 15. Available from: https://www.who.int/statistics
Key points for websites:
- Internet after the title
- cited YYYY Mon DD for access date
- "Available from:" before the URL
Clinical Guideline
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management. NICE guideline NG136. London: NICE; 2023.
Vancouver vs IEEE
Both are numbered systems, but they differ in important ways:
| Feature | Vancouver | IEEE |
|---|---|---|
| Typical field | Medicine, health sciences | Engineering, CS |
| Author names | Smith JD (no periods) | J. D. Smith (periods, initials first) |
| In-text format | Superscript or parentheses | Square brackets |
| Journal names | PubMed/MEDLINE abbreviations | ISO 4 abbreviations |
| DOI prefix | doi: (lowercase) | doi: (lowercase) |
For the IEEE version, see our IEEE citation guide.
Using PubMed IDs
If you're citing medical literature, PubMed makes it easy. Every article in PubMed has a PMID (PubMed ID) -- a unique number you can use to look up the full citation. For a detailed walkthrough, see our guide on generating citations from PMIDs.
You can paste a PMID directly into CiteTools.io to generate a Vancouver-formatted citation automatically. Just enter the number (e.g., 33657327) and select Vancouver as the output style.
Common Mistakes
- Periods in author initials -- Vancouver uses "Smith JD" not "Smith J.D."
- Full journal names -- Always use the abbreviated form from PubMed/MEDLINE
- Alphabetizing the reference list -- Vancouver orders by first appearance
- Missing "et al." for 7+ authors -- List the first 6 authors, then "et al."
- Forgetting Internet and cited for online sources -- Required for all web sources
- Wrong page format -- Use "p. 112-34" not "pp. 112-134" (note: truncated page numbers)
Try It with CiteTools
Medical citations have strict formatting requirements. Paste any DOI, PubMed ID, or URL into CiteTools.io to get a correctly formatted Vancouver citation instantly. We pull metadata straight from PubMed to ensure accuracy.