Using the “Vancouver Style” in the College Setting

Two audiences/settings of use for the “Vancouver Style”:  Manuscripts for publication (primarily)  Papers written by college students in health- care fields  Final Authority for rules (may vary): Journal targeted for publication OR your instructor

What are the rules, and where can I find them?  Rules about the appearance of a paper  In-text citation rules and rules for entries on the References list  Final Authority is targeted journal or instructor, but an NLM publication (1991) and two articles in JAMA (1997;277 and 1997;278) form a close “second-place” authority: Recommended Formats, “Uniform Requirements” and “Instructions for Authors,” all now available on the Internet  Most of the important rules appear on just a few pages

“Vancouver Style” rules: Two different sets of issues  1. Form & Content:  Overall appearance,  Formal English skills,  Reporting data in tables  2. Citing References: in body of text, and at end of paper Targeted journal OR Your instructor is final authority

Key Differences: “Vancouver” v. APA  In-text numbering system, not parenthetical author, year, and page/paragraph number  Reference list numbered, not alphabetized  No periods after initials, no ampersand in author section of Reference items  Date appears after title, not after author  No italicization, few parentheses in Reference list  Journal titles abbreviated, not spelled out  No spaces between year, volume, number, page numbers  “Available from:” intro to URL of Internet sources v. “Retrieved MONTH + DAY, from + URL” (APA)

Key Differences: “Vancouver” v. AMA  Spelled out “editor,” “editors” v. “ed.” or “eds.”  No italicization (“Vancouver”) v. Italics for titles of book- length works and journal titles (AMA)  No period after title of journal (“Vancouver”) v. Period after title of journal (AMA)  “Vancouver”: Abbreviated “p.” to introduce page numbers  “Available from” intro to URL of Internet sources (and no date of retrieval required) v. “Available at:” before URL and final “Accessed:” + DATE (AMA)

Rules about Appearance of Paper:  Double space all text, including title page  Published sources do not dictate margin size: “generous”—Use plenty of room on the top, bottom, left & right (1” minimum)  Number all pages (even title page) in top, right-hand corner using numeral only; page “header” determined by journal or instructor  Ten possible items on title page (see “Uniform Requirements” (IV.A.2.) but also follow journal guidelines or instructor’s rules

“Vancouver”: Appearance of Numbers  Published sources do not dictate appearance of numbers, but in practice most journals opt for the AMA pronouncement: Use numerals for almost all numbers: “My 3 cats, which are 3, 4, and 7 years old, have caught 23 mice in the past 3 months.”  Exceptions: Ordinals first thru ninth; numbers, like “one,” used in idiomatic expressions; fractions; numbers that begin a sentence, title, subtitle, or heading; numbers spelled out in quotations

“Vancouver style” on Abbreviations  RULE: “Use only standard abbreviations” –“Uniform Requirements” (IV.A.14. )  Official pronouncements are sketchy, but in practice journals follow AMA system of scientific nomenclature, specific prescriptions for organizations, months, states in US, units of measure, clinical/ medical terms, titles of medical journals (called Index Medicus) (Chapter 11, AMA Manual)Index Medicus  “Vancouver” follows AMA tendency to drop punctuation: Rev Corp Dr J Lab Clin Med FDA MD Inc 6 lb 4 oz

General Rules for references: Quotations, Paraphrases, and Summaries of Source Material should be:  ACCURATE  SMOOTH TO READ  SAME AS REFERENCE LIST: CHECK! (one exception: “personal communication”)

Citing References in the Body of the Paper:  Official pronouncements are silent about the form of in-text citations, but in practice journals use a numbering system, either parenthetical or superscript  Some journals: place number in parentheses after quotation or paraphrase in the order in which references first appear in paper [Example: (6).] Most journals follow AMA manual’s dictate for a superscript system in the body of the text 25 ←  More than one number or superscript permitted: (3, 5) OR 2, 25, 28  Page numbers okay in superscript 28(pp2-13 ) ← use “p” OR “pp”  Maximum of 23 characters in superscript (If more, use footnote* in italic letters) ___________________________ *References 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, 21, 24-29, 31.

The Reference List: General Rules  Begin with the title, flush with left margin: References  Includes all sources cited in the body of a paper (but no added ones!)  Numbers (plus period) follow the order of the first citation of each source in the body of your text  No special indentation rules: all lines are double- spaced, flush with L margin

Vancouver Style: Essential Info/Order of Sources  Author(s) (if known)  Title(s)  Publication Information & Date  General Rule: No italics—ever. (Careful: some journals/instructors follow some or all of the AMA rules on italics!!!)

“Vancouver Style”: Author Format (see “Recommended Formats” for official rules)  Last name(s) + first and middle initials, but no punctuation, no ampersand (&), no “titles” like MD; period at the end e.g. Jones PT, Smith I.  Complications:  More than six authors: add,et al. after name of sixth author (or after the name of the third author—some journals/instructors follow AMA style on this rule  Institution or Association? Spell it out.  Use, editor. or, editors. after name(s) of editor(s)

“Vancouver Style” Title Format  Capitalize initial letter of only proper nouns (Smith, Omaha) and the first word in the title (but not first word of sub-title)  Articles in journals or in edited books: Entry requires two titles: In book: the book’s title preceded by In: + Editor name(s) +, editor. or, editors. In journal: standard abbreviation (see Index Medicus) for the journal title appears right after article title, followed by publication info

“Vancouver” Publication Info: Journals  General rule: YEAR + VOL + PAGE numbers; semicolon after YEAR, Colon after VOL, period at the end (Caution: journals/instructors may require different punctuation patterns!)  Add “number” number in parentheses after VOL only if each issue begins on page 1

“Vancouver”: Publication Info for books  Required: City, Abbreviated State, and Publisher  If multiple cities, name of first city listed only  Place COMMA between city & state  Separate state & publisher with colon ( : ); place semicolon after name of publisher.  Add year published + PERIOD. e.g. Boston, Mass:Ebony;2001.  Add page numbers to report only one article in a book (These rules for punctuation vary widely) e.g., Boston, Mass:Ebony;2001. p

“Vancouver” Publication Info, Internet sources  Indicate type of source in square brackets after title (But this practice varies widely according to journal/instructor) e.g., [monograph on the Internet] or [serial online]  Internet sources require a final sentence beginning Available from: Ex: Available from:  Place period only after an ending slash (/)  Rules to cite Internet sources vary widely in practice— get to know expectations of journal or instructor

Editing Checksheet for References List  Each entry complete? Author/Title(s)/Date/Pub. Info  Each element in order?  Each entry using right form? Patterns of Capitalizing/ (non-)Italicizing/ Standard Abbreviating/Indenting/ Punctuating  List matches in-text citations (numbers or superscripts)?

How to Master “Vancouver Style”  Read journals that use “Vancouver Style,” and be conscious of writers’ choices  Practice using “Vancouver Style” for many different kinds of sources, papers  Ask your instructor questions (Dr. Marlin Schaich at Methodist College is also available for questions: )  Follow “NMC Crib Sheet” for leading journal in your field