Dr. Shama Mashhood Medical Educationist Medical EducationistKMDC

Vancouver Vancouver  Vancouver group:  Established guidelines for format of manuscripts submitted to their journals  Guidelines first developed by the NLM, published in 1979  Group expanded to International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)  Included ethical principles related to publication in biomedical journals  Revised on a regular basis

Importance of referencing  Verification  Authentication  To protect oneself from charges of plagiarism.

Referencing in Vancouver Style  used in medical and scientific journals.  Numeric citation system  requires only a number in the body of the paper,  while at the end of the work there should be a numbered list of the references used.

In-text citing  A number is allocated to a source in the order in which it is cited in the text Preferable style is either in brackets or in superscript. [ ], e.g.….. innovative learning 1  A number is allocated to a source in the order in which it is cited in the text Preferable style is either in brackets or in superscript. [ ], e.g.….. innovative learning 1  If the source is referred to again, the same number is used.  e.g.…...as one author has put it "the darkest days were still ahead" [1]: which is well documented in the literature. [2-5] This proves that "the darkest days were still ahead". [1]

Multiple References   use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers that are inclusive.   Use commas (without spaces) to separate non-inclusive   e.g. 2,3,4,5,7,10 is abbreviated to   (2-5,7,10)

How to create a Reference List   Reference list should appear at the end of the assignment / report.   Entries are listed numerically and in the same order that they were cited in the text. Example: 1. Baker PN, editor. Obstetrics by ten teachers. 18th ed. London:Hodder Arnold; Delbridge ML, Harry JL, Toder R. A human candidate spermatogenesis gene, RBM1, is conserved and amplified on the marsupial Y chromosome. Nat Genet. 1997; 15:

Essential Elements for referencing books  Author  Title  Edition  Place of Publication  Publisher  Date (year)

Examples Personal Author: Adam RD, Victor M. Principles of Neurology. 5 th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Editor(s) or Compiler(s): Diener HC, Wilkinson M, editors. Drug-induced headache. New York: Springer-Verlag, Organization as author: Virginia Law Foundation. The Medical and legal implications of AIDS. Charlottesville: The Foundation, 1987.

Chapter in a book (or part of a book to which a number of authors have contributed)   Elements of the citation:   Author's (of the chapter) surname initials. Title of chapter. In: Editor's surname initials, editor. Title of the book. # ed. [if not 1st] Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication. p. #.[page numbers of chapter] e.g. Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York:McGraw-Hill; p

Journal citations   Main Elements of a journal citation: Example:   1. Author's surname Initials. Title of article. Title of Journal. [abbreviated] Year of publication Month date; Volume number (issue number): page numbers

Examples Volume with supplement Leff J. Working with the families of schizophrenic patients. Br J Psychiatry 1994; 164 Suppl 23: Issue with supplement: Hirschfeld RMA, Holzer CE. Depressive personality disorders: clinical implications. J Clin Psychiat 1994 Apr; 55 (4Suppl): Journal article in Electronic format: Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from: URL:

“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: e.g. Available from:

Editing Check sheet for References List  Each entry complete?  Author/Title (s)/Date/Pub.  Each element in order?  Each entry using right form?  Patterns of Capitalizing/  (non-)Italicizing/ Standard Abbreviating/ 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  Follow instruction of leading journal in your field

Thank you!