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Vancouver Referencing Style:  Articles

UON Library guide to Vancouver Style for UON students

Journal articles

 

General rules:

Journals are a particular type of periodical. The same rules and examples can be used for magazines and other types of periodicals.

Author Names

  • List names in the order they appear on the publication
  • Initials follow the surname of authors, no spaces or full-stops appear between initials, e.g. Smith CK
  • Capitalise surnames and enter spaces as they appear on the publication. For example, Van Den Hoffer or van der Hoffer
  • Where there are 6 or fewer authors, list all author names.
  • Where there are 7 or more authors, list the first six authors followed by “et al.”
  • Place a comma and space between each name when there are more than one author.
  • Do not use “and” or “&” to separate the last two authors.
  • Omit "The" preceding an organizational name / corporate author.
  • A country code may be added after national bodies if needed for clarification, eg. National Academy of Sciences (US).
  • If the article does not have an author, just omit this element, and start the reference with the article title. 

Article Titles

  • Capitalise only the first word of the article title (and words that normally begin with a capital letter).
  • Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless some other form of punctuation (such as a question mark, etc.) is already present.
  • End a title with a period unless a question mark or exclamation point already ends it or an Article Type (such as [letter], [abstract], etc.) follows it.
  • Do not italicize, underline or use quotation marks for article titles.

Journal Title

  • Titles of journals may be abbreviated, e.g. Am J Hosp Med is for American Journal of Hospital Medicine.
  • No punctuation is used within abbreviations; a full-stop appears at the end of the journal title, eg. Am J Hosp Med.

Year of Publication

  • Include the year of publication after the journal title.
  • End date information with a semicolon unless there is no volume or issue, then end with a colon, followed by page range.
  • When the publication date is unknown, use [date unknown].

Volume Number

  • Volume number follows the year and is followed by issue and page range, eg. 2015;95(1):110-1.
  • Omit "volume", "vol.", and similar wording preceding the number
  • Volume with supplement or parts: Headache. 2002;42 Suppl 2:S93-9.;  or Int J Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491-5.
  • If no volume number is found, just simply omit the volume no, eg 2015;(1):110-1.

Issue Number

  • The issue number, enclosed in parentheses, follows the volume number and precedes the page range, eg. 99(4):258-60.
  • If no issue number is found, follow the volume number with a colon and the page range 2015;95:110-1.
  • Issue with supplement or parts: 2020;96(6 Suppl 7):6-12; or 2020;88(6 Pt 2):116-22
  • The issue number is omitted if the pagination is continuous throughout a volume.

Page Numbers

  • Include the page range (beginning and ending page numbers) of the entire article eg. 269-73.
  • Limit the number of digits in the 2nd part of the page range to those needed for clarity. For example, use 351-7 (not 351-357).
  • For online articles without page numbers, use the e-locator such as the article no if available in the place of page number.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • Most individual articles are assigned an identifying "digital object identifier" or DOI. If a DOI is available, include it at the end of the reference.

  • DOIs are cited in the format of doi:10.xxxxxxx, e.g. doi:10.1086/679716.

  • Check the What are DOIs? site for more information on DOIs.

Online Article without a DOI

To reference a journal article found online which does not have a DOI:

  • Include ‘Internet’ in square brackets directly after the abbreviated journal title, follow with a full-stop.
  • Add the date the article was cited in square brackets after the year of publication in the format [cited year month day]. Follow with a semi-colon.
  • At the end of the reference, after the page numbers, add the phrase ‘Available from:’ followed by the URL. Do not include a full-stop at the end.

Secondary Sources

For citations taken from secondary sources, see the Secondary Sources page.

 

Journal articles with 1-6 author/s

 

  • Where there are 6 or fewer authors, list all author names in the reference

The following is the general format for a reference to an online journal article with 6 or fewer authors with a DOI.

See the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No. 1-6 Author's Last Name Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range. doi:10.xxxxxxxx.

 

1.         Bennett DS. Cryopreserved amniotic membrane and umbilical cord particulate for managing pain caused by facet joint syndrome: a case series. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(10):e14745. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000014745.

2.         Schreijenberg M, Koes BW, Lin CC. Guideline recommendations on the pharmacological management of non-specific low back pain in primary care: is there a need to change? Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2019;12(2):145-57. doi:10.1080/17512433.2019.1565992.

3.         Akahane M, Maeyashiki A, Tanaka Y, Imamura T. The impact of musculoskeletal diseases on the presence of locomotive syndrome. Mod Rheumatol. 2019;29(1):151-6. doi:10.1080/14397595.2018.1452173.

4.         Zoia C, Bongetta D, Alicino C, Chimenti M, Pugliese R, Gaetani P. Usefulness of corset adoption after single-level lumbar discectomy: a randomized controlled trial. J Neurosurg Spine. 2018;28(5):481-5. doi:10.3171/2017.8.SPINE17370.

 

Journal articles with 7 or more authors

 

When a journal article has 7 or more authors, list only the first 6 authors followed by et al. in the reference.

The following is the general format of a reference to a journal article with seven or more authors. The first example is an online journal article with a DOI. The 2nd example is a journal article in print.

See the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No. 1-6 Author's Last Name Initials, et al. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range. doi:10.xxxxxxxx.

 

1.         Stevens ML, Boyle E, Hartvigsen J, Mansell G, Sogaard K, Jorgensen MB, et al. Mechanisms for reducing low back pain: a mediation analysis of a multifaceted intervention in workers in elderly care. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2019;92(1):49-58. doi:10.1007/s00420-018-1350-3.

2.          Zadro JR, Shirley D, Ferreira M, Carvalho Silva AP, Lamb SE, Cooper C, et al. Is vitamin D supplementation effective for low back pain? a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain Physician. 2018;21(2):121-45.

 

Journal articles with corporate authors

 

'Corporate authors' are organisations, associations, groups, or societies who have written publications. This includes universities, research groups, museums, government departments, professional associations, and so on.

  • Omit "The" preceding an organizational name
  • Cite the corporate author in descending hierarchical order, separated by commas, eg. University of Newcastle, School of Medicine
  • Separate two or more different organizations by a semicolon
  • A country code may be added after national bodies if needed for clarification, eg. National Academy of Sciences (US).

The following is the general format of a reference to a journal article by a corporate author with a DOI. 

See the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No. Corporate Author. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range. doi:10.xxxxxxxx.

 

1.          World Health Organization. Shanghai Declaration on promoting health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Health Promot Int. 2017;32(1):7-8. doi:10.1093/heapro/daw103. 

 

Journal articles with no author listed

 

When a work is published without an author's name, do not list the author as " Anonymous." Instead, skip the author element and begin the entry with the work's title.

The following is the general format of a reference to a journal article without an author.

See the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No.  Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range. doi if available.

 

1.           New accreditation product approved for systems under the ambulatory and home care programs. Jt Comm Perspect. 2005;25(5):8. 

2.           Giving birth: upright positions shorten first stage labour. MIDRS Mid Dig. 2009;16:233. 

 

Journal articles - 'Forthcoming', 'In press', online first

 

Many journal publishers provide access to articles before they have been assigned a volume, issue or page number, referring to them as "Forthcoming", "In Press", "Advance Publication", "Epub ahead of print", or "Online First" articles.

It is important to re-check references prior to submitting assessment tasks in case a 'forthcoming' article has been assigned a volume, issue and page numbers. If this is the case, ensure you re-format the citation following the guidelines on the appropriate tab on this page for the number of authors the article has.

 

Referencing 'forthcoming' articles:

 

If an article has been accepted for publication by a journal but has not yet appeared, forthcoming stands in place of the year, volume, issue, and the page numbers. Any article not yet accepted should be treated as an unpublished manuscript.

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No. Author's Last Name Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Forthcoming Year. doi:10.xxxxxxxx.

 

1.           Laking G, Lord J, Fischer A. The economics of diagnosis. Health Econ. Forthcoming 2023.

2.           Hoopes M, Schmidt T, Huguet N, Winters-Stone K, Angier H, Marino M, et al. Identifying and characterizing cancer survivors in the US primary care safety net. Cancer. Forthcoming 2019. doi: 10.1002/cncr.32295.

 

Where possible always refer to the final versions of your sources.

Online journal articles without a DOI

 

To reference a journal article found online which does not have a DOI: 

  • Include ‘Internet’ in square brackets directly after the abbreviated journal title, follow with a full-stop.
  • Add the date the article was cited in square brackets after the year of publication in the format [cited year month day]. Follow with a semi-colon.
  • At the end of the reference, after the page numbers, add the phrase ‘Available from:’ followed by the URL. Do not omit the http:// or https:// from the URL. Do not include a full-stop at the end.

See the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

 Citation No. Author's Last Name Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title[Internet]. Year [cited Year Month Day];volume(issue):page range. Available from: URL

 

1.           Kemble R. The intolerable taboo of mental illness. Social Alt [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2016 Jun 27];33:20-3. Available from: https://socialalternatives.com/sites/default/files/pdf/issue/free/vol_33_3_small.pdf

2.           Maddison S. Private men, public anger: the men's rights movement in Australia. Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies[Internet]. 1999 [cited 2019 Jun 4];4(2):39-51. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1048435

Print journal articles

 

The following is the general format of a reference to a print journal article which does not have a DOI.

See the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No. Author's Last Name, Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range.

 

1.         Tong MJ, Strickland GT, Votteri BA, Gunning JJ. Supplemental folates in the therapy of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. JAMA.1970;214(13):2330-3.

2.         Zadro JR, Shirley D, Ferreira M, Carvalho Silva AP, Lamb SE, Cooper C, et al. Is vitamin D supplementation effective for low back pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain Physician. 2018;21(2):121-45.

 

 

Magazine articles

 

Magazine articles are cited in the same way as journal articles. However, for magazines not published with volume and issue numbers

  • Include the year, month, and day of publication in that order, e.g. 2004 Jul 5
  • Abbreviate the months using their first three letters.

See the tabs above and the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

Newspaper and newsletter articles

 

Newspaper articles are cited in the same way as journal articles, but with full year, month and day details. 

See the tabs above and the general rules for journal articles for more details. 

However, some newspapers may not be published with volume and issue numbers. See the examples of newspaper citations below. 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

 

  Citation No. Author's Last Names, Initials. Article title: subtitle. Newspaper Title. Year Month Day;volume(issue):page range.

 

1.           Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. Washington Post. 2002:Aug 12;Sect A:2(col 4).

2.           Pelvic floor exercise can reduce stress incontinence. Health News. 2005 Apr;11(4):11.

3.           AACN national study reports important critical pathways findings. AACN News. 1995 Jul:5.