VALLEY COLLEGE OF

TECHNICAL SCIENCES
Bachelor of Public Health:
3rd Year

Public Health Research

 A Power-point presentation on:

Vancouver System of
Referencing
Preparation of Bibliography

Presented by:
Prabesh Ghimire
BPH 3rd Year
Valley College of
Technical Sciences
 What is referencing?

Referencing is a standardized way of

acknowledging the sources of information and
ideas that we have used in our assignments
and which allows the sources to be identified.
 What is Vancouver System?

“Author-number" system
In the Vancouver Style, a number is
assigned to each reference as it is used.
 In-text citations
A citation is an acknowledgement in our text of references
that support our work. It is in the form of a number that
correlates with a source in our reference list.
 In the Vancouver Style, all citations within the text of a
paper should be identified using Arabic numerals. These
should be either in round brackets or in superscript.
 In-text citations
A number must be given each time a citation is
made, even if the author or work is named in the
sentence.
The original number assigned to the reference is
reused each time the reference is cited in the text,
regardless of its previous position in the text.
Citation numbers should appear after commas,
full stops and semicolons, and outside brackets.
They should be positioned in the sentence so as to
make clear to which part of the sentence they
apply.
 In-text citations
 When more than one reference is given at any point in
the text, these should be separated by commas without
spaces.
eg.
 Periodontal disease is the most common disease in the
world. (2,3,6)

 All documents cited should be listed in numerical order

in the “References” section at the end of the article.
 Citation of Titles

Titles of publications should be given in

full.
Only the first letter of the first word
should be capitalised (except for words
which normally have a capital letter).
 Citation of Author’s name(s)
The name of the author should be given with the
surname first, followed by the initial(s). There
should be no punctuation or space between the
initials.
Where there is more than one author, the names
should be separated by a comma and a space.
The last author’s initial(s) should be followed by
a full stop.
Where the work is anonymous, no author should
be cited. “Anon” and similar are not used in the
Vancouver system.
 Author name(s)
Where there are more than six authors,
only the first six should be listed,
followed by “et al”.
Where the work is credited to an
organization, the name of the organization
should be given in full.
 How to create a reference
list/bibliography ?
A reference list contains details only of those
works cited in the text of the document. (eg.
book, journal article, pamphlet, internet site,
cassette tape or film). These details must include
sufficient detail so that others may locate and
consult our references.
A bibliography lists sources not cited in the text
but which are relevant to the subject and were
used for background reading.
 How to create a reference
list/bibliography ?
Sources cited from
the Internet should
be in our reference
list
A bibliography should be arranged
alphabetically by author or title (where no
author is given) in the Vancouver style.
A reference list should appear at the end of
our essay/report with the entries listed
numerically and in the same order that they
have been cited in the text.
Rules for formatting
references in a
bibliography
In a Vancouver Style
References from Books

Elements of a Citation:
Author/Editor/Compiler's surname Initials. Title of the
book. # ed.[if not 1st] Place of publication:
Publisher's name; Year of publication.

 Only
first words of the article title and words that
normally begin with a capital letter are capitalized.
 References from Books
For Personal Authors:
Example:
Bhende AA, Kanitkar T. Principles of Population Studies.
20th ed. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing House Pvt Ltd;
2010.

For Edited book:

 add editor or editors after the name/s
Example:
Brown AM, Stubbs DW, editors. Medical physiology. New
York: Wiley; 1983.
 References from Books
For chapter in a book:
Elements of a Citation:
Author's 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] Abbreviate page numbers to p. eg p. 12-25.

Example:
Kharel MK. Induction, Deduction and Generalization. In:
Kalyan R, editor. Research Methods In
Sociology/Anthropology. Kathmandu: Lumbini Prakashan;
2008. p. 29-32.
 Journal Article:
 Only first words of article title and words that normally begin
with a capital letter are capitalised.
 First 6 authors are listed; thereafter add an et al. after the sixth
author.
 If the journal has continuous page numbering, we may omit
month/issue number

Elements of a Citation: (continuous pagination)

Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of
article. Title of Journal. [abbreviated]
Year of publication;Volume Number(Issue number):page numbers.

 Example: (continuous pagination; more than 6 authors)

Gao SR, McGarry M, Ferrier TL, Pallante B, Gasparrini B, Fletcher
JR, et al. Effect of cell confluence on production of cloned mice using
an inbred embryonic stem cell line. Biol Reprod. 2003;68(2):595-603.
 Journal Article:
Elements of a Citation: (non continuous
pagination)
Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials.
Title of article. Title of Journal. [abbreviated]
Year of publication Month date;Volume Number(Issue
number):page numbers.

Example
Smithline HA, Mader TJ, Ali FM, Cocchi MN. Determining
pretest probability of DVT: clinical intuition vs. validated
scoring systems. N Engl J Med. 2003 Apr 4;21(2):161-2.
 Conference Paper
Elements of a citation:
Author's surname Initials. Title of paper. In: Editor's
surname Initials, editor. Title of the Conference; Date of
conference; Place of publication: Publisher's name;
Year of Publication. p. page numbers.

Example:
Anderson JC. Current status of chorion villus biopsy. In:
Tudenhope D, Chenoweth J, editors. Proceedings of the 4th
Congress of the Australian Perinatal Society; 1986: Brisbane,
Queensland: Australian Perinatal Society; 1987. p. 190-6.
 Electronic sources

CD-Rom / DVD
The format is added after the title eg. [DVD]

Example:
Collier L, Balows A, Sussman M, editors. Topley
and Wilson's microbiology and microbial
infections [CD-ROM]. 9th ed. London: Arnold;
1998.
 Journal article on the internet
 Elements of a Citation:
Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of
article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [serial on the Internet].
Year of publication Month day [cited Year Month
Day];Volume Number(Issue number):[about number of pages
or screens]. Available from: URL

 Only cite month/day if applicable

 Can list either pages or screens

Example:
Aylin P, Bottle A, Jarman B, Elliott, P. Paediatric cardiac surgical
mortality in England after Bristol: descriptive analysis of hospital
episode statistics 1991-2002. BMJ [serial on the Internet]. 2004
Oct 9;[cited 2004 October 15]; 329:[about 10 screens]. Available
from: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7470/825
 Book/Monograph on the Internet

Example:
Donaldson MS, editor. Measuring the quality of health
care [monograph on the internet]. Washington:
National Academy Press; 1999 [cited 2004 Oct 8].
Available from: http://legacy.netlibrary.com/.
 Web site / homepage
Elements of a citation:
Author/Editor/Organisation's name . Title of the page
[homepage on the Internet]. Place of publication:
Publisher's name; [updated yr month day; cited yr month
day]. Available from: (url)

 Example:

Heart Centre Online [homepage on the Internet]. Boca Raton, FL:

Heart Centre Online, Inc.; c2000-2004 [updated 2004 May 23;
cited 2004 Oct 15]. Available from:
http://www.heartcenteronline.com/
 References

 South Staffordshire Health Informatics Service. THE VANCOUVER

SYSTEM. Health Management Library Service:[updated 2007,
feb].Available
from:http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/LIBReferenceStyles?
OpenDocument&Highlight=2,referencing
 The University of Queensland. References/Bibliography Vancouver Style.
Australia.
 Victoria University of Technology. Guide to listing sources: Vancouver
system
Thank You