View source for Vancouver system of referencing

The '''Vancouver system''' is a way of writing references in academic papers. (It is also known as the '''author-number''' style.)  It is popular in the physical sciences, and one of two referencing systems normally used in Medicine.[1] (The other is the [[Author-date system of referencing]], also known as the <strike>[[Harvard referencing|'Harvard']]</strike> system.)  It is called '''Vancouver''' after a conference in that city in 1978, the beginning of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which has adopted the system.

In the Vancouver system, each source cited is allotted a number when first used. This number is identified in a List of References at the end of the paper being written, along with the full [[Bibliographic detail]]s of the source. In the text being written, the label of the source each time it is cited is simply the number by which it is now identified, for example [1] - which may be marked (as here) by being enclosed in square brackets; or being superscripted<sup>1</sup>; or by being superscripted in round brackets (parentheses)<sup>(1)</sup>. This would lead to an item in the list of the references which would read

1 BMA (British Medical Association) BMJ house style 
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/advice/stylebook/basics.shtml (accessed September 30 2006)

For further details, see one of the websites maintained by medical institutions, such as the guide at the University of Queensland.

As in all systems of referencing, there are many variations. Different publishers, and different campuses, may have variants - for example, the way the label is used in the text (above).
[[category:referencing]] 
[[category:Academic culture]] 
[[category:UK culture]]