The basic format for a Vancouver reference is:
Template
Who. What. When; Where.
Who:
- The author, composer or creator of a work.
- Enter surname first for each author and use initials (maximum of two).
- For more information about this see the Authors button below.
What:
- The title, journal title, website name, etc.
- Article titles, Book titles - capitalise only the first word of a title, proper nouns, proper adjectives, acronyms, and initialisms.
- Journal titles - abbreviate significant words and omit other words, such as articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. Capitalise all remaining title words, including abbreviations.
- Additional information, such as edition number, is included directly after the title, separated by a full-stop and space.
- If online, include the type of medium [Internet] directly after the title.
When:
- The year the work was published or produced.
- For journal articles, and newspaper articles - include the year, month and day of publication in that order.
- For web pages - use the date the homepage was first published on the internet. Always provide the year, and provide the month if desired.
Where:
- Publication details.
- Books - the place of publication and publisher.
- Journal articles - the volume, issue number and page numbers. Also include the URL and DOI (if available).
- Web pages - the place of publication and publisher. Also include an 'Available from' statement with the URL.
- For more information about this element, please see the Build your own button below.