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Vancouver Citation Style Guide

Citing In-Text using Vancouver Style

General Rules

  • A citation in your text let's the reader know that the information quoted or paraphrased is from a specific source in your list of references. 
  • Vancouver style uses citation numbers in-text which refer to the corresponding numbered sources in the reference list
  • A citation number is placed at the point within the sentence where information from another source is referred to, paraphrased or quoted.
  •  Superscript numbers are used for in-text citation.
  • Citations are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned. If the source is referred to again, the same number is used. 
  • Citation numbers should be placed after periods and commas, and before colons and semicolons.
  • Always check with your Professor or journal publisher to determine their preference for the format and placement of in-text citations
See the examples below of what in-text citations look like in different scenarios:

Single References

When the Author is mentioned in the sentence:

Smith 1 reported that...

When the author is not mentioned in the sentence:

The first study reported that the treatment was ineffective...1

Multiple References (When multiple references are cited together in the text of a document:)

Consecutive citation numbers (inclusive) are entered as a range, separated by a hyphen:  

The results of the studies 4-7 were clear..

Non-consecutive citation numbers (non-inclusive)  are each separated by a comma:

As both studies 5,9 demonstrated...

Mixture of inclusive and non-inclusive numbers:

Several recent studies 1-3,13,22 have suggested that...

Direct Quotations

Include the page number when directly quoting from a source

“… the evidence points to the opposite conclusion.” 1(p23)

Example of Vancouver Style in a Paper

Association of Integrated Team-Based Care With Health Care Quality, Utilization, and Cost

Limited evidence is available to support the utility of medical home and accountable care integration with mental health and primary care teams.1- 4 In 2000, Intermountain Healthcare (hereafter referred to as Intermountain), a fully integrated delivery system, attempted to address this evidence gap by incorporating physical and mental health interdisciplinary teams in patient care.5,6 The Intermountain Mental Health Integration (MHI) program is an essential component of preventive medicine and chronic disease management. This program has been deployed within local clinics7,8 and has been sustained across diverse primary care practices (family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine) over the past 16 years. Preliminary evidence suggests that patients treated at MHI clinics compared with traditional practice management (TPM) clinics (ie, usual care) have higher satisfaction, improved quality outcomes, reduced cost for the health care system, and decreased utilization.7,8

 

References

1.
Kessler  R, Miller  BF, Kelly  M,  et al.  Mental health, substance abuse, and health behavior services in patient-centered medical homes. J Am Board Fam Med. 2014;27(5):637-644.
2.
Lewis  MW, Brant  JO, Kramer  JM,  et al.  Angelman syndrome imprinting center encodes a transcriptional promoter. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2015;112(22):6871-6875.
3.
AcademyHealth. Evidence roadmap. https://www.academyhealth.org/files/FileDownloads/Roadmap.BehavioralHealth.pdf. Accessed August 1, 2016.
4.
Bodenheimer  T.  Lessons from the trenches—a high-functioning primary care clinic. N Engl J Med. 2011;365(1):5-8.
5.
James  BC, Savitz  LA.  How Intermountain trimmed health care costs through robust quality improvement efforts. Health Aff (Millwood). 2011;30(6):1185-1191.
6.
Collins  C, Henson  DL, Munger  R, Wade  T. Evolving Models of Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care. New York, NY: Milbank Memorial Fund; 2010.
7.
Reiss-Brennan  B.  Mental health integration. J Prim Care Community Health. 2014;5(1):55-60.
8.
Reiss-Brennan  B, Briot  PC, Savitz  LA, Cannon  W, Staheli  R.  Cost and quality impact of Intermountain's mental health integration program. J Healthc Manag. 2010;55(2):97-113;discussion 113-114.

 

Example taken from:

Reiss-Brennan B, Brunisholz KD, Dredge C, et al. Association of Integrated Team-Based Care With Health Care Quality, Utilization, and Cost. JAMA. 2016 Aug 23-30; 316(8):826-34.