Vancouver referencing generator
The numbered style set out by the ICMJE and detailed in the NLM’s Citing Medicine — the default for biomedical journals and many UK and Australian medical schools.
RECOVERY Collaborative Group. Dexamethasone in Hospitalized Patients with Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2021 Feb 25;384(8):693-704. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2021436
(1)Anatomy of a Vancouver reference
Pick an example, then tap any part of the reference to see the rule behind it.
. . . ;():. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2021436
Choose an element above.
Vancouver rules at a glance
| Order | Numbered in order of first citation. |
|---|---|
| In-text | Arabic number in round brackets (1), square brackets [1] or superscript — follow your journal or school. |
| Authors | Surname Initials, up to 6, then et al. |
| Journal article | Author. Title. Journal Abbr. Year Mon;Vol(Issue):pages. |
| Books | Author. Title. Edition. Place: Publisher; Year. |
| Internet | Title [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year [cited Year Mon Day]. Available from: URL |
| Pages | Citing Medicine drops repeated leading digits (123-9 for 123-129); most schools and journals also accept full ranges, which ScholarCite prints. |
| Typography | No italics or bold anywhere. |
Vancouver in-text citations
- Number in round brackets: “…reduced mortality (1).”
- Many universities accept square brackets [1] or superscript¹ — be consistent.
- Several sources: (1,3,5) or (2–4).
- The first source you cite is 1 and keeps that number throughout.
Ask about Vancouver
Answers are AI-generated from the published style rules and can be wrong. Check your journal’s or school’s author guidelines for house variations.
Vancouver examples
Real works, formatted by the generator above.
Journal article
RECOVERY Collaborative Group. Dexamethasone in hospitalized patients with Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2021 Feb 25;384(8):693-704. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2021436
Seven+ authors
Novoselov KS, Geim AK, Morozov SV, Jiang D, Zhang Y, Dubonos SV, et al. Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science. 2004 Oct;306(5696):666-669. doi:10.1126/science.1102896
Book
Hall JE, Hall ME. Guyton and hall textbook of medical physiology. 14th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021.
Web page
World Health Organization. Hypertension [Internet]. World Health Organization; 2023 [cited 2026 Sep 20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension
Thesis
Shannon CE. A symbolic analysis of relay and switching circuits [master's thesis]. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 1940.
Source types supported here: Journal article, Book, Book chapter, Conference paper, Web page, Report / standard, Thesis.
Vancouver citation questions
What is the difference between Vancouver and NLM?
Vancouver is the name for the ICMJE’s citation rules; NLM’s Citing Medicine is the detailed manual those rules point to. In practice, “Vancouver style” and “NLM style” produce the same references.
How many authors do I list in Vancouver?
List the first six, then “et al.” (Citing Medicine permits listing all, but the ICMJE six-author rule is the common default).
How do I cite a website in Vancouver?
Title [Internet]. Place: Publisher; year [cited year month day]. Available from: URL — e.g. Hypertension [Internet]. World Health Organization; 2023 [cited 2026 Sep 20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/…
Can I generate Vancouver references from PubMed?
Yes. Type the PMID (for example 32678530) into the lookup box and ScholarCite pulls the metadata from NCBI.