How to Cite Articles in Periodicals in Vancouver Style

How to cite articles?

Well, it depends.

You should pay attention to the number of authors, volume and issue numbers, etc.

However, our samples will help you to make sure that everything is formatted correctly.

First of all, mind the general format:

Author A, Author B. Article title. Journal title abbreviation. Year Month shortened;vol(no):page-page.

The titles of scholarly journals from which cited articles are taken need to be abbreviated based on the generally accepted standards.

The list of correct abbreviations of the scholarly journals is provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM).

In our citation examples, we use the following color coding:

  • Red – Author
  • Blue – Title of book/article/charter/webpage
  • Pink – Date
  • Green – Title of journal
  • Black – Volume/Issue
  • Sienna – Pages
  • Gray – URL/database/website where the source is retrieved
  • Peach – Additional information about the source (i.e. its type, specific features etc.)

Journal article (print source)

Example:

15. Abbas LJ, Wang D, Su ZF, Ziapour A. The role of social media in the advent of COVID-19 pandemic: crisis management, mental health challenges and implications. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2021 May;12(1):1917-32.

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Journal article for more than six authors

Note that in an article that has more than six authors, only the first six names are listed. The other names are replaced with ‘et al.’

Example:

16. Timmis A, Vardas P, Townsend N, Torbica SA, Katus H, De Smedt D, et al. European Society of Cardiology: cardiovascular disease statistics 2021. Eur Heart J. 2022 Feb 21;43(8):716-99.

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Article without an author

Skip the author element when an article without a known author is cited.

Example:

17. Evidence-based nutrition principles and recommendations for the treatment of diabetes. East Mediterr Health J. 2022 Jan;25(1 Suppl):s50-s60.

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Article authored by an organization

Similarly to the example of a book authored by an organization, an article by an organization will have the organization’s name put in the author statement area.

Example:

18. American Diabetes Association. Classification and diagnosis of diabetes: standards of medical care in diabetes—2022. Diabetes Care. 2022 Jan 1;45(1 Suppl):S17-38.

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Article issue with a supplement

Example:

19. ElSayed NA, Aleppo G, Aroda VR, Bannuru RR, Brown FM, Bruemmer D, et al. Introduction and methodology: standards of care in diabetes—2023. Diabetes Care. 2023 Jan 1;46(1 Suppl):S1-4.

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Article volume with a supplement

Example:

20. Ogurtsova K, Guariguata L, Barengo NC, Ruiz PL, Sacre JW, Karuranga S, et al. IDF diabetes atlas: global estimates of undiagnosed diabetes in adults for 2021. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022;18 Suppl 1:1-12.

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Articles that are in press or are forthcoming

Forthcoming articles are the ones that have not been published yet. When citing this type of article, it is necessary to add ‘Forthcoming Year’ at the end of the citation.

Example:

21. Yun C, Tang F, Gao Z, Wang W, Bai F, Miller JD, et al. Construction of a risk prediction model of type 2 diabetic kidney disease based on deep learning. Diabetes Metab J. Forthcoming 2024.

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Article from an online source (without known page numbers)

Example:

22. Vaziri D, Aal K, Ogonowski C, Von Rekowski T, Kroll M, Marston H, et al. Exploring user experience and technology acceptance for a fall prevention system: results from a randomized clinical trial and a living lab. Eur Rev Aging Phys Act [Internet]. 2020 Jun [cited 2024 Jan 24];13:[about 3 p.]. Available from: https://eurapa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s11556-016-0165-z

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Article from a library or a database

Example:

23. Seinsche J, de Bruin ED, Saibene E, Rizzo F, Carpinella I, Ferrarin M, et al. A newly developed exergame-based telerehabilitation system for older adults: usability and technology acceptance study. JMIR Hum Factors [Internet]. 2023 Dec 7 [cited 2024 Apr 28]; 10(1):1-12. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38060283/ PubMed PMID: 38060283.

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Article from the Internet

Example:

24. Miguel Cruz A, Lopez Portillo HP, Daum C, Rutledge E, King S, Liu L. Technology acceptance and usability of a mobile app to support the workflow of health care aides who provide services to older adults: pilot mixed methods study. JMIR Aging [Internet]. 2022 May 18 [cited 2024 Apr 12]; 5(2):[about 10 p.]. Available from: https://aging.jmir.org/2022/2/e37521

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Further study