Journal articles
You may need to consult more than one section to accurately represent the source used. (eg. Number of authors and source descriptions)
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One author
In text citation example
…was argued.(8)
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
8. Author. Title of article. Title of Journal. Date of publication;Volume(Issue):Page numbers.
Reference list example
8. Gorman GE. The plague of plagiarism in an online world. Online Inform Rev. 2008 Apr 15;32(4):297-301.
Style notes for this referencing type
- Journal references omit place of publication and publisher information.
- Where a journal has changed its name - cite the journal name that was used at the time of publication.
- Journal titles can be abbreviated, see PubMed Journals Database or Journals Indexed for MEDLINE.
- The month and day (or the season) may be omitted from the date of publication if the journal is continuously paginated throughout the volume. However, the month and day (or the season) must be included when citing a journal that has no volume or issue number.
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Two or more authors
In text citation example
Lindgren, Inkinen and Widmalm (9) discuss that…
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
9. Authors. Title of article. Title of Journal. Date of publication; Volume(Issue):Page numbers.
Reference list example
9. Lindgren K, Inkinen M, Widmalm S. Who knows best what the people want: women or men? Comparative Political Studies. 2009 Feb 21;42(2):31-55.
Style notes for this referencing type
- List the first six authors, followed by et al.
- Journal references omit place of publication and publisher information.
- Where a journal has changed its name - cite the journal name that was used at the time of publication.
- Journal titles can be abbreviated, see PubMed Journals Database or Journals Indexed for MEDLINE.
- The month and day (or the season) may be omitted from the date of publication if the journal is continuously paginated throughout the volume. However, the month and day (or the season) must be included when citing a journal that has no volume or issue number.
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Online journal article
In text citation example
…main components were identified.(14)
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
14. Author. Title of article. Title of Journal [Medium]. Date of publication [Date cited];Volume(Issue):Page numbers. Available from: URL.
Reference list example
14. Thierstein J. Education in the digital age. Educause Review [Internet]. 2009 Mar 1 [cited 2010 Jan 5];31(5):135-9. Available from: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0918.pdf
Style notes for this referencing type
- Internet journals should be cited the same as print journal with the following additions:
- Medium = [Internet]
- Date cited
- URL
- Where pagination is not provided, calculate the length of the document in terms of print pages, screens or paragraphs and place this information in square brackets.
- Internet journals should be cited the same as print journal with the following additions:
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Online article with DOI
In text citation example
…environmental considerations.(15)
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
15. Author. Title of article. Title of Journal [Medium]. Date of publication [Date cited]; Volume(Issue):Page numbers. DOI.
Reference list example
15. Welch JB. The dual sustainability of wind energy. Renew Sust Energ Rev [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2010 Jan 5];13(5):1121-6. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2008.05.001.
Style notes for this referencing type - Medium = [Internet]
- Where pagination is not provided, calculate the length of the document in terms of print pages, screens or paragraphs and place in square brackets.
Before selecting a referencing style check with your tutor, lecturer or supervisor for the style preferred by the School or Department.
Introduction to the style
This version of the Vancouver style uses a numeric system of in-text referencing. A consecutive number is assigned to each reference as it is cited in the text. If a source is cited again in the text the reference number remains the same.
References are presented in two ways:
- A reference list (or bibliography) at the end of the work.
- In text citations.
Three major systems of in-text references can be used: citation-sequence, citation-name, and name-year. This guide refers only to the citation-sequence (numeric) system of in-text referencing. In this system numbers are used in the text to refer to the reference list.
Access to the full style manual
The full style manual is available as a library eBook from the University of Melbourne library. The full style manual is not available as a library print book.Consult the official manual for more information.
In-text citations
- References are numbered in the order they first appear in the text.
- Assigned numbers are re-used each time a particular reference is cited.
- Citation numbers can be superscripts e.g. "…was the most significant.4" or in round brackets e.g. "…was the most significant.(4)".
- When citing multiple references join inclusive numbers using a hyphen e.g. (2-5). If numbers are non-inclusive separate with commas. e.g. (2,4,7,10).
Reference list
- A reference list should include all (directly quoted or paraphrased) sources cited, a bibliography should include all sources consulted, whether or not they are directly quoted or paraphrased.
- Entries are listed numerically (the same order that they are cited in the text).
- Capitalise only the first word of a title (as well as words that would normally begin with a capital letter).
- If no author or editor can be identified, begin the reference with the title.
- Commonly used words in publisher names may be abbreviated. For example: Dept. for Department.
- Place of publication:
- If the publisher is located in more than one city: cite the city that is printed first.
- For cities that are not well known follow with the country name either written out in full or as the ISO country code. For example: Melbourne (Australia) OR Melbourne (AU).
- If no place of publication can be found but can reasonably be inferred, place the city in square brackets. e.g. [Melbourne].
- If no publisher can be found, use [publisher unknown].
- If no date of publication can be found, use the copyright date preceded with ‘c’ c2010. If no copyright date can be found, use [date unknown].