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Vancouver reference generator

Paste DOIs, PubMed IDs or a reference list and get Vancouver references as ICMJE and NLM Citing Medicine define them. The examples below are ICMJE’s own sample references, produced by this tool, and the journal notes show where BMJ and NEJM change the style.

Free · no signup · works instantly. References are looked up, then formatted in your browser; nothing you paste is stored.

Style

The rules this generator applies

  • Authors: surname and initials without periods. List up to six authors; with more than six, list the first six, then "et al."
  • No italics anywhere: the article title, the NLM journal abbreviation and the date follow each other plainly.
  • Date and location: year month day;volume(issue):pages, with the end page shortened (284-7).
  • Books: place of publication: publisher; year. Chapters add "In:" and the editors.
  • Numbered in the order cited; a DOI, when present, goes at the end as PubMed shows it.

Examples from the style guide

Each example is the guide's own reference, entered as data and produced by this generator.

Standard journal article (ICMJE sample reference)
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7.
More than six authors (ICMJE sample reference)
Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.
Book (ICMJE sample reference)
Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
Chapter in a book (ICMJE sample reference)
Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.

Journals that change the style

  • BMJ Open: BMJ’s Vancouver lists three authors before et al, not six; cut each entry by hand.
  • NEJM: All authors up to six, first three and et al from seven, with NEJM’s own punctuation.

Other styles: AMA citation generator, IEEE citation generator, Nature reference style generator, APA citation generator, Harvard referencing generator, Chicago citation generator. All seven styles are on the Reference Formatter. Checking a list you have not verified? The free Reference Checker finds retracted papers and invented citations.

01

Paste references

DOIs, PubMed IDs, a plain-text list, BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON, up to 100 at a time.

02

Check the style

The style is already set; switch to any of the seven styles if your journal asks for another.

03

Copy or download

Copy with italics and bold kept, or download Word (.rtf), plain text, BibTeX or RIS.

What this tool does not do

  • • It does not hold journal-specific variants of the style; the journal notes below list the ones we know, and your target journal’s instructions have the rest.
  • • Article titles keep the source record’s capitalisation; it does not convert to sentence or title case.
  • • A plain-text reference is matched to a Crossref record by title and author. A reference with no confident match is listed, not guessed.
  • • It does not check whether a reference is retracted or supports your claim. The Reference Checker and Citation Claim Checker do that.

Frequently asked questions

How many authors does Vancouver style list?

Up to six. With more than six authors, list the first six and then "et al." Some journals shorten this: BMJ lists three.

Is Vancouver the same as ICMJE or NLM style?

Yes, in practice. ICMJE recommends the NLM Citing Medicine format, and that is what most journals mean by Vancouver. Individual journals add their own changes, so check your target journal’s instructions.

Why are page numbers shortened?

NLM style drops the repeated leading digits of the end page, so 284-287 becomes 284-7. The generator does this for you.

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