Your reference list and bibliography

How to write your reference list and bibliography in the Vancouver style

Your lecturers consider accurate and consistent referencing to be an important part of your academic work. Check your course guidelines so you know which referencing style to use.

The following examples are in two parts:

  • the information you should collect about each piece of work you use
  • how this information is presented when you write a full reference

If you cannot find the type of work you need to provide a reference for, please contact your librarian for more help.

Click on the type of work you need to provide a reference for. If you cannot find the type of work you need, please contact your librarian for more help.

Example:
Petrie KJ, Mueller JT, Schirmbeck F, Donkin L, Broadbent E, Ellis CJ et al. Effect of providing information about normal test results on patients' reassurance: randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal 2007;334(7589): 352-354. Available from: doi: 10.1136/bmj.39093.464190.55 

Showcase area

Acts of Parliament

Country
Name of Act: Name of sovereign (this should be in italics)
Chapter number (this should be in italics)
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

Great Britain. Climate Change Act 2008: Elizabeth II. Chapter 27. London: The Stationery Office; 2008.

Annual report: online

Author or organisation
Title (this should be in italics)
Year of publication
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Chevron Corporation. Annual Report. 2006. Available from: http://www.chevron.com/documents/pdf/annualreport/Chevron2006AnnualReport_full.pdf [Accessed: May 12th 2012].

Annual report: print

Author or organisation
Title (this should be in italics)
Place of publication (where available)
Publisher
Year of publication

Chevron Corporation. Annual Report. San Ramon, CA: Chevron Corporation, 2006.

Blog post

Author 
Title of blog post (if applicable)
Title (this should be in italics)
Weblog
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Goldacre B. Trivial Disputes. Bad Science. Weblog. Available from: http://www.badscience.net/2008/02/trivial-disputes-2/ [Accessed 19th June 2008].

Book: accessed on an e-book reader

Please note that the date of publication of the e-book version may differ from the print publication date. Ensure you use the correct date depending on the version of the book you have read and are citing in your work.

Author/editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
[E-reader version]
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication (where available)
Publisher
(Year of publication)

Powrie W. Soil mechanics: concepts and applications. [Kindle version] 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis; 2007.

Feynman RP, Davies P. The character of physical law. [Sony Reader eBook version]. ePenguin; 2007.

Feynman,R. P. & Davies,P. (2007) The character of physical law. [Sony Reader eBook version]. ePenguin.

In-text citation: (Feynman & Davies, 2007)

Book: chapter in an edited book

Author of the chapter
Title of chapter followed by, In:
Editor (always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Series title and number (if part of a series)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication (if there is more than one place listed, use the first named)
Publisher
Year of publication
Page numbers (use ‘p.' before single and multiple page numbers)

Partridge H, Hallam G. Evidence-based practice and information literacy. In: Lipu S, Williamson K, Lloyd A. (eds.) Exploring methods in information literacy research. Wagga Wagga, Australia: Centre for Information Studies; 2007. p. 149-170.

Book: in a foreign language

Author/Editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
[Title in original language] (this should be in italics)
Series title and number (if part of a series)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication (if there is more than one place listed, use the first named)
Publisher
Year of publication

García Sánchez JJ. Toponymical atlas of Spain. [Atlas toponímico de España] Madrid: Arco/Libros; 2007.

Book: online / electronic

Author/Editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Series title and number (if part of series)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication (if there is more than one place listed, use the first named)
Publisher
Year of publication
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Simons NE, Menzies B, Matthews M. A Short Course in Soil and Rock Slope Engineering. London: Thomas Telford Publishing; 2001. Available from: http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=93941 [Accessed 18th June 2015].

Book: print

Author/Editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Series title and number (if part of a series)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication (if there is more than one place listed, use the first named)
Publisher
Year of publication

Simons NE, Menzies B, Matthews M. A Short Course in Soil and Rock Slope Engineering. London: Thomas Telford Publishing;2001.

Book: translated

Author/Editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Trans followed by the name of the translator
Series title and number (if part of a series)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication (if there is more than one place listed, use the first named)
Publisher
Year of publication

Aristotle. Physics. Trans Graham DW. Oxford: Clarendon; 1999.

Brochure / pamphlet / booklet

These can often be published by organisations or companies, and may not have individual authors. You can use the corporate author if there is no individual author, and this may also be the publisher’s name.

Author/editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title of brochure/pamphlet (in italics)
Series title (if part of a series)
Edition (if not the first)
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication (if there is no year of publication, use the abbreviation n.d. to indicate no date is available)

Imperial College London Library. Citing and referencing guide: Vancouver style. London: Imperial College London; 2010.

CD-ROM

Author/Editor (use the corporate author if no individual author or editor is named)
CD-ROM title (this should be in italics)
[CD-ROM]
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

Encyclopaedia Britannica. Britannica 2003. [CD-ROM] Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica; 2003.

Command papers and other official publications [excluding Acts of Parliament]

Government department
Title (this should be in italics)
Paper number
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

Department of Health. Choosing Health: making healthier choices easier. CM6374. London: The Stationery Office; 2004.

Computer program, software or code

Author (use the corporate author or research group if no individual author or editor is named)
Title of program (this should be in italics)
(Version number)
[Format type] (computer program, software or code)
Place of publication (if available)
Name of publisher/distributor (if available)
Available from: URL (if online)
Year of publication

TechSmith. Snagit. (Version 9.1) [Software] TechSmith Corporation. Available from: http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp. 2008.

Conference proceeding: individual paper

Author
Title of conference paper followed by, In:
Editor/Organisation (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication
Page numbers (use ‘p' before single and multiple page numbers)

Wittke M. Design, construction, supervision and long-term behaviour of tunnels in swelling rock. In: Van Cotthem A., Charlier, R., Thimus, J.-F. and Tshibangu, J.-P. (eds.) Eurock 2006: Multiphysics coupling and long term behaviour in rock mechanics: Proceedings of the International Symposium of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, EUROCK 2006, 9-12 May 2006, Liège, Belgium. London: Taylor & Francis; 2006.p. 211-216.

Conference proceeding: whole

Editor/Organisation (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

Edge BL. Coastal engineering 2000: conference proceedings, July 16-21, 2000, Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Australia. Reston, VA: ASCE; 2001.

Discussion list / forum post

Sender
Subject of discussion post
Title of discussion list or forum (this should be in italics)
Date of discussion post (day month year)
Available from: URL of discussion list or forum
[Date of access]

Kells R. Statistical advice and short courses at Imperial College London. TEACHING-STATISTICS List. 7th May 2009. Available from: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=teaching-statistics [Accessed 19th June 2009].

DVD

When writing a reference for a multi-media item, you would usually use the title of the TV programme or video recording, or title of the film (whether on DVD or video) as the author. If the title is used as the author, this should be written in italics. You should also include the type of format in the reference, such as Video, DVD, CD, CD-ROM and so on.

Title (this should be in italics)
[DVD]
Place of production or origin (if available)
Name of production company/maker
Year of production

Life on Campus. [DVD] London: Imperial College London. 2006.

Email: personal communication

Personal emails should be referenced as personal communication, unless you have permission from the sender and receiver to include their details in your reference list.

Name of sender
Email sent to
Name of receiver
Date, month and year of communication

Harrison R. Email sent to Mimi Weiss Johnson. 10th June 2009.

Email: public communication

Use the discussion list / forum post layout for emails which are publicly available, that is posted to a discussion list, group or forum.

Equation

You should provide a reference to the work in which you found the equation. Use the examples in this list to identify the appropriate layout depending on the type of work you need to reference. Your in-text citation should include the page number on which the equation appears (unless in an online publication without page numbers).

Equipment operating manual

Author (use the company name if no individual author or editor is named)
Title (this should be in italics)
Version number
Place of publication
Publisher
Date of publication

Hirst Magnetic Instruments Ltd. GM07/GM08 Gaussmeter Operating Manual. Version 2.0. Falmouth: Hirst Magnetic Instruments Ltd; no date.

Film

Title of film (this should be in italics)
[Film]
Directed by: Director's name
Place of production
Name of production company
Year of production

An Inconvenient Truth. [Film] Directed by: Davis Guggenheim. USA: Lawrence Bender Productions; 2006.

Financial data from an online database (for share price or financial instrument figures)

The example below is for data taken from Datastream for which there is no URL: use Datastream as the URL information. For data taken from online databases for which there is a URL, make sure this is included.

Name of publishing organisation
Title of extract from database
Database title (in italics)
Year of publication or last update
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Thomson Reuters. British Airways Share Price 01/01/2000 to 30/12/2009. DataStream. 2010. Available from: DataStream [Accessed: 22nd June 2010].

Financial report from an online database (for company financial accounts, e.g. profit and loss account)

Name of publishing organisation
Title of report or extract from database
Database title (in italics)
Year of publication or last update
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Bureau Van Dijk. British Airways PLC company report. FAME. 2010. Available from: http://fame.bvdep.com [Accessed: 22nd June 2010].

Image / illustration / figure / diagram / table / photograph published in a journal

You should provide an in-text citation for any images, illustrations, photographs, diagrams, tables or figures that you reproduce in your work, and provide a full reference as with any other type of work.

In-text citation:

‘Geological map of the easternmost region of São Nicolau' (1:p.532).

Ramalho, R, Helffrich, G, Schmidt, D.N and Vance, D. Tracers of uplift and subsidence in the Cape Verde archipelago. Journal of the Geological Society 2010;167(3): 519-538. Available from: doi:10.1144/0016-76492009-056 [Accessed: 14th June 2010]

Image / illustration / figure / diagram / table / photograph published in a book

You should provide an in-text citation for any images, illustrations, photographs, diagrams, tables or figures that you reproduce in your work, and provide a full reference as with any other type of work.

In-text citation:

Table illustrating checklist of information for common sources (1: p.22).

Pears R, Shields G. Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 3rd ed. Durham, Pear Tree Books; 2008.

Interview: personal

Name of person interviewed
Interviewed by: Name of interviewer
Date of interview

Day A. Interviewed by: Jones L. 4th June 2009.

Journal article: online / electronic

Most online articles will have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and you should use this in your reference. The DOI is a permanent identifier provided by publishers so that the article can always be found. If the article has a DOI you will not usually be required to add a date of access.

If there is no DOI then you should use the URL and include date of access. Some lecturers will ask you to reference and online journal article as a print article, so always check your coursework guidance.

To find the DOI, when you read an article online, check the article details as you will usually find it at the start of the article. For more help, contact your librarian.

If you read the article in a full-text database service, such as Factiva or EBSCO, and do not have a DOI or direct URL to the article you should use the database URL.

Author
Title of journal article
Title of journal (this should be in italics)
Year of publication
Volume number
(Issue number)
Page numbers of the article
Available from: URL [Date of access] or DOI

Errami M and Garner H. A tale of two citations. Nature. 2008;451(7177): 397-399. Available from: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7177/full/451397a.html [Accessed 20th January 2008].

or

Wang F, Maidment G, Missenden J and Tozer R. The novel use of phase change materials in refrigeration plant. Part 1: Experimental investigation. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2007;27(17-18): 2893-2901. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2005.06.011

or

Read B. Anti-cheating crusader vexes some professors. Chronicle of Higher Education. 2008;54(25). Available from: http://global.factiva.com/ [Accessed 18th June 2009].

Journal article: postprint / in press

If you read a print journal article not yet published in a journal issue, follow the layout below, ignoring the online information required.

Author/s
Title of journal article
Title of journal (this should be in italics)
[Postprint/In press: Online]
Year of writing
Available from: URL or DOI
[Date of access]

Akyol Z, Ice P, Garrison R, Mitchell R. The relationship
between course socio-epistemological orientations and student perceptions of community of inquiry. The Internet and Higher Education. [In press: Online] 2009. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.12.002 [Accessed:  4th January 2010]

Note: there will not be volume, issue or page numbers assigned to postprint / in press articles.

Journal article: preprint

It is likely you will find articles available online before they have been submitted to the peer review procedure and published in a journal. These articles are preprints and may be placed in an online repository or on a publisher’s website (but not in a specific journal issue).

Author/s
Title of journal article
Submitted to/To be published in (if this information is with the article)
Title of journal (in italics)
Name of repository (in italics)
[Preprint]
Year of writing
Available from: URL (if available)
[Date of access]

Silas P, Yates JR, Haynes PD. Density-functional investigation of the rhombohedral to simple cubic phase transition of arsenic. To be published in Physical Review B. Arxiv. [Preprint] 2008. Available from: http://arxiv.org/abs/0810.1692. [Accessed: 23rd July 2010]

Note: there will not be volume, issue or page numbers assigned to preprint articles.

Journal article: print

Author
Title of journal article
Title of journal (this should be in italics)
Year of publication
Volume number
(Issue number)
Page numbers of the article

Chhibber PK, Majumdar SK. Foreign ownership and profitability: Property rights, control, and the performance of firms in Indian industry. Journal of Law & Economics 1999;42(1): 209-238.

Lecture / presentation

Name of lecturer/presenter
Title of lecture/presentation (this should be in italics)
[Lecture/Presentation]
Title of module/degree course (if appropriate)
Name of institution or location
Date of lecture/presentation

Wagner G. Structural and functional studies of protein interactions in gene expression. [Lecture] Imperial College London.12th December 2006.

Map: online

Online maps may originate from an online map service, such as Google Maps, or from Digimap, the online Ordnance survey mapping tool.

Map author or originator (online maps may not have an author, but you can use the map publisher’s name as a corporate author)
Title of map
Sheet number, or tile (if available)
Scale (if available)
Title of online source (in italics)
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Streetmap.Imperial College London and surrounding area. Streetmap. Available from: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=526500&y=179400&z=0&sv=526500,179400&st=OSGrid&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf [Accessed: 23rd July 2010].

or

Tele Atlas. Imperial College London and surrounding area. Google Maps. Available from: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=south+kensington&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=18.304449,39.506836&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=South+Kensington,+Greater+London,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.494423,-0.177155&spn=0.009392,0.01929&z=16 [Accessed: 23rd July 2010].

Note: Google Maps use data produced by Tele Atlas. If you reproduce any map in your work, you must label and cite it as you would with any other type of image [link to image].

If you have used Digimap, or another mapping tool, to generate a map, and then add/subtract data layers, you must still provide information about where the original map data is from.

Map: print

Author (usually the organisation responsible for publishing the map)
Title (this should be in italics)
Scale
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

British Geological Survey. South London, 270. 1: 50 000. London: BGS; 1998.

Market survey report: online / electronic

Author (use the corporate author or research group if no individual author or editor is named)
Report title (this should be in italics)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication
Publisher
Available from: URL
[Date of access]
Year of publication (include month if available and if not part of the title)

Mintel. Small Green Cars and Alternative Fuels - UK - December 2009. Available from: http://oxygen.mintel.com/ [Accessed 5th January 2010]. 2009.

Datamonitor. Energy Industry Profile: Global. Available from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed: 5th January 2010]. March 2009.

Market survey report: print

Author (use the corporate author or research group if no individual author or editor is named)
Report title (this should be in italics)
Edition (if not the first edition)
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication (include month if available and if not part of the title)

Mintel. Home Utility Suppliers - UK - September 2009. London: Mintel International Group; 2009.

Mobile app

Author (use the corporate author, individual or developer)
Title of the App (this should be in italics)
(Version number)
[Mobile app]
Year of publication
Available from: name of app store or URL (if required)
[Date accessed]

Citymapper Ltd.  Citymapper (version 6.11) [Mobile App] 2016 [Accessed 25th August 2016]

It may be useful to give the full url from the app store e.g. available from: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.citymapper.app.release&hl=en_GB or https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/citymapper-transport-app-live/id469463298?mt=8

Newspaper article: online

Author (if the article has no author, use the name of the newspaper)
Title of article
Title of newspaper (this should be in italics)
Day, month and year of publication
Page numbers of the article (if available, use ‘p.' before a single and multiple page numbers)
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Pagnamenta R. Energy adviser puts forward powerful case for hydrogen. The Times. May 24 2008. Available from: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3994594.ece [Accessed 2nd July 2008].

Newspaper article: print

Author (if the article has no author, use the name of the newspaper)
Title of article
Title of newspaper (this should be in italics)
Day, month and year of publication
Page numbers of the article (use ‘p' before single and multiple page numbers)

Macalister T. Green energy is the modern gold rush. The Guardian. Wednesday July 2 2008:p.27.

Online documents and publications (not covered by other examples in this list)

If you cannot find a suitable example in this list for a work published online in PDF, Word, HTML or an equivalent format, you can use the following layout. You may find the book or report layouts will be suitable.

Author/Editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name; use the corporate author if no individual author or editor is named)
Title of publication (this should be in italics)
Place of publication (if provided on the publication)
Publisher (if provided on the publication)
Year of publication
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Conway G. Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Discussion paper no 1: The science of climate change in Africa: impacts and adaptation. London: Imperial College London; 2009. Available from: http://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/climatechange/public/pdfs/discussion_papers/Grantham_Institue_-_The_science_of_climate_change_in_Africa.pdf [Accessed: 14th June 2010].

It is also acceptable to indicate the document’s original format, particularly as this will help your reader to locate the correct document on a web page.

DEFRA. Municipal waste statistics 2008-09: Excel tables showing summary estimates. [Excel spreadsheet] 2009. Available from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/statistics/environment/wastats/bulletin09.htm [Accessed: 10th May 2010].

Patent

Author
Title (this should be in italics)
Patent number
(Patent)
Year of publication

Landini, L. & Chielini, E. Water soluble and biodegradable self airproof tight closing bag. CN101045489 (Patent) 2007.

Personal communication

Name of practitioner
Occupation
Personal communication
Date when the information was provided

Law J. Engineering consultant. Personal communication. 26th March 2004.

Photograph: online (not in a published work)

You should provide an in-text citation for any images, illustrations, photographs, diagrams, tables or figures that you reproduce in your work, and provide a full reference as with any other type of work.

Name of photographer
Title of photograph (in italics)
Year of publication
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Leverton N. King’s Cross station. 2000. Available from: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3776 [Accessed: 15th June 2010].

Podcast

Title (this should be in italics)
Podcast
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Nature Podcast. Podcast. Available from: http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index.html [Accessed 17th July 2008].

Radio programme / broadcast

Title of programme/broadcast (this should be in italics)
Title of episode (if part of a series)
Name of broadcaster
Date of broadcast

Today. BBC Radio 4. 5th January 2010.

Or

In Our Time. Genetics. BBC Radio 4. 13th December 2001.

Report

Author/Editor (if it is an editor always put (ed.) after the name)
Title (this should be in italics)
Organisation
Report number: (this should be followed by the actual number in figures)
Year of publication

Leatherwood S. Whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the western North
Atlantic. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Report number: 63, 2001.

Standard

Name of Standard Body/Institution
Standard number
Title (this should be in italics)
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

British Standards Institution. BS 5950-8:2003. Structural use of steelwork in building: code of practice for fire resistant design. London: BSI; 2003.

Statutory Instrument

Title (this should be in italics)
SI followed by the number of the Statutory Instrument
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication

The Public Contract Regulations 2006. SI 2006/5. London: The Stationery Office; 2006.

Television programme / broadcast

Title of programme/broadcast (this should be in italics)
Title of episode (if part of a series)
Name of broadcaster
Date of broadcast

Question Time. BBC One. 26th November 2009.

or

Doctor Who. Blink. BBC One. 9th June 2007.

Television programme / broadcast: episode in a series

Title of episode
Title of programme/broadcast (this should be in italics)
Name of broadcaster
Date of broadcast 

Blink. Doctor Who. BBC One. 9th June 2007.

Television programme / broadcast: online

Television programmes can now be viewed on a number of media players provided by broadcasting companies such as BBC iPlayer, ITVplayer, Channel 4 On Demand and so on.

Episodes can also be posted elsewhere online such as on YouTube. If you have viewed a television programme online, make sure you use the correct attribution, that is, the corporate author or name of broadcaster, wherever possible. Copyright, including distribution rights, and authorship will belong, in the majority of cases, to the programme maker, not the person posting the video online.

Title of episode (if title of episode is not known, use the title of the programme series)
Title of programme/broadcast (this should be in italics)
Name of broadcaster
Day, month and year of broadcast
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Thesis (final written work by PhD postgraduate students, dissertations, project reports, discourses and essays by any student)

Author
Title (this should be in italics)
Type of thesis
Academic institution
Year of publication

Leckenby RJ. Dynamic characterisation and fluid flow modelling of fractured reservoirs. PhD thesis. Imperial College London; 2005.

Video

When writing a reference for a multi-media item, you would usually use the title of the TV programme or video recording, or title of the film (whether on DVD or video) as the author. If the title is used as the author, this should be written in italics. You should also include the type of format in the reference, such as Video, DVD, CD, CD-ROM and so on.

Title (this should be in italics)
[Video]
Place of production
Name of production company
Year of production

The blue planet, vol. 3. [Video] London: BBC; 2001.

Video: YouTube

Name of person who uploaded the video (this could be a YouTube username, not a full name)
Title of video (in italics)
[Video]
Year the video was uploaded
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

Speakfirst. Presentation skills: How to improve your presentations. [Video] 2009. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt8YFCveNpY&feature=related [Accessed 5th November 2010].

Web page / website

Author/Editor (use the corporate author if no individual author or editor is named)
Title (this should be in italics)
Available from: URL
[Date of access]

European Space Agency. Rosetta: rendezvous with a comet. Available from: http://rosetta.esa.int/ [Accessed 15th June 2015].