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What is Vancouver Style?

The Vancouver system, also commonly referred to as the Vancouver referencing style, is an international citation style based on the citation-sequence system that is used most widely in the medical sciences (including by the MEDLINE and PubMed databases) and biological sciences.

While there might be many variations to the Vancouver system, the term ‘Vancouver Style’ is generally used to describe the referencing rules presented in ‘Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers’.

How is Vancouver Style specific?

A specific trait of the Vancouver citation style is the fact that it uses the author-sequence system (although variations might exist), which means that the sources cited in a paper are presented in the bibliography in the sequential order and are not sorted alphabetically or otherwise.

There are many specific traits in terms of the contents of citations: Vancouver Style has unique requirements regarding the presentation of authors’ names (initials ‘merged’ together without spaces, punctuation omitted, etc.), allows for variations in the presentation of certain elements (inclusion of ISBN, optional abbreviation of journal titles, etc.), and so on. Thus, this style is difficult to master.

On the website Grafiati, the Vancouver Style citation generator has algorithms developed in strict conformity with the rules set forth in Citing Medicine, i.e. with the latest recommendations for references in the Vancouver System.

The different systems of Vancouver Style

While Vancouver Style is based on the citation-sequence system in the general case as described above, two other systems may be used as well. So, there are overall three systems of Vancouver Style:

  1. Vancouver citation-sequence (also known as: NLM Style, NLM Style citation-sequence, Uniform requirements submitted to medical journals): numbered list of references with references ordered by chronology of citation.
  2. Vancouver citation-name (also known as: Vancouver alphabetical ordering, NLM Style citation-name, NLM Style alphabetical ordering): numbered list of references with references ordered alphabetically by author's name and title of work.
  3. Vancouver name-year (also known as: Vancouver author-date, NLM Style name-year, NLM style author-date): list of references ordered by name of author and chronology of publication, with the classical author-date parenthetical in-text citations.

The most popular system is the first one, the other two can be used optionally.

What is the purpose of the Vancouver referencing generator Grafiati?

The Vancouver Style generator Grafiati aims at creating the best and most exact bibliographic references in accordance with the rules of the Vancouver system. As a result, you can:

  • spare over 90% of your time spent on citations;
  • avoid major time expenditures on studying all the tiny nuances of the Vancouver Style manual;
  • create your citations online from any device;
  • generate references and in-text citations in any of the three systems of Vancouver Style: citation-sequence, citation-name, or name-year;
  • convert all your Vancouver references into APA, MLA, Chicago, and other popular international citation styles in one click;
  • save, export, and edit your bibliography;
  • use many features to fine-tune your Vancouver references and citations where the Citing Medicine guide allows for variations.

How to use Grafiati for Vancouver Style references and citations?

As can be seen from what is stated above, the references under the Vancouver system are complex. However, with our service, they become as easy as a piece of cake: you do the research, and we take care of your bibliography. Moreover, you can further reuse all of your Vancouver references for your other papers or thesis.

Start with our homepage. Choose Vancouver as the citation style for your bibliography. Then, search for your source in catalogues and add a reference in one click or enter your source details manually. There is no need to read any instructions or watch any tutorials. We offer the most user-friendly interface among all bibliographic managers.

Using the bibliography menu, adjust the settings for your Vancouver references or convert them into any language available on the website.

How is Grafiati different from other citation generators (Zotero, Mendeley, Citethisforme, etc.)?

You can see a more detailed explanation of the differences between Grafiati and the other citation generators (Zotero, Mendeley, Citethisforme, etc.) in terms of Vancouver references here and in general terms here.

To put it briefly, all these websites and applications use the same faulty code for generating your references and citations. On the contrary, with Grafiati, you get citation algorithms based exclusively on a detailed analysis of each particular citation style manual, and thus the most exact citations possible.

Furthermore, none of the aforementioned citation generators support the generation of references in all the three systems of Vancouver (NLM) Style, which makes Grafiati a unique tool allowing you to tailor Vancouver references to your needs. To change the desired system of Vancouver Style, search for 'Vancouver' in the menu of available citation styles.

If you want to get top-quality Vancouver Style references and citations, start using Grafiati right away!

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