Vancouver Citation Style for LaTeX Thesis
Use Vancouver citation style in your LaTeX thesis. Free automatic Vancouver numeric formatting with BibTeX. Works with Overleaf. No LaTeX knowledge needed.
How Vancouver Citation Works
Vancouver style uses a numeric citation system where sources are numbered consecutively in the order they appear in the text. In-text citations use Arabic numerals in square brackets, superscripts, or parentheses. The reference list is numbered correspondingly.
About Vancouver Citation Style
Vancouver citation style is the standard referencing format used in biomedical and health sciences. Named after the city where it was first agreed upon at a 1978 meeting of medical journal editors, Vancouver style is used by the majority of biomedical journals worldwide and is the required citation format for theses in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, and public health.
The Vancouver citation system assigns a unique number to each source based on the order in which it first appears in the text. When you reference a source, you insert the corresponding number in square brackets — [1], [2], [3] — or sometimes as a superscript. If you refer to the same source multiple times, it retains its original number. When citing multiple sources simultaneously, you can use commas or en-dashes for ranges: [1, 3, 5] or [1]–[5].
The reference list at the end of a Vancouver-style document provides complete bibliographic information for each cited source. References are listed in numerical order (not alphabetical order), matching the citation numbers in the text. Each reference follows a specific format that is regulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). For journal articles, the format is: Authors. Title. Journal abbreviation. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages.
A distinctive feature of Vancouver style is how authors are listed. In the reference list, if there are six or fewer authors, all are listed. If there are seven or more authors, the first six are listed followed by "et al." Author names use initials without periods, separated by spaces (not commas). This convention differs significantly from both APA and IEEE styles.
Another important feature of Vancouver style is the use of abbreviated journal titles. The full journal name is replaced with a standardised abbreviation from the NLM Catalog (formerly PubMed). For example, "The New England Journal of Medicine" becomes "N Engl J Med." These abbreviations must be used exactly as specified, with proper punctuation and capitalisation.
Implementing Vancouver referencing in LaTeX requires the correct bibliography style (such as vancouver.bst or similar) and properly formatted BibTeX entries that include abbreviated journal names. ThesisForge handles all of these details automatically. When you select Vancouver as your citation style, the generated LaTeX code produces correctly numbered citations and a properly formatted reference list that complies with ICMJE standards.
For medical students, biomedical researchers, and health sciences professionals, ThesisForge's Vancouver citation support provides the academic rigour required by biomedical journals and medical schools without the complexity of manual LaTeX configuration.
Vancouver BibTeX Example
Below is a sample BibTeX file formatted for Vancouver citation style. ThesisForge generates BibTeX automatically when you add references in the wizard.
@article{li2023efficacy,
author = {Li, X and Wang, H and
Zhang, Q and Chen, Y},
title = {Efficacy of Metformin in
Type 2 Diabetes Management:
A Meta-Analysis},
journal = {Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol},
year = {2023},
volume = {11},
number = {5},
pages = {312--324},
doi = {10.1016/S2213-8587(23)00045-2}
}
@article{jones2022covid,
author = {Jones, R and Patel, M and
Anderson, K and Williams, S and
Taylor, D and Brown, L},
title = {Long COVID: A Comprehensive
Review of Persistent Symptoms},
journal = {BMJ},
year = {2022},
volume = {377},
pages = {o694},
doi = {10.1136/bmj.o694}
}Rendered Vancouver Output
This is what the above BibTeX entries look like when compiled with Vancouver citation style in LaTeX:
[1] Li X, Wang H, Zhang Q, Chen Y. Efficacy of metformin in type 2 diabetes management: a meta-analysis. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2023;11(5):312-24.
[2] Jones R, Patel M, Anderson K, Williams S, Taylor D, Brown L. Long COVID: a comprehensive review of persistent symptoms. BMJ. 2022;377:o694.
Generate a Thesis with Vancouver Citations
Choose Vancouver as your citation style in ThesisForge and get perfectly formatted citations and bibliography — automatically. No LaTeX knowledge required.
Start Free Thesis GeneratorFrequently Asked Questions About Vancouver Citation
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Other Citation Styles
Use Vancouver With Any Thesis Template
Vancouver citation style works with all ThesisForge templates: