Students of the Business School, School of Education, and the School of Law have their own specific referencing styles and they should use the separate education, business and law guides available in the Library Guides’ Referencing section.
Within the text
In-text citations in Vancouver/Uniform are entered in the following way:
Enter a running number in the text which links to the numbering in the bibliography at the end.
For example: Archer and Smith (3,4) claim that … OR: In recent studies (3,4) it is claimed that …
Page numbers
Page numbers are not given within the in-text citations in Vancouver/Uniform.
Using quotations
If you are quoting more than a few words then indent the quotation from the rest of the text. For example:
In the text:
As Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (12) state in reference to librarians:
Researchers owe a duty to librarians to make good use of them, and there is much that a librarian may be able to advise you on or help you with, if approached in the right way.
In the bibliography:
Blaxter L, Hughes C, Tight M. How to research. 4th ed. Maidenhead (UK): Open University Press; 2010. Chapter 4, Reading for research; p. 99-133.
Citing a secondary person
Only cite the work that you have actually read. If you read a source that refers to the work of someone else ideally you should find and read the work that has been referred to. However, if you are unable to locate the original work you must make it clear to your reader that you are citing work that you have not read. The work that you have read is ‘secondary’ as you are relying on someone else’s interpretation or opinion of the original work rather than your own. For example:
In the text: Oliver (5) cites Nemeroff, 2008, saying that …
In the bibliography: 5. Oliver, P. Understanding the research process. London: Sage; 2010. Chapter 1, The idea of research; p. 1-23.
Citing personal communications
Requirements for this depend on your discipline. Check your course handbook or with your supervisor. Often personal communications are cited within the text but not included in the reference list. If so, an example of this would be:
… referencing guides would be useful if you have time (2011 email from G Dawson to me; unreferenced)
The bibliography/reference list at the end of your written work
You must create a bibliography/reference list at the end of your written piece of work. This list should include only those items you’ve referred to in the text. The references are listed in numeric order, starting with 1.
Examples:
| Book - whole (print) |
Blaxter L, Hughes C, Tight M. How to research. 4th ed. Maidenhead (UK): Open University Press; 2010. 329 p. |
| Book - whole (ebook in a database) |
Blaxter L, Hughes C, Tight M. How to research [Internet]. 4th ed. Maidenhead (UK): Open University Press; 2010 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. 329 p. Available from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/abdn/detail.action?docID=650302 |
| Book – whole (downloaded to an ereader) |
Blaxter L, Hughes C, Tight M. How to research [Internet]. 4th ed., Kindle ed. Maidenhead (UK): Open University Press; 2010 [cited 2023 Jun 22]; [about 120 screens]. Available from: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Research-Open-Study-Skills-ebook/dp/B004UBCX5K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1438603036&sr=1-1 |
| Book – chapter (print) | Gooday G. Electricity and the Sociable Circulation of Fear and Fearlessness. In: Livingston DN, Withers CW, editors. Geographies of Nineteenth-Century Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2011. p. 203-28. |
| Book – chapter (ebook chapter in a database) |
Gooday G. Electricity and the Sociable Circulation of Fear and Fearlessness. In: Livingstone DN, Withers CW, editors. Geographies of Nineteenth-Century Science [Internet]. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2011 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. p. 203-28. Available from: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226487298.001.0001 |
| Conference paper (print) |
Andone D, Vasiu R, Robu N. Building a virtual campus for digital students. In: IEEE Engineering Education 2011: Learning Environments and Ecosystems in Engineering Education. IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON); 2011 Apr 4-6; Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan. New York: IEEE; 2011. p. 1069-73. |
| Conference paper (econference paper in a database or on the Internet) | Andone D, Vasiu R, Robu N. Building a virtual campus for digital students. In: IEEE Engineering Education 2011: Learning Environments and Ecosystems in Engineering Education. IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). 2011 Apr 4-6; Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan [Internet]. New York: IEEE; 2011 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. p. 1069-73. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2011.5773280 |
| Journal article (print) | Fischer BA, Zigmond MJ. Educational approaches for discouraging plagiarism. Urol Oncol-Semin Ori. 2011;29(1):100-3. |
| Journal article (e-version of a print journal) |
Fischer BA, Zigmond MJ. Educational approaches for discouraging plagiarism. Urol Oncol-Semin Ori [Internet]. 2011 Jan-Feb [cited 2023 Jun 22]; 29(1):100-3. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2010.11.014 |
| Journal article (e-journal article with no page numbers) |
Fischer BA, Zigmond MJ. Educational approaches for discouraging plagiarism. Urol Oncol-Semin Ori [Internet]. 2011 Jan-Feb [cited 2023 Jun 22]; 29(1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2010.11.014 |
| Lecture notes from VLE | MacKay J. Early days: Winsor McCay. HI4567: History of animation [vle online]. 2018 [cited 2019 May 31]. Available from: https://abdn.blackboard.com |
| Report (print) | Tesco. Annual report and financial statements 2012. Cheshunt (UK): Tesco PLC; 2012. 153 p. |
| Report (report on the Internet) |
Tesco. Annual report and financial statements 2012 [Internet]. Cheshunt (UK): Tesco; 2012 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. Available from: https://www.tescoplc.com/investors/reports-results-and-presentations/reports-archive |
| Thesis (print) | Smallegoor E. Novel upstarts: Frances Burney and the lower middle class [dissertation]. Aberdeen (UK): University of Aberdeen; 2010. 160 p. |
| Thesis (thesis on the Internet) |
Smallegoor E. Novel upstarts: Frances Burney and the lower middle class [dissertation on the Internet]. Aberdeen (UK): University of Aberdeen; 2010 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. 160 p. Available from: https://abdn.primo.exlibrisgroup.com |
| Web page | University of Aberdeen. Library [Internet]. Aberdeen (UK): University of Aberdeen; [cited 2023 Jun 22]. Available from: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/library |
The examples in this referencing guide are based on the following source:
Patrias K. Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers [Internet]. 2nd ed.
Wendling DL, technical editor. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007 - [updated 2015 Oct 2; cited 2023 Jun 22]. Available from: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine
Last revised by Janet MacKay, July 2023