This Vancouver citation generator formats references in the numbered biomedical style based on the ICMJE recommendations, used by medical schools and by journals indexed in PubMed. Paste a DOI, PMID or article title and the generator retrieves the real record before formatting it. Vancouver strips punctuation to a minimum, which makes it fast to read and easy to get subtly wrong.
Your formatted reference will appear here, with the database record it came from.
Real Vancouver style (ICMJE recommendations) references, formatted the way biomedicine coursework expects them.
Journal article
1. Smith JA, Jones BC, Alvarez M. Early mobilisation after cardiac surgery. Lancet. 2024;403(10428):771-9.
Book
2. Okafor N. Clinical Pharmacology. 3rd ed. New York: Meridian; 2022.
Chapter in an edited book
3. Berg L. Sepsis recognition. In: Alvarez M, editor. Acute Care Medicine. Boston: Rowan Press; 2023. p. 210-28.
Vancouver is a numeric style. Sources are numbered in the order they first appear and the number is reused on every later mention. Numbers appear in parentheses or as superscripts depending on your institution, and the reference list is ordered numerically rather than alphabetically.
previous studies (1,2) have shown
Citing a website in Vancouver needs the author or organisation, the page title, the place and publisher where known, the publication date, and the date you cited it in square brackets, followed by the URL.
4. World Health Organization. Air quality and health [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2024 [cited 2026 Aug 19]. Available from: https://www.who.int/example
They are closely related. ICMJE publishes the recommendations, the NLM maintains the detailed formatting rules, and Vancouver is the common name. Small differences exist between university guides, so check your handbook for the six-author cut-off and superscript preference.
Yes. PubMed identifiers resolve to the same records as DOIs and usually give the cleanest metadata for biomedical literature.
Both are used. Journals state their preference in the author guidelines; universities usually specify one in the course handbook. Pick one and stay consistent.
Trials are cited by registry number and registry name; guidelines are cited like a corporate report with the issuing body as author. Both are supported when the record carries a DOI.