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Vancouver (AMA) referencing style

A guide to referencing in the Vancouver (American Medical Association - AMA) style. Includes tips for using EndNote.

Journal abbreviations

The titles of journals must be abbreviated according to the style used in the the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) catalogue:

If you cannot find a particular journal title in the NLM catalog: Journals referenced in the NCBI databases try:

EndNote: Journal title abbreviations

To show abbreviated journal titles in your EndNote Vancouver reference list you need to download the Journals Terms List.

Journal article - one to six authors

Elements of the citation

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp. DOI

No DOI available: 

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp. Accessed Month DD, YYYY. URL
Reference list
  1. Skalsky K, Yahav D, Bishara J, Pitlik S, Leibovici L, Paul M. Treatment of human brucellosis: systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2008;336(7646):701-704. doi:10.1136/bmj.39497.500903.25
  2. Snowdon J. Severe depression in old age. Med Today. 2002;3(12):40‐47. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://medicinetoday.com.au/mt/2002/december/feature-article/severe-depression-old-age
  3. McInnes D, Bollen J. Learning on the job: metaphors of choreography and the practice of sex in sex‐on‐premises venues. Venereology. 2000;13(1):27‐36. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://search.informit.org/doi/epdf/10.3316/informit.558995805550155
In-text reference

Not using authors' names:

...a strong correlation has been found.1

Using authors' names:

  • 1 author: Snowdon's research ...2
  • For 2 authors use 'and': McInnes and Bollen3 suggest that...
  • For 3 or more authors use the first author and 'et al': Skalsky et al1 report that...
EndNote reference type

Journal Article (or Electronic Article)

  • If there is no DOI, enter the URL in the URL field and the access date in the Access Date field, e.g. September 11, 2024.
  • Leave DOI and URL fields blank for print items.

Journal article - more than six authors

Elements of the citation

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp. DOI

No DOI available

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp. Accessed Month DD, YYYY. URL
Reference list
  1. Hanna JN, McBride WJ, Brookes DL, et al. Hendra virus infection in a veterinarian. Med J Aust. 2006;185(10):562‐564. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00692.x
In-text reference

Not using authors' names:

...a strong correlation has been found.4

Using authors' names:

For 3 or more authors use the first author and 'et al': Hanna et al4 report that...
EndNote reference type

Journal Article (or Electronic Article)

  • If there is no DOI, enter the URL in the URL field and the access date in the Access Date field, e.g. September 11, 2024.
  • Leave DOI and URL fields blank for print items.

Journal article - no author

Elements of the citation

Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp. DOI
Reference list
  1. ESPGHAN 55th Annual Meeting Abstracts. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2023;76(suppl 1):1-1407. doi:10.1097/MPG.0000000000003823
In-text reference New accreditation has...8
EndNote reference type

Journal Article (or Electronic Article)

  • If there is no DOI, enter the URL in the URL field and the access date in the Access Date field, e.g. September 11, 2024.
  • Leave DOI and URL fields blank for print items.

Journal article - online ahead of print

Elements of the citation

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Accepted manuscript. Published online Month DD, YYYY. DOI

  • Some journals will make articles available online before they are assigned to an official issue of the journal and given a volume, issue and page numbers. Such articles might be labelled 'online ahead of print', 'advance online publications', 'early access', 'epub before print', 'online first', 'in press' or similar wording.
Reference list
  1. Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z. Postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron eras. N Engl J Med. Accepted manuscript. Published online July 17, 2024. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2403211
EndNote reference type

Journal Article (or Electronic Article)

  • Add online first date to Epub Date.
  • Leave Year and Pages fields empty.
  • If there is no DOI, enter the URL in the URL field and the access date in the Access Date field, e.g. September 11, 2024.
  • Leave DOI and URL fields blank for print items.

Journal article - in supplement

Elements of the citation

Supplement to a volume

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(supplement):pp-pp. DOI

Supplement to an issue

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue)(supplement):pp-pp. DOI
Reference list
  1. Cunningham A, Kotagiri A. A long history of dense deposit disease. BMC Ophthalmol. 2018;18(suppl 1):228. doi:10.1186/s12886-018-0853-8
  2. Kleinman JT, Mlynash M, Zaharchuk G, et al. Yield of CT perfusion for the evaluation of transient ischaemic attack. Int J Stroke. 2015;10(suppl A100):25-29. doi:10.1111/j.1747-4949.2012.00941.x
  3. Filipek B, Yandamuri S, Obaid A et al. Phenotypes of B cells producing autoantibodies in MOGAD patients (N1.002). Neurology. 2024;122(17)(suppl 1):S6. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000208259
EndNote reference type

Journal Article (or Electronic Article)

  • Add supplement/part information to Part/Supplement field, e.g. suppl 1 or pt 5.
  • For a supplement to an issue (see example 5 above) add the issue to the Issue field.
  • If there is no DOI, enter the URL in the URL field and the access date in the Access Date field, e.g. September 11, 2024.
  • Leave DOI and URL fields blank for print items.