1 What Does Citation Mean?

Citation means acknowledging and documenting the source of information that has been used in a study [1]. Citations are given in the text of the manuscript to be prepared. There are three common ways to cite an article which are given below.

For example

‘The first and most important lesson is that we have to devise Indian solutions to Indian problems. Portal hypertension surgery has been largely given up in western countries because of its poor results in patients with cirrhosis’.

If you are citing this text you have to insert a number at the end of the text or in superscript. Another, older, system is to mention the authors’ names in brackets at the end of the text.

First method—The first and most important lesson is that we have to devise Indian solutions to Indian problems. Portal hypertension surgery has been largely given up in western countries because of its poor results in patients with cirrhosis [1] or (1).

Second method—The first and most important lesson is that we have to devise Indian solutions to Indian problems. Portal hypertension surgery has been largely given up in western countries because of its poor results in patients with cirrhosis [1].

Third method—The first and most important lesson is that we have to devise Indian solutions to Indian problems. Portal hypertension surgery has been largely given up in western countries because of its poor results in patients with cirrhosis (Nundy 2018).

As you must have realized that citation does not provide complete details of the source but a link to where this information has been accessed. Do not add any degrees or institutional affiliations for the author. For more than one author use et al. (Nundy et al.). For theses and publications, the first two are usually preferred. At the end of the text, i.e., after the Conclusions of the manuscript, the complete reference is given.

2 What Are References?

A reference provides complete details about the article’s author(s), the journal in which it was published, the year it was published, the volume, and page numbers. The article can also be from a website, book, or thesis. The references are cited in the text in the serial order of their appearance and the same order is then followed for the reference list at the end. The references can also be given in alphabetical order or by year of publication. There are different types of reference systems that need to be followed according to a journal’s requirements [1]. It is expected that the authors have read the references and include only accurate information in the manuscript.

3 What Is the Advantage of Providing References and Citations?

The advantage is that it acknowledges and gives due credit to authors who have conducted the original work. It also lets the readers check if more details are required from the referred paper. In addition, on seeing the references you can know how extensive has been literature search. It also protects you from plagiarism charges [2].

4 What Are the Various Referencing Styles?

Some common and widely used citation styles are listed below. The Vancouver style is now generally used for the majority of journals. The first two will be discussed in the latter part of the chapter.

  • Vancouver.

  • Harvard.

  • Chicago—16th edition.

  • American Psychological Association—6th edition.

  • Modern Language Association.

  • Turabian—8th edition.

  • National Library of Medicine.

  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

There are other styles that are not common but are still required in some places:

  • American Chemical Society.

  • Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

  • American Medical Association.

  • Council of Science Editors/Council of Biology Editors.

5 What Is the Vancouver Style for Referencing?

To arrive at a consensus on a uniform format for biomedical manuscripts a meeting of the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors was held in Vancouver, Canada in 1978 in which they proposed the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.

6 What Are the General Rules for Citation and Referencing in the Vancouver Style?

The general rules for citation are:

  • A number is given to each citation in a superscript format.

  • If one needs to cite the same source again and again in the manuscript, the same number will be used as cited elsewhere.

  • No degrees or affiliation are added to the cited authors.

  • If there is more than one author add et al. after the first author’s name. et al.’ is written in italics which means ‘and others’.

The general rules for the list of references are:

  • Listed all the references in a numerical order, in the same order as they were cited in text.

  • Use a new page and title it ‘List of references’.

  • Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

  • Abbreviate journal titles in the style used in the National Library of Medicine (NML) catalogue [3].

  • Be consistent with your referencing style across the document.

7 How to Write Authors’ Names in the Vancouver Style?

Vivek Sharma is written as Sharma V and Anuj Kumar Verma is written as Verma AK.

How to write authors’ name in the reference list

One author—Sharma V

Two authors—Sharma V, Verma AK

Up to 6 authors—Sharma, V, Verma A, K, Soni P, S, Chawla A, K, Singh, Singh P

More than 6 authors—mention the names of the first six authors as in the original paper and then add et al., e.g., Sharma V, Verma AK, Soni PS, Chawla AK, Singh P, et al.

8 How Do you Write the journal’s Name in the Vancouver Style?

Use standard abbreviations for the journal which can be check at NML catalogue [3]. Some examples are given below.

Original name

NML abbreviation

The New England Journal of Medicine

N Engl J Med

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Ann Rheum Dis

American College of Epidemiology

Am Epidemiol

BMJ Surgery, Interventions, & Health Technologies

BMJ Surg Interv Health Technol

General Psychiatry

Gen Psychiatr

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery &Psychiatry Research

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry Res

American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology

Am J Obstet Gynecol

Current Opinion in Gynecology and Obstetrics

Curr Opin Gynecol Obste

Global Journal of Pediatrics &Neonatal Care

Glob J Pediatr Neonatal Care

figure a

9 How Should the References in the Vancouver Style Be Finally Listed?

  • Article with 1 to 6 authors.

figure b

  • For articles which more than 6 authors.

figure c

  • From electronic journals.

figure d

  • Reference from a book.

figure e

  • Reference from a chapter in a book.

figure f

10 What Is a DOI?

The digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique identifier given to an article and should be listed in the references where it is available. This is usually provided if the journal style requires it and is placed at the end after the URL source:

figure g

11 What Is the Harvard System of Referencing?

This type can be used for journals, books, and e-portals [4]. This style is sometimes used in the United Kingdom and in Australia.

For a citation in the manuscript only the last name (surname) of the author is used; the authors’ names and year of publication are not separated by a comma (,).

  • For example, one author (Sharma 2020).

  • For two authors (Sharma & Verma 2020).

  • For three authors (Sharma et al. 2020).

Detailed references are listed on a separate page at the end of the document

  • Each reference ends with a full stop (.).

  • There is a double line spacing between each entry.

  • Vivek Sharma is written as Sharma V and Anuj Kumar Verma is written as Verma AK.

  • Thus, this can be referred.

    • For one author—Sharma V 2020, Corona virus infection and Rheumatoid arthritis. Indian J Arthritis.

    • For two authors—Sharma V, Verma AK 2020, Corona virus infection and Rheumatoid arthritis. Indian J Arthritis.

    • For up to 5 authors—Sharma, V, Verma AK, Soni PS, Chawla AK, Singh PK 2020, Corona virus infection and Rheumatoid arthritis. Indian J Arthritis.

Finally, the references in the Harvard style for a paper will look like the following.

figure h

The references in Harvard style from a book will be as given below.

figure i

12 What Is a Reference Manager?

Reference Managers are software packages intended for authors of academic manuscripts to organize and sort their references [5]. Reference Managers are typically ‘plugged in’ directly to the researcher’s word processing software or web browsers. By introducing a code associated with a given reference, such a manager will create and organize the references in the style required by the journal.

Citations can be inserted in the manuscript using the following methods:

  • Manually—using software that comes standard with any Microsoft Word© package.

  • Online resources.

    • Web of Science or Worldcat.

    • Free online search tools (e.g., Google Scholar, arxiv, IEEE Xplore, or PubMed.

    • Social collaboration networks for researchers (e.g., Mendeley Web, Zotero, or CiteULike.

The advantages are that you can change the style of the reference or change the number without much problem.

Many sites like PubMed Central help you to download the citation directly.

13 Conclusions

  • A citation is acknowledging the work done by the original author and a reference is citing the source.

  • The Vancouver and Harvard styles are the two most commonly used for medical writing.

  • The references are usually placed at the end of the article.

  • It is expected that the authors should have read all the references and the information provided is complete.

  • It is best to keep an electronic record of all papers which have been cited till the article is published.