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Librarian Test Guide - Marissa: Vancouver: Reference List

Formatting the Reference List

References are listed in numerical order in the order that they are cited in the text. The reference list occurs at the end of the paper.

Start the reference list on a new page and title it "References."

The reference list contains only and all the sources cited in the text.

Abbreviate journal titles in the style used in the NLM Catalog.

Journal Articles

  • Author names are surnames followed by up to 2 initials. Leave author names in the order that they are published.
  • For 1 to 6 authors, list all authors' names and separate each with a comma and space.
  • For more than 6 authors, list the first 6 authors and add "et al."
  • Use sentence case and Arabic numerals.
  • Abbreviate months to their first three letters with no period. (Example: November is shortened to Nov)
  • Shorten page numbers wherever possible. (Example: 123-9)

For electronic journal articles:

  • The word [Internet] in square brackets should be inserted after the abbreviated journal title.
  • The date cited in square brackets must be included after the date of publication.
  • Include the DOI at the end of the reference.
DOI: Digital Object Identifier

 

Type

Examples

Journal Article

Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Abbreviated title of Journal. Date of
publication YYYY Mon DD;volume number(issue number):page numbers.

Li J. The relationship between peer support and sleep quality among Chinese college students: the mediating role of physical exercise atmosphere and the moderating effect of eHealth literacy. Front Psychol. 2024 Jul 31;15:1422026. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1422026.

Xie YJ, Liao X, Hui SS, Tian L, Yeung WF, Lau AY, et al. Tai Chi for the prophylaxis of episodic migraine: protocol of a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial with mechanism exploration. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2023 Sep 18;23(1):328. doi: 10.1186/s12906-023-04154-x.

Electronic Journal Article

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article.
Abbreviated title of Journal [Internet]. Year of publication [cited YYYY Mon DD];volume
number(issue number):page numbers. DOI

 Chen S, Peetroons X, Bakenecker AC, Lezcano F, Aranson IS, Sánchez S. Collective buoyancy-driven dynamics in swarming enzymatic nanomotors. Nat Commun. [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Oct 30];15(1):9315. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53664-w.

When citing with PubMed, include the PMID at the end of the citation.

Example:

Ramos MF, Brassard J, Masli S. Immunology and Pathology in Ocular Drug Development. Toxicol Pathol. 2021 Apr;49(3):483-504. doi: 10.1177/0192623320978396. PMID: 33468035.

Unique Databases

Some genomic databases have unique items like data sets. Cite by item type, independent of where you located that item. For example, if you are using a journal article from OMIM, you would cite it as a journal article.

OMIM Section 1.8: Citing OMIM as a whole, citing specific entries, personal communication, and printed versions.

ClinVar:  Learn to cite papers and original reports from ClinVar.

Books

Authors & Editors
  • Author names are surnames followed by up to 2 initials.
  • Give all author/editor names, separated by a comma and a space.
  • Leave author names in the order that they are published.
  • Editor names follow the edition. If there are no authors, only editors, move editor information to the author position.
Edition Edition is cited after the title if the book has been published in more than one version.
Capitalization Use sentence case for titles and Arabic Numerals.
Abbreviation
  • For book chapters, abbreviate page numbers using p. and shorten when possible.
    • Example: p.122-8
  • Abbreviate months to their first three letters with no period.
Place of Publication
  • Place of publication is defined as the city where the book was published.
  • For lesser-known cities or cities that have the same name in different locations, add a two-letter abbreviation for state/province in the United States or Canada. Cities in other countries are written out after the city.
    • Example: Cambridge (MA), Cambridge (England)

eBooks are cited the same way as a print book, except:

  • Use the word [Internet] in square brackets after the title.
  • Include any date of update/revision and a date of citation in square brackets after the date of publication.
  • When page numbers (also called pagination) are not provided, use the best measures you have, such as print pages, screens, or paragraphs.
  • Provide the URL and the DOI (if it is given) and place it after the URL.
Type Examples

Print Book

Author AA. Title of book. # edition. Editor BB. Place of Publication:
Publisher; Year of publication. Pagination.

Lerchenfeldt S. Pharmacology. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2020. 352 p.

Martin EW. Hazards of medication. 2nd ed. Ruskin A, Napke E, Alexander S, Kelsey FO, Farage DJ, Mills DH, Elkas RW, editors. Philadelphia: Lippincott; 1978. 686 p.

Book Chapter

Author AA. Title of book. # edition. Place of Publication:
Publisher; Year of publication. Chapter #, Title of chapter; Pagination.

 Kim CT. Botulinum neurotoxin: a guide to motor point injections. St. Louis: Elsevier; 2022. Chapter 5, Hand; p. 59-68.

eBook

Author AA. Title of book [Internet]. # edition. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year published [cited YYYY Mon DD]. Pagination. Available from: URL DOI: (if available)

 Abbas AK, Lichtman AH, Pillai S. Cellular and molecular immunology, 10th ed. [Internet]. Philadelphia: Elsevier Health Sciences; 2021 [cited 2024
Nov 13]. 600 p. Available from: www.clinicalkey.com/#!/browse/book/3-s2.0-C20190004463

 

Internet Sources

  • List authors' names in the order they appear on the site. 
  • Reproduce the title of a homepage as closely as possible to the wording on the screen.
  • Place the word [Internet] in square brackets following the title.
  • Place of publication is defined as where the homepage is published.
  • Publisher is defined as the individual or organization issuing the homepage.
  • The date of publication is the date the page was first published on the internet. Always give the year.
  • For date of up-to-date/revision, always give the year and include the date/month after the year (if provided).
If the place, publisher, or date are unknown, use [unknown].
  • "Date cited" is the date you accessed the page.
  • URL: Begin with the phrase "Available from" and insert the URL in its entirety. End with a period only if the URL ends with a slash. Otherwise, add no punctuation.

 

Type Examples

Web Page

Author/organization’s name. Title of the page [Internet]. Place of publication:
Publisher's name; Date or year of publication [updated YYYY Mon DD; cited YYYY Mon DD]. Available from: URL

 Office of Science (OS), Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health. Genomics &
Precision Health [Internet]. Atlanta (GA). Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; 2014 [updated 2021 June 24; cited 2022 Aug 7]. Available from:
https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/about/basics.htm

Part of Website

Title of the homepage [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher's name; Date or
year of publication. Title of specific page/part; Date of publication of part [Date
cited of part]; [location or pagination of part]. Available from: URL

 Genomics and Precision Health [Internet]. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention; 2018. Genetic Counseling and Testing; 2022 Jun 24
[cited 2022 Aug 12]; [about 1 page]. Available from:
https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/famhistory/famhist_professionals.htm

 

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