Reference styles:

Harvard and Vancouver

 Introduction
There are two main methods of referencing
articles in journal and book publications.
These are known as the Harvard (author-date)
and Vancouver (author-number) reference
systems. Many professional publications often
have their own house style which introduce
specific variations within these general
conventions.
 Harvard (author-date) style
This system uses the author's name and date of
publication in the body of the text, and the
bibliography is given alphabetically by author.
There are many variations on the style -
examples are below:
 Example
"The author has discussed the implications of these
proposals on the National Health Service in another
paper (Loft, 1991). Other writers have commented on
related issues, notably Lane (1992, 1994) and Lewis
(1995, p.54). "
Names and dates are enclosed in parentheses unless
the author's name is part of the sentence. If two
papers are cited by the same author, and both are
published in the same year, the first should be
referenced as (Loft 1997a), then (Loft 1997b), and so
on.
The full citation is listed at the end of the article, which
is arranged in alphabetical order by author. Journal
names are given in full and are italicised, as are book
names. References would be cited as follows:
Annas, G.J. (1997a), 'New drugs for acute respiratory
distress syndrome', New England Journal of
Medicine, vol. 337, no. 6, pp. 435-439.
Grinspoon, L. & Bakalar, J.B. (1993), Marijuana: the
forbidden medicine, Yale University Press, London.
 Variations on the Harvard style
Universities have many variations for use in their own institutions,
a few examples are linked below.
Leicester University (UK)
Year of publication is not in brackets and is followed by a full
stop; article titles are not placed within quotes, volume
numbers are in bold and are not spelled out;
www.le.ac.uk/library/sources/subject3/harvard.html
Monash University (Aus)
Article titles are in double quotes;
http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/harvard.html
University of Western Australia (Aus)
In this recommendation, the year of publication is not in
brackets;
www.library.uwa.edu.au/education_training___and___support/
guides/how_to_cite_your_sources
British Standards 1629 and 5605
There are two British Standards outlining reference
styles. They use an author-date format:
Recommendations for references to published
materials. BSI, 1989. BS 1629
Recommendations for citing and referencing
published material. 2nd ed. BSI, 1990. BS 5605.
Bournemouth University (UK) has produced a guide
based on the standards above. Note it quotes authors
in capitals, as recommended in the British Standard.
This is rarely recommended in other author-date
(Harvard) guides.
 Vancouver (author-number) style
The Vancouver system differs from Harvard by using a number
series to indicate references. Bibliographies list these in numerical
order as they appear in the text. The main advantage of the
Vancouver style is that the main text reads more easily, and some
editors consider this to be less obtrusive. Additionally, references in
the bibliography are directly correlated to numbers, saving the
reader time in searching alphabetically for the first author of a
reference.
Vancouver style is so named as it is based on the work of a group,
first meeting in Vancouver in 1978, which became the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The style was
developed by the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) and
adopted by the ICMJE as part of their 'uniform requirements for
manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals'.

The NLM's annual publication 'list of journals indexed in Index

Medicus' lists journals and their accepted abbreviations. The NLM
abbreviation for a journal title is commonly required by medical
journals.
 Example
"The author has discussed the implications of these proposals on the
National Health Service in another paper (1). Other writers have
commented on related issues, notably Lane (2,3) and Lewis (4). "
References in the Vancouver style would be cited in numerical order
as below. This is a more economical style than Harvard, and
excessive punctuation, spacing and formatting is absent. Journal
names are abbreviated.
(1) Annas GJ. New drugs for acute respiratory distress syndrome. N
Engl J Med. 1997;337:435-9.
(2) Grinspoon L, Bakalar JB. Marijuana: the forbidden medicine.
London: Yale University Press; 1993.
(3) Feinberg TE, Farah MJ, editors. Behavioural neurology and
neuropsychology. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1997.
 Variations on the Vancouver style (medical
journals)
Medical journals generally require the Vancouver style, but it is important
to consult 'Instructions for Authors' for any publication before writing and
submitting a paper. The Mulford Library at the Medical College of Ohio
maintains a comprehensive list of journal instructions to authors for over
3,000 journals in the health sciences:
Go to the Instructions for Authors in the health sciences site -
www.mco.edu/lib/instr/libinsta.html
Variations frequently include:
In many publications the in-text numbers used to cite references are often
in superscript, like this: Lane ³
Capitalisation, particularly in book titles;
Place of publication and publisher may be reversed from the order given
above;
Page numbers sometimes elided as 805-9 or in full as 805-809;
Abbreviations for journal titles or full titles;
Punctuation conventions vary considerably between publications.
 BMJ guidelines for authors
The BMJ conforms in most respects to the Vancouver style, however its advice to
contributors is as follows:
Go to the BMJ guidelines for authors -
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/advice/stylebook/basics.shtml

Examples of BMJ style

 Nantulya V, Reich M. The neglected epidemic: road traffic injuries in developing
countries. BMJ 2002;324: 1139.
 Murray C, Lopez A. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause
1990-2020: global burden of disease study. Lancet 1997;349: 1498-504.
 Clarke R, Lewington S, Donald A, Johnston C, Refsum H, Stratton I, et al.
Underestimation of the importance of homocysteine as a risk factor for
cardiovascular disease in epidemiological studies. J Cardiovasc Risk 2001;8: 363-9.
 Land Transport Safety Authority. New Zealand household travel survey.
Wellington: Safety Standards Branch, Land Transport Safety Authority, 1991.
 World Health Organization. International classification of diseases, 9th revision:
clinical modification. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, 1980.
 Department of Health. National service framework for coronary heart disease.
London: DoH, 2000. www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/coronary.htm (accessed 6 Jun 2003).

In the text, reference numbers are given in superscript. Notice that issue number is
omitted if there is continuous pagination throughout a volume, there is a space
between volume number and page numbers, page numbers are in elided form (51-4
rather than 51-54) and the name of journal or book is in italics.