Vancouver is a citation style commonly used in engineering and computer sciences and is developed by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). In this guide we present examples of how you can cite the most common sources according to the IEEE system. If you would like more examples, or if you are looking for a source type not presented in this guide, please refer to the IEEE Reference Guide (2022).
The instructions in this guide are based on the IEEE Reference Guide. Always check with your teacher or supervisor if there are other instructions for your assignment.
The examples of the IEEE style presented in this guide correspond to the "IEEE" style in Endnote, Mendeley and Zotero.
In the IEEE style, in-text citations are always indicated by numbers in order of appearance. The numbers are put in brackets [1]. The first source cited gets the number [1], the second one gets number [2], and so on. If you cite the same source several times, you use the number it was given the first time you referred to it. In the reference list, which must be included at the end of the document, the bibliographic references are presented in the same numeric order of appearance. Not in alphabetical order.
If you refer to multiple sources in the same place in the text, hyphens are used between sequential references [2]-[5]. Use commas to refer to multiple sources in a broken sequence [8], [12], [20].
You may mention the author's name in the text if appropriate, but this doesn't change how you write in-text citations in IEEE. You must still include the number of the reference. If the cited work has more than two authors you write the name of the first author followed by et al. in italics.
The reference list is included at the end of the document and follows the numerical order of the in-text citations. If a source has more than six authors, the first is named followed by et al. in italics.
For more information about the format of the references, please refer to the relevant source type in the menu.
Here with a journal article, a chapter in a book with editors, and a printed book.