Definition of Vancouver Style

The so-called Health Sciences cover a series of very diverse disciplines, such as medicine in its different branches, psychology, physiotherapy, optometry or speech therapy. In order to unify criteria in relation to the dissemination of knowledge, there are a series of shared rules. The Vancouver style is the framework of everything concerning the publication of texts associated with the health sciences.

It receives this name because it was in the Canadian city of Vancouver where the foundations of this system were laid in 1978.

What are these standards for?

Although the main reason that justifies this type of norms is the unification of criteria in bibliographic references in the health sector, there are other reasons that justify their use. First of all, they allow you to avoid possible cases of plagiarism. On the other hand, they facilitate the recognition of the work of other authors.

Likewise, they allow the reader to more easily find the sources of information that have been cited in a work of

investigation. Finally, these standards are intended to convey credibility to the content of a work.

Considerations when making bibliographic references

When the contribution of a different author is mentioned in a work, a number must be noted in parentheses, which will correspond to its respective number in the bibliography section. In this way, the reader of the text You can consult the bibliographic source mentioned and know who its author is and in which publication that reference appeared.

If a research article has more than six authors, only the first six will appear, accompanied by the Latin abbreviation et al, which means "and others".

The pattern to follow so that a reference is correct is the following: first the author or authors of the article are written, then the title of the article and the title of the journal appear, then the year and month of publication, the issue or volume, the editorial and the year of publication.

Among the criteria used there are also a series of recommendations on the font and margins, the text and paper format and the most suitable type of title.

In parallel, a series of guidelines related to the preliminaries of the publication are indicated (for example, the dedication, glossary or list of annexes) and the body of the work (for example, on the introduction, the objectives, the methodology or the acknowledgments section).

The standards set out in the Vancouver style are a tool essential for the dissemination of scientific knowledge in the field of health. At present these technical requirements are mandatory compliance for editors and committees of drafting.

The Vancouver style can be installed in a word program and in this way the publication of texts and the study of them is facilitated.

Photos: Fotolia - Nikolai Titov

Vancouver Style Themes