Referencing and RefWorks
Vancouver Referencing
This guide is for the newly refreshed Vancouver style that is in use from September 2024. If you are looking for the older information and templates please look at the RGU Vancouver Guide.
Referencing is a critical element in any academic assignment. During your studies at RGU you will be required to reference your sources according to the Library guidelines. .
Remember that you need to follow the examples exactly - using capital letters, italics and the correct punctuation as shown in the examples.
If you require feedback on some of your references, please submit them using our feedback request form only. Please make sure you have read the terms of service on the form before submitting your request.
Referencing has changed!
This guide is for the newly refreshed Vancouver style that is in use from September 2024. If you are looking for the older information and templates please look at the Classic Vancouver Guide.
Most students should use the refreshed guidance and templates. Students who are in their final year, or students on one-year courses that started in January 2024, can usually choose which version to use. Please check with your course leader or lecturers if you need advice on which version of Vancouver you should use.
Why Reference?
| WHY DO I HAVE TO REFERENCE? |
|---|
| To support your arguments by referring your reader to academic sources which confirm what you are saying |
| To give credit to the other authors whose work you have quoted, or to whose work you have referred |
| To avoid an accusation of plagiarism |
| To allow the reader of your work to find the books, journal articles, web pages etc. which you have read |
| To demonstrate that you understand the conventions of academic writing |
| WHEN DO I REFERENCE? |
|---|
| Every time you quote directly from someone else’s work |
Every time you refer indirectly to the work of someone else, e.g. if you:
|
| When you wish to provide sources of further information, clarification of points you have made in your text, or additional evidence to support your arguments |
What is...
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is theft of intellectual property. You can avoid accusations of plagiarism by referencing all the sources of information you have used in assignments.
The University has a very strict policy against plagiarism and dealing with students accused of it. This guide explains the Vancouver style of referencing. Following the information in this guide will help you to avoid any risk of plagiarism.
For more information on academic honesty and plagiarism, see RGU Study Skills' guide to Academic Honesty (via Moodle).
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is when you take someone else's ideas, theories, opinions, etc. and write them in your own words. This is great because you can show your understanding of the concept, but that doesn't mean it is your own original idea. So, you must reference the originator of the idea. If you don't, it will constitute plagiarism.
Directly Quoting
This is when you copy the exact words from a book, journal article, website, etc. It’s ok to include quotations here and there in your assignments, but try not to overdo it, as too many quotations might get frowned upon. It is your work as well! A few things to keep in mind:
- short quotations can be contained in your paragraph and should always be “enclosed within quotation marks”
- longer quotations should appear as a separate paragraph and do not require quotation marks
- don’t forget to reference all your quotations!
- the citation after the quote will have to mention the exact page where you took the extract from. The exception is when there are no pages, like webpages or Kindle books, where page numbers vary depending on text size.
All quotations need to be referenced properly. If they are not this constitutes plagiarism.
The Stages of Referencing
Features
- appears at the end of your work giving the full reference details of works from which you have quoted or to which you have referred in your text
- is arranged numerically by the citation numbers in your text and should be headed References
- can sometimes be called an Endnote in different instructional guides
Take a look at a sample Reference List
Features
- appears at the end of your work following the Reference list and should be headed Bibliography.
- includes anything which you have read but not referred to or quoted in your text, e.g. background reading. The Bibliography will contain different items than those included in the Reference list
- is arranged alphabetically by author. If it contains more than one work by the same author they are arranged alphabetically by title.
Take a look at a sample Bibliography
The citation is inserted into your text where you have quoted from, or referred to, someone else's work.
Features
- consists of a number either in brackets (1) [1] or in superscript¹
- the numbers run consecutively throughout your work
- if you quote from, or refer to, the same source more than once, use the same citation number each time.
- if you have quoted directly from an item that has page numbers (e.g. a book or a journal article) you should include the page number after the citation number.
There are some examples of citations in the table below and more can be found in the Templates for different media types.
Examples
| When you paraphrase: | It has been suggested that.... (1). |
| When you paraphrase and want to use the author(s) name(s) in the sentence: |
|
| When you directly quote: | One view is that “referencing is a pain I could do without” (1, p. 83). |
| When you directly quote and use the author(s) name(s) in the sentence: | Brown (1, p. 83) has stated most astutely that “referencing is a pain I could do without”. |
Further support for Vancouver referencing
If you need further support with Vancouver referencing please visit our Workshops and Appointments page where you will find information on how to book 1-1 or small group support appointments with one of our team. We also hold regular drop-in sessions in the Library where you can simply turn up and ask your question. Details of our drop-in sessions are on the workshops calendar.
How we can help
If you're not sure which template is right for your source, or if you're struggling to identify the information you need, then you can email the team for support.
If you require feedback on some of your references, please submit them using our feedback request form only. Please make sure you have read the terms of service on the form before submitting your request.
Appointments, workshops and email support are available during the Academic Support Team working hours of Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
Appointment and email response times will depend on team availability and demands on the service. These are very high demand services so please ensure you contact us well ahead of any deadlines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Referencing a source that has referenced something else
This is called secondary referencing.
You must make the situation clear in your text, eg:
Chandler, in a letter quoted by Hiney (1), claimed that most people could do without literature “far more
easily than they could do without coffee or whisky”.
You only reference the work which you have read. In this case the reference which would
appear in your endnote would be:
1. Hiney T. Raymond Chandler: a biography. London: Vintage; 1998.
Citing several sources to support the same point
If you need to cite more than once source at the same time then you should include the number for each source in the citation. List them in numerical order. e.g. (1, 2) or (6, 12, 15)
When citing more than two sources, which are numbered consecutively, use a hyphen instead of a comma (2-4).
Finding when a webpage was last updated
When you are referencing webpages, or other online resources, using Vancouver, you should include a date when the webpage or online resource was last updated - as well as the date cited (the date you looked at it).
On some pages, for example BBC News online reports, a date when a page was last updated may be given at the top of the page.
If no date is given at the top of a page, scroll down to the bottom of the web page - you may find a copyright or "last updated" date there.
If you cannot find a full date for when the page was last updated anywhere but can find a month and year or just a year use that information instead.
If you cannot even find a year, but the page you are looking at, and the rest of the website, seems to be continually updated and there are no indications that the page is older, you can use the current year as your date last updated. If you do not think the page has been recently updated you may use n.d. (meaning no date).
How many references should I use?
Unless you have been specifically told by your marker, or it is noted in the assignment requirements, that you require a certain number of references, there is no exact answer to this question.
The number of references will be determined by the nature of the assignment, what you have written and the sources you have consulted. If you have concerns about the number of sources you have used we would suggest you seek guidance from whoever is marking your assignment.
Can I get help with referencing?
If you need further assistance, or have a particular item you are struggling to reference, you may wish to come along to one of our drop-in sessions. Our timetable provides details of the drop-in times.
Alternatively, please feel free to contact us by email on library.support@rgu.ac.uk. Remember to tell us that you are using the Vancouver style of referencing as most students use Harvard.
If you require feedback on some of your references, please submit them using our feedback request form only. Please make sure you have read the terms of service on the form before submitting your request.