Cite and write using Oxford and Vancouver

Last changed: 11 March 2024
Exterior of old college building in Oxford, England.

Here you will find some information on how to cite and write references according to the Oxford and Vancouver reference systems.

Oxford system

The Oxford system uses footnotes at the bottom of the page to provide citations in the text. The body of the text includes superscripted numbers that refer to the footnotes at the bottom of the page. It is common to include the complete reference in the footnote the first time you cite the source in your text. The next time you cite the same source, however, you can just refer to the author’s name and the page from whence you drew the information.

Reference lists should be in alphabetical order. Here are a couple of good links to more detailed instructions on how to reference according to Oxford:

Vancouver system

The Vancouver system is commonly used in the field of medicine. This system cites sources in the text by assigning them a number in order of appearance in the text. That means that the first source cited is assigned the number 1, which is then placed in parentheses (1). If you refer to the same author later in the text, you simply refer to the same citation number.

The complete reference list is placed in numerical order, as opposed to the alphabetical order used in other systems. If you want to learn more about how to reference and cite according to Vancouver take a look at the following instructions: