This is the Vancouver style for referencing, used at the Univerity of Portsmouth within the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and the Radiography departments.
This guide is modelled on Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2nd edition). You may wish to consult this source directly for additional information or examples.
British National Formulary (BNF)
The key thing to remember here is that the British National Formulary is not the author! The author for the British National Formulary is the Joint Formulary Committee.
Reference
Author AA/Organisation. Title of reference book. Nth ed [not needed if 1st edition]. Vol. No [if any]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Title of entry; Pagination.
Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary. 90th ed. London: British Medical Association and Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; 2025. Paracetamol (Acetaminophen); 2016 p.
The key thing to remember here is that the British National Formulary is not the author! The author for the British National Formulary is the Joint Formulary Committee.
Reference
Author AA/Organisation. Title [Format]. Nth ed [not needed if 1st edition]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Year of Publication [updated YYYY Mon DD; cited YYYY Mon DD]. Title of entry; Available from:
Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary [Internet]. 90th ed. London: British Medical Association and Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; 2025 [updated 2024 Apr 19; cited 2025 Jun 25]. Paracetamol; Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_970446495?hspl=paracetamol
British Pharmacopoeia
Reference
Author AA/Organisation. Title of reference book. Nth ed [not needed if 1st edition]. Vol. No.[if any] Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Title of entry; Pagination.
British Pharmacopoeia 2008 Volume I. London: Stationery Office; 2007. Allopurinol; p. 89-91.
Note
When giving pagination shorten wherever possible - do not repeat page numbers unless they are suffixed by a letter: pages 125-127 should be given as 125-7 but 125A-127A would remain as 125A-127A
In-text Citation/Reference List
Remember this will be a running number at the first use of a reference. If the reference is re-used then repeat the number allocated.
Keep your style constant, either parenthesis (number) throughout, or superscript number. Do not change between the two. If your department recommends a particular style then use that.
Jones states that "Empty gelatin capsules are designed to have a moisture content between 13 and 16%" (8 p304)
or
Jones states that "Empty gelatin capsules are designed to have a moisture content between 13 and 16%" 8 (p304)
Reference
Author AA/Organisation. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Title of part; Location of part.
British Pharmacopeia [Internet]. 2020. London: The Stationery Office; 2020. Aspirin dispersible tablets; [cited 2019 Dec 2]. Available from: https://www.pharmacopoeia.com/Publication/bp-2020/formulated-specific/dispersible-aspirin-tablets.html?published-date=2019-08-01
Note
When giving pagination shorten wherever possible - do not repeat page numbers unless they are suffixed by a letter: pages 125-127 should be given as 125-7 but 125A-127A would remain as 125A-127A
In-text Citation/Reference List
Remember this will be a running number at the first use of a reference. If the reference is re-used then repeat the number allocated.
Keep your style constant, either parenthesis (number) throughout, or superscript number. Do not change between the two. If your department recommends a particular style then use that.
Jones states that "Empty gelatin capsules are designed to have a moisture content between 13 and 16%" (8 p304 )
or
Jones states that "Empty gelatin capsules are designed to have a moisture content between 13 and 16%" 8 (p304)
Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC)
The Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC) is a website but you are presumably looking at a particular drug. If you access a Patient Information Leaflet or a Summary of Product Characteristics through EMC, the author is the company who produces the drug, not EMC. The company will be named on the page. There will always be a "last updated" date on the page, which is the date you should give.
Reference
Author AA. Title of PIL or Summary of Product Characteristics [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of Publication [cited YYYY Mon DD]. Available from:
Trion Pharma Limited. Altridexamol 1000 mg Effervescent Tablets [Internet]. Cowplain: Trion Pharma Limited; 2020 [cited 2022 Apr 19]. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/11948/pil
Mylan. Acamprosate 333 mg Gastro-resistant Tablets SmPC [Internet]. Hertfordshire: Mylan; 2020 [cited 2020 Dec 4]. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/2729/smpc