In the 13 years since it was first published the 'Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted t o biomedical journals' (the Vancouver style) has proved popular with both authors and editors; over 400 journals have stated that they will consider manuscripts that conform t o its requirements and w e know that many more do so. The fourth edition, reproduced here, incorporates recent amendments made by the group.
In January 1978 a group of editors from some major biomedical journals published in English met in Vancouver, British Columbia, and decided on uniform technical requirements for manuscripts to be submitted to their journals. These requirements, including formats for bibliographic references developed for the Vancouver group by the National Library of Medicine, were published in three of the journals early in 1979. The Vancouver group evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Over the years the group has revised the requirements slightly; this is the fourth edition.
Over 400 journals have agreed to receive manuscripts prepared in accordance with the initial, previously published, requirements. It is important to emphasize what these requirements imply and what they do not.