How to Cite a Newspaper Article in Vancouver Referencing

Even in an era of fake news, you can’t get away with fake referencing. Thus, if you need to cite a newspaper article in your work, make sure you know how to do it properly. In this post, for example, we’re looking at how to cite a newspaper article in Vancouver referencing.

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in the Main Text

When citing a newspaper article in Vancouver referencing, the basic citation format is the same as for any other source. This means using numbers in brackets to indicate a citation when you refer to a source:

The Shonky Awards highlight problematic products (1).

These bracketed numbers point to an entry in the reference list at the end of the document, with sources numbered in the order they are first cited. Above, for example, we’d be citing the first entry in the reference list (which would also be the first source cited in the document).

The main variations on this format are as follows:

• You can cite sources mid-sentence when an author is named in the text.
• You should include page numbers when quoting a source directly.

We can see both  variations in the following passage:

A report by Clun (1) on the Shonky Awards sheds light on current consumer culture. These awards publicise brands, products and companies that are ‘taking advantage of Australian consumers’ (1: p. 84).

Here, we give the first citation immediately after the author’s surname. And in the second citation, we show that we’ve quoted page 84 of the newspaper.

Newspaper Articles in the Reference List

The general format for a print newspaper article in your reference list is:

(Citation Number) Author Surname and Initial(s). Title of article. Title of Newspaper: Section. Year Month Day: Page number(s).

Typically, you would also abbreviate the month here (e.g. ‘October’ would become ‘Oct’). In practice, then, a reference might look like this:

(1) Clun R. Choice awards Shonky to Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmite program. Sydney Morning Herald: Business. 2018 Oct 4: 84-85.

The format is mostly the same for an online article, but you should include:

• A date of citation (i.e. when you last accessed the article) followed by the words ‘cited in’ in square brackets after the date of publication.
• A URL for the article instead of page numbers. This should be placed after a full stop and the words ‘Available from’.

We would therefore list an online version of the article above like this:

(1) Clun R. Choice awards Shonky to Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmite program. Sydney Morning Herald: Business. 2018 Oct 4 [cited 2018 Nov 25]. Available from: https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/choice-awards-shonky-to-commonweath-bank-s-dollarmite-program-20181004-p507nv.html

Vancouver Variations

You can use the format above to cite a newspaper article. However, there are many versions of Vancouver referencing. You should therefore check your university’s style guide (if available) for their preferred reference format.

If you do not have a style guide, simply apply a clear and consistent referencing style throughout your document.