Vancouver Referencing – Citing a Chapter from an Edited Book

We’ve already explained how to cite a book using Vancouver referencing. But what should you do if you only want to cite part of a book? Specifically, how do you cite a chapter from an edited book?

In this post, we’ll take you through the basics of doing exactly this using Vancouver referencing.

In-Text Citations

If you cite a chapter from an edited book in an essay, you should indicate this with a number in the text. Each number refers to an entry in the reference list at the end of your document, with sources numbered in the order they are first cited in your writing.

The exact style of presentation for citations may vary, so remember to check your style guide if you have one available. Generally, though, it will involve using bracketed numbers in the main text:

The solar surface reaches around 6,000 degrees Celsius (1).

This citation, for instance, would point to the first source in the reference list. As shown above, we usually give citations at the end of a clause. However, if an author is named in the text, you would instead give the bracketed number immediately afterwards:

Pestov (2) writes that the corona can reach ‘millions of degrees’ (p. 182).

Note that it is the chapter author you should name here, not the book editor. And since we are quoting the source in this case, we have included a page number in brackets after the quote as well.

Reference List

In the reference list at the end of your document, sources should be sorted in the order they’re first cited in your work. The format to use for a chapter from an edited book is:

(Citation Number) Chapter Author Surname + Initial(s). Chapter Title.  In:  Editor(s) name(s), ed(s).  Book Title.  Edition. Place of Publication:  Publisher; Year of Publication. Page Range.

In practice, then, you would cite a chapter from an edited book as follows:

(1) Gittins B. Solar Temperature from Core to Corona. In: R. McElroy, ed. Hot Stuff: Essays on a Celestial Body. 2^nd Edition. London: Stellar Publications; 2012. p. 24–48.

As with the citation style, however, the exact format for a chapter from an edited book in a Vancouver reference list can vary. You may therefore want to check the style recommended here against your style guide if you have one.