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IEEE to Vancouver converter

Paste IEEE references, get Vancouver. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in IEEE and get them back in Vancouver, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: author names are written as in Vancouver (surname and initials without full stops) and the date moves (after the journal name, with abbreviated month). CiteSwap looks each reference up in the open Crossref catalogue, so authors, years and page numbers come from the publisher’s record rather than being rewritten by hand.

IEEE vs Vancouver: the same sources side by side

Each example below was formatted by CiteSwap’s engine, exactly as the converter outputs it.

Journal article

IEEE

T. Suri and W. Jack, “The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money,” Science, vol. 354, no. 6317, pp. 1288–1292, Dec. 2016, doi: 10.1126/science.aah5309.

In-text: [1, p. 1290]

Vancouver

Suri T, Jack W. The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science. 2016 Dec 9;354(6317):1288–92. doi:10.1126/science.aah5309

In-text: (1)

Book

IEEE

C. Achebe, Things fall apart. London: Heinemann, 1958.

In-text: [1, p. 1290]

Vancouver

Achebe C. Things fall apart. London: Heinemann; 1958.

In-text: (1)

Web page

IEEE

World Health Organization, “Malaria.” Accessed: Oct. 01, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: [1, p. 1290]

Vancouver

World Health Organization. Malaria [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2026 Oct 1]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: (1)

Key differences between IEEE and Vancouver

9 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleIEEEVancouver
In-text citationsa number in square brackets, e.g. [1], assigned in the order sources are first citeda number in round brackets, square brackets or superscript, e.g. (1), in the order sources are first cited
Author namesInitials before the surname, e.g. T. Suri and W. JackSurname and initials without full stops, e.g. Suri T, Jack W
Many authorsSeven or more authors: first author followed by “et al.”Seven or more authors: first six followed by “et al.”
DateNear the end, after the volume, issue and pages, with abbreviated monthAfter the journal name, with abbreviated month: 2016 Dec;354(6317):1288–92
Article titlesIn quotation marks, sentence casePlain text, sentence case
ItalicsJournal and book titlesNothing: titles and journal names are plain text
Journal namesJournal name (abbreviated in IEEE journals) with vol. and no.Abbreviated journal name (NLM abbreviations), not italic
Page rangesFull range with “pp.”, e.g. pp. 1288–1292Shortened range, e.g. 1288–92
DOIs and linksDOI written as “doi: 10.1126/…”“Available from:” before URLs, “[cited date]” for web pages, “doi:” for DOIs
Reference list heading(same)ReferencesReferences
List order(same)Numbered in the order of first citationNumbered in the order of first citation
Title capitalisation(same)Sentence caseSentence case

When to use Vancouver

Vancouver is the standard numbered style in medicine, nursing, dentistry and biomedical sciences, especially at UK, Australian and African universities. It is published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, following the US National Library of Medicine; CiteSwap follows the NLM Citing Medicine, 2nd edition.

IEEE is more common in engineering, computer science, electronics, while Vancouver is usual in medicine, nursing, dentistry. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

IEEE to Vancouver: frequently asked questions

How do I convert IEEE citations to Vancouver?

Paste your IEEE reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says IEEE or Auto-detect and “To” says Vancouver, then press Convert. You can also paste DOIs, BibTeX or RIS. Copy the result or download it for Word.

How do in-text citations change from IEEE to Vancouver?

IEEE uses a number in square brackets, e.g. [1], assigned in the order sources are first cited. Vancouver uses a number in round brackets, square brackets or superscript, e.g. (1), in the order sources are first cited. For the same article and page: IEEE gives [1, p. 1290], Vancouver gives (1).

How are author names written in Vancouver?

Vancouver: Surname and initials without full stops, e.g. Suri T, Jack W. IEEE: Initials before the surname, e.g. T. Suri and W. Jack. When a reference is matched in Crossref, CiteSwap uses full first names from the publisher’s record, so it can produce either form.

How are DOIs and URLs written in Vancouver?

Vancouver: “Available from:” before URLs, “[cited date]” for web pages, “doi:” for DOIs. IEEE: DOI written as “doi: 10.1126/…”. The converter rewrites DOIs in Vancouver format for you.

Is the IEEE to Vancouver converter accurate?

Each reference is matched against the Crossref catalogue (over 150 million records) and only accepted automatically when the title, year and first author agree. Anything uncertain is marked “Needs review” so you can pick the right match, and references that aren’t in the catalogue, like websites or local journals, are parsed from your text and marked so you can check them.