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Vancouver to Chicago N-B converter

Paste Vancouver references, get Chicago N-B. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in Vancouver and get them back in Chicago N-B, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: numbered in-text citations become footnotes, your “References” list becomes “Bibliography” and titles switch to title case. 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.

Vancouver vs Chicago N-B: the same sources side by side

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

Journal article

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)

Chicago N-B

Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack. “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money.” Science 354, no. 6317 (2016): 1288–92. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

Footnote: Tavneet Suri and William Jack, “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money,” Science 354, no. 6317 (2016): 1290, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

Book

Vancouver

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

In-text: (1)

Chicago N-B

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Heinemann, 1958.

Footnote: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Heinemann, 1958), 1290.

Web page

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)

Chicago N-B

World Health Organization. “Malaria.” December 4, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria.

Footnote: World Health Organization, “Malaria,” December 4, 2023, 1290, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria.

Key differences between Vancouver and Chicago N-B

12 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleVancouverChicago N-B
Reference list headingReferencesBibliography
In-text citationsa number in round brackets, square brackets or superscript, e.g. (1), in the order sources are first citedsuperscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the source
List orderNumbered in the order of first citationAlphabetical by first author’s surname
Author namesSurname and initials without full stops, e.g. Suri T, Jack WFirst author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack
Many authorsSeven or more authors: first six followed by “et al.”List up to six authors; for seven or more, the first three followed by “et al.”
DateAfter the journal name, with abbreviated month: 2016 Dec;354(6317):1288–92Near the end: in parentheses after the issue for journals, after the publisher for books
Title capitalisationSentence caseTitle case
Article titlesPlain text, sentence caseIn quotation marks, title case
ItalicsNothing: titles and journal names are plain textJournal and book titles
Journal namesAbbreviated journal name (NLM abbreviations), not italicFull journal name, volume, then “no.” for the issue
Page rangesShortened range, e.g. 1288–92Shortened range after a colon, e.g. 1288–92
DOIs and links“Available from:” before URLs, “[cited date]” for web pages, “doi:” for DOIsDOI as a link: https://doi.org/…

When to use Chicago N-B

Chicago notes and bibliography is the standard in history and much of the humanities, where footnotes let you comment on sources as well as cite them. It is published by the University of Chicago Press; CiteSwap follows the 18th edition (2024).

Vancouver is more common in medicine, nursing, dentistry, while Chicago N-B is usual in history, the arts, philosophy. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

Vancouver to Chicago N-B: frequently asked questions

How do I convert Vancouver citations to Chicago N-B?

Paste your Vancouver reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says Vancouver or Auto-detect and “To” says Chicago N-B, 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 Vancouver to Chicago N-B?

Vancouver uses a number in round brackets, square brackets or superscript, e.g. (1), in the order sources are first cited. Chicago N-B uses superscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the source. A first footnote for the Suri and Jack article reads: Tavneet Suri and William Jack, “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money,” Science 354, no. 6317 (2016): 1290, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

What is the reference list called in Chicago N-B?

In Vancouver the list is headed “References”; in Chicago N-B it is “Bibliography”. Change the heading when you paste the converted list into your document.

Does the order of my references change in Chicago N-B?

Yes. Vancouver: numbered in the order of first citation. Chicago N-B: alphabetical by first author’s surname. CiteSwap sorts the converted list for you.

Do titles need different capitalisation in Chicago N-B?

Yes. Chicago N-B uses title case for article and book titles, so words like “Poverty” and “Gender” are capitalised. CiteSwap applies this automatically.

Is the Vancouver to Chicago N-B 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.