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Citations and references
E D I TOR I A L
Citations and references Two factors galvanised me to write this editorial. The first was that when correcting the proofs of an article to be published in a future edition I inadvertently discovered that the page numbers for a reference to a paper previously published in this journal by the first author of the current article, had incorrect page numbers in the reference. The second was that whilst ‘shelf browsing’ in the library I found a paper reporting a study of citation errors in peerreviewed nursing journals (Lok et al. 2001). Lok et al. (2001) had randomly selected 550 references from 11 nursing journals published in 1998. They found that overall 43% of citations contained at least one error, but the majority of these errors were considered trivial (Lok et al. 2001). The risk factors for minor errors were that the paper was written by a single author, that there was a long list of references or that the article appeared in a journal with a relatively low journal impact factor. However, major errors, classified as impeding immediate retrieval of an article, were similar across the 11 journals examined. As Lok et al. (2001) state, references are an ‘essential component of published articles’ (p. 223). Readers wanting to study a topic in greater depth need to be able to find cited references as easily as their library facilities will allow. Inaccurate information causes frustration and ‘devalues the credibility of the article, the authors and the journal’ (Lok et al. 2001, p. 223). In the Instructions to Authors (see Vol. 17, Issue 1, p. 78) to this journal it states that the ‘accuracy of the references is the responsibility of the author’. Then why is it that it is rare for me to receive a paper where all the references cited in the text are in the reference list and all the references listed in the reference list are in the text? I well remember two articles I received where I told the author of one that the referencing could only be described as ‘a disaster area’, and the author of the other that the referencing was ‘downright sloppy’. On another occasion the reference list was so inaccurate that I wondered if it actually belonged to the particular paper to which it was attached.
Midwifery (2001) 17, 163 & 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd doi:10.1054/midw.2001.0283, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on
The editorial and publishing teams of this journal do not check authors names and initials, paper titles, journal names, volume and page numbers against the original articles. To do this would be extremely time consuming and slow the publishing process by a considerable amount of time. However, we do pick up inconsistencies in spelling between the text and list of the surname of the first author and there are times when the referees bring to our attention inaccurate citations. Lok et al. (2001) have demonstrated that citation errors have occurred in anaesthetic, dental, emergency medicine, medical, obstetric, nursing, public health, radiology, rehabilitation and surgical literature. Unfortunately it is not an uncommon occurrence, but one which, with a little care and attention, could so easily be overcome. On discovering the mistake in the page numbers of the article we had previously published I wrote to the author and said I had no confidence in her reference list and could she please check all the references. She did, and admitted to other mistakes which had to be corrected at the proof stage. Lok et al. (2001) suggest that all single authors of papers should ask a colleague to check their references for them to help reduce the number of mistakes in that category of paper and authors with a long reference list should check each one carefully. However, this editor wishes to remind all potential authors that the references are as important as the text of the paper and it is their individual responsibility to ensure the accuracy of citations. I look forward to the day when I do not have to spend an inordinate amount of time ensuring that the text and reference list correspond. Ann Thomson REFERENCES Lok CKW, Chan MTV, Martinson IM 2001 Risk factors for citation errors in peer-reviewed nursing journals. Journal of Advanced Nursing 34 (2): 223–229
Citations and references Two factors galvanised me to write this editorial. The first was that when correcting the proofs of an article to be published in a future edition I inadvertently discovered that the page numbers for a reference to a paper previously published in this journal by the first author of the current article, had incorrect page numbers in the reference. The second was that whilst ‘shelf browsing’ in the library I found a paper reporting a study of citation errors in peerreviewed nursing journals (Lok et al. 2001). Lok et al. (2001) had randomly selected 550 references from 11 nursing journals published in 1998. They found that overall 43% of citations contained at least one error, but the majority of these errors were considered trivial (Lok et al. 2001). The risk factors for minor errors were that the paper was written by a single author, that there was a long list of references or that the article appeared in a journal with a relatively low journal impact factor. However, major errors, classified as impeding immediate retrieval of an article, were similar across the 11 journals examined. As Lok et al. (2001) state, references are an ‘essential component of published articles’ (p. 223). Readers wanting to study a topic in greater depth need to be able to find cited references as easily as their library facilities will allow. Inaccurate information causes frustration and ‘devalues the credibility of the article, the authors and the journal’ (Lok et al. 2001, p. 223). In the Instructions to Authors (see Vol. 17, Issue 1, p. 78) to this journal it states that the ‘accuracy of the references is the responsibility of the author’. Then why is it that it is rare for me to receive a paper where all the references cited in the text are in the reference list and all the references listed in the reference list are in the text? I well remember two articles I received where I told the author of one that the referencing could only be described as ‘a disaster area’, and the author of the other that the referencing was ‘downright sloppy’. On another occasion the reference list was so inaccurate that I wondered if it actually belonged to the particular paper to which it was attached.
Midwifery (2001) 17, 163 & 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd doi:10.1054/midw.2001.0283, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on
The editorial and publishing teams of this journal do not check authors names and initials, paper titles, journal names, volume and page numbers against the original articles. To do this would be extremely time consuming and slow the publishing process by a considerable amount of time. However, we do pick up inconsistencies in spelling between the text and list of the surname of the first author and there are times when the referees bring to our attention inaccurate citations. Lok et al. (2001) have demonstrated that citation errors have occurred in anaesthetic, dental, emergency medicine, medical, obstetric, nursing, public health, radiology, rehabilitation and surgical literature. Unfortunately it is not an uncommon occurrence, but one which, with a little care and attention, could so easily be overcome. On discovering the mistake in the page numbers of the article we had previously published I wrote to the author and said I had no confidence in her reference list and could she please check all the references. She did, and admitted to other mistakes which had to be corrected at the proof stage. Lok et al. (2001) suggest that all single authors of papers should ask a colleague to check their references for them to help reduce the number of mistakes in that category of paper and authors with a long reference list should check each one carefully. However, this editor wishes to remind all potential authors that the references are as important as the text of the paper and it is their individual responsibility to ensure the accuracy of citations. I look forward to the day when I do not have to spend an inordinate amount of time ensuring that the text and reference list correspond. Ann Thomson REFERENCES Lok CKW, Chan MTV, Martinson IM 2001 Risk factors for citation errors in peer-reviewed nursing journals. Journal of Advanced Nursing 34 (2): 223–229