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Accuracy of referencing in the ophthalmic literature
John C Buchan1, John Norris, Hannah Kuper
1York District General Hospital, York, UK.
Purpose:
To investigate the frequency of citation and quotation errors in the ophthalmic literature.
Design:
Analysis of 200 references from 100 papers published in 10 ophthalmic journals.
Methods:
A sample of 20 references was randomly selected from each of the 10 journals and each reference was checked for accuracy. Quotations were categorized as totally, partially, or not accurate.
Results:
There were 35 citation errors in 32 references, only four of which were errors in PubMed. Thirty quotations of references were not accurate; 20 were partially accurate.
Conclusions:
Citation and quotation errors are relatively common within the ophthalmic literature. This may be improved through technical editing.
