Alan E O'Connor1. 1. The Canberra Hospital, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. alan.oconnor@bigpond.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of references in articles published in Emergency Medicine, and to categorize these errors. METHODS: All the references in Volume 12 of Emergency Medicine were listed and numbered consecutively. A sample of 100 references was then selected. Each reference was then checked, initially on an electronic database, with the original article being used as the gold standard. RESULTS: 1469 citations were included in the study. A random sample of 100 was taken and examined in detail. 35 papers were shown to have at least one error, and a total of 41 errors were found. The maximum number of errors in one paper was 3. These errors are analysed in detail. CONCLUSION: Poor reference accuracy is a common problem in medical literature, and Emergency Medicine is not immune to these failings. Authors need to take more care to ensure that the accuracy of citations improves.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of references in articles published in Emergency Medicine, and to categorize these errors. METHODS: All the references in Volume 12 of Emergency Medicine were listed and numbered consecutively. A sample of 100 references was then selected. Each reference was then checked, initially on an electronic database, with the original article being used as the gold standard. RESULTS: 1469 citations were included in the study. A random sample of 100 was taken and examined in detail. 35 papers were shown to have at least one error, and a total of 41 errors were found. The maximum number of errors in one paper was 3. These errors are analysed in detail. CONCLUSION: Poor reference accuracy is a common problem in medical literature, and Emergency Medicine is not immune to these failings. Authors need to take more care to ensure that the accuracy of citations improves.