Indian Journal of Surgery Medknow Publications on behalf of Association of Surgeons of India ISSN: 0972-2068 Vol. 65, Num. 2, 2003, pp. 156-158

Indian Journal of Surgery, Vol. 65, No. 2, March-April, 2003, pp. 156-158

Accuracy of references in Indian Journal of Surgery

Anup Mohta, Medha Mohta*

Departments of Surgery and *Anaesthesiology, GTB Hospital and University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110095
Address for correspondence: Dr. Anup Mohta, 28-B, Pocket-C, S.F.S. Flats, Mayur Vihar Phase-III, Delhi 110096
E-mail: mohtaanup@hotmail.com

Paper Received: June 2002, Accepted: November 2002. Source of Support: Nil

Code Number: is03026
Read Related Article - is03062

Abstract

The references are an important component of any scientific publication. Accuracy of references is essential for providing credibility to the manuscript, authors and journal. This study found extremely high error rate in the references of the Indian Journal of Surgery. Sincere effort is required on the part of authors and editorial board to improve the citations.

Key words: References, citations, accuracy, publications

How to cite this article: Mohta A, Mohta M. Accuracy of references in Indian Journal of Surgery. Indian J Surg 2003;65:156-8.

INTRODUCTION

Inaccuracy of references in medical publications continues to be a big problem. Wrong references decrease the authenticity of the publication and also make it difficult for the reader to cross-check or locate the references cited in the article for further research. A variable rate of errors in the citations has been identified in various medical journals.^1-8 The aim of the present study was to identify the accuracy of the references in Indian Journal of Surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

All the references in all the articles of the JanuaryFebruary 2002 issue of the Indian Journal of Surgery (Volume 64) were listed. The non-journal references like book chapters, proceedings and dissertations were excluded from the study. A total of 208 journal references were checked. The accuracy of the citations was verified using original articles in the library and on Medline (National Library of Medicine). The items checked included (i) names of the authors including spelling, initials, order and number (ii) the title of the article including spelling and punctuation (iii) name of the journal including correct abbreviation as listed in the Index Medicus (iv) year (v) volume and (vi) page numbers including first and last page numbers. These were then checked against the guidelines for authors as given in the same issue of the Indian Journal of Surgery. A citation was labelled as wrong if there was an error in any of the above elements. The errors were classified as major or minor.⁶ Major errors were those which prevented immediate location of the article cited and included `missing authors', `incorrect first author', `incorrect journal title', `incorrect article title', `wrong number of the volume or year of publication' and `wrong first page number'. Minor errors were omissions that did not prevent location of the article but included `wrong name, order or number of co-authors', `abbreviated or incomplete article title' and `a wrong or missing last page number'.

RESULTS

Out of 208 references, 203 could be checked using various sources. Only 34 (16.7%) references were found to be without any error. 97 (47.78%) had an error in one element, 50 (24.6%) in two elements, 15 (7.38%) in three elements and 7 (3.44%) references had an error in four elements. There was no reference with an error in all the elements.

A total of 276 mistakes were found in the references checked. A break-up as per elements is given in Table 1. Maximum errors were found with respect to the names of the authors. The name of the first author was erroneous in 38 instances, no authors were listed in three references, other authors' names contained 73 errors and a wrong number of authors was given in 24 references. Some references had an error both in the name of the first author as well as in other authors' names. The name of the Journal was not abbreviated in the acceptable format in many references. Maximum number of errors with regards to page numbers occurred in not providing the last page number of the article.

Some examples of the errors are given below:

• First author wrong: Page 46, reference 11: First author is Sievert W and not Stevert W
• Wrong Journal: Page 35, reference 9: The Journal is Am J Gastroenterol and not Am J Surg
• Wrong first author, wrong second author, wrong abbreviation of the name of the journal, wrong year, no last page number: Page 35, reference 6:
• Wrong: Nagormey DM, Mepherson GAD. Carcinoma of gall bladder and extrahepatic bile ducts. Seminar Oncol; 1998:15:106
  Correct: Nagorney DM, McPherson GAD. Carcinoma of gall bladder and extrahepatic bile ducts. Semin Oncol 1988; 15:106-115
• No authors listed, wrong abbreviation, year wrongly placed, no last page number: Page 58, reference 9:
  Wrong: Cardiogenic embolism of upper extremity. J cardiovascular Surg 23; 209, 1982
  Correct: Haimovici H. Cardiogenic embolism of upper extremity. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino) 1982; 23: 209-213
• Wrong first author, wrong co-authors, no volume number, no last page number and wrong punctuations: Page 58, reference 7:
  Wrong: Berggvist D, Ericsson BF Kanrad P, Bergentz S.E. Arterial surgery of the upper extremity. World J Surg 1983 786
  Correct: Bergquist D, Ericsson BF, Konrad P, Bergentz SE. Arterial surgery of the upper extremity. World J Surg 1983; 7: 786-91.
• Wrong first author, no title, wrong punctuations: Page 77, reference 3:
  Wrong: Nataras M. Br.J.Surg.1970.57:886-890
  Correct: Notaras MJ. A review of three popular methods of treatment of postanal (pilonidal) sinus disease. Br J Surg1970; 57:886-890.

DISCUSSION

References appended at the end of any publication serve as a source of information for the readers allowing them to identify articles of their interest and retrieve them for reading. It is very important for the references to be correct as incorrect references frustrate the reader during search and damage the credibility of the author(s) and the journal. Despite editorial instructions for checking the references accurately before a manuscript is submitted for publication, this continues to be a major problem in almost all the specialty journals.

Attempts have been made to identify the error rate in various medical journals. Evans et al¹ discovered an overall error rate of 48% in three surgical journals after checking references randomly in single issues of the American Journal of Surgery; Surgery; and Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics. An overall 44% to 56% error rate was found in the citations in different anaesthesia journals.^2-4 Studies carried out on other journals have also found a high error rate in the citations.^5-8 The error rate in the Indian Journal of Surgery (84%) is much higher when compared with any of the studies. This seems to be totally unacceptable at a time when the editorial board is trying its best to get the journal indexed. Major mistakes included `wrong name of the first author', `no authors listed', `wrong Journal, year or first page number'. Although considered minor, `wrong names of the other authors', `altered order', `wrong number of authors', `missing or wrong last page number' also formed a significant proportion of the errors. The number of references cited did not seem to affect the error rate in the references. For example, the review article by Kaman and Singh⁹ had a total of 96 errors in the 83 references checked and the letter to the editor by Rau¹⁰ had errors in all the three journal references listed. Therefore we do not recommend limiting the number of references in an attempt to increase the accuracy. On the contrary, this may result in omissions of important citations.

The primary responsibility of checking the accuracy of the references lies with the authors.^11,12 They must verify the references against the original articles whenever possible and provide them in the format as desired by the journal. Care should be taken to cross-check the names of the authors, especially in case of difficult names. The correct journal abbreviation should be verified. It must be ensured that the volume number and the first and the last page numbers of the article are mentioned correctly.

At the same time, the reviewers and the editorial board cannot be absolved of their responsibility. Apart from going through the scientific content of the manuscript, an attempt must be made to improve the citations. It is indeed an impossible task to check each and every reference but certain steps can be taken to improve the accuracy as tried by Kaplan.^11,13 The reviewers and the editorial board must check a sample of the references and return the manuscript to the authors for revision if the error rate exceeds a certain level. As an extreme step, the authors may be asked to provide the first page of the referenced article for verifying the citation. Galley proofs may be provided to the authors to check for errors occurring during transcription and publishing and authors should be made responsible for any mistakes occurring after that. The editors can provide the correct citation including the name of the authors at the end of the abstract or at the bottom of the first page of the article to help correct quotation by the readers. For example, it is difficult to decide whether the author's name in the article `Pilonidal Disease ManagementAn enigma?'¹⁰ is to be quoted as Rau JBV or Venkat Rau JB.

Improving the quality of the references in the Indian Journal of Surgery might appear to be a Herculean task but sincere efforts need to be taken by the authors and the editorial board to improve the situation. It may mean incurring expenses of additional proofs but these costs will have to be borne if the journal is to achieve international standards.

REFERENCES

1. Evans JT, Nadjari HI, Burchell SA. Quotational and reference accuracy in surgical journals. A continuing peer review problem. JAMA 1990;263:1353-4.
2. McLellan MF, Case LD, Barnett MC. Trust, but verify. The accuracy of references in four anesthesia journals. Anesthesiology 1992;77:185-8.
3. Asano M, Mikawa K, Nishina K, Maekawa N, Obara H. The accuracy of references in Anaesthesia. Anaesthesia 1995;50:1080-2.
4. Nishina K, Asano M, Mikawa K, Maekawa N, Obara H. The accuracy of references in the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 1995;9:622-4.
5. Roach VJ, Lau TK, Ngan Kee WD. The quality of citations in major international obstetrics and gynecology journals. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997;177:973-5.
6. Doms CA. A survey of reference accuracy in five national dental journals. J Dent Res 1989;68:442-4.
7. Ngan Kee WD, Roach VJ, Lau TK. How accurate are references in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery? Aust N Z J Surg 1997;67:417-9.
8. Siebers R. The accuracy of references of three allergy journals. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2000;105: 837-8.
9. Kaman L, Singh R. Carcinoma Gall bladder and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. Indian J Surg 2002;64:31-7.
10. Rau JBV. Pilonidal disease management-An enigma? Indian J Surg 2002;64:77.
11. Kaplan JA. Editor's reply. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 1995;9:624.
12. Faris I, Waxman B, Chapuis P. Quality control and the journal (editorial comment). Aust N Z J Surg 1997;67:399.
13. Nishina K, Mikawa K, Obara H. Improvement of the accuracy of references in the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 2000;14:495-6.

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