Indian Journal of Pharmacology Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Pharmacological Society ISSN: 0253-7613 EISSN: 1998-3751 Vol. 36, Num. 1, 2004, pp. 47

Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 36, No. 1, Feb, 2004, pp. 47

Correspondence

More on the accuracy of references in the IJP

D. K. Sahu

Executive Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 12, Manisha Plaza, MN Road, Kurla (W), Mumbai-400 070. E-mail: dksahu@vsnl.com

Code Number: ph04017

Sir,

I read the comments¹ on the editorial² dealing with the accuracy of the cited references in a research paper. It is the authors' responsibility and the editors' desire to provide accurate references, and the readers' right to have them. Correct references facilitate crosschecking and validation of the cited text and thus enable the propagation of knowledge.

Recently, a good number of thoughts have been penned in the Indian medical literature.^3-5 Here, I would like to emphasize the use of technology to help the authors maintain their bibliography. The use of bibliography-managing tools while preparing manuscripts will help the authors to improve their published work. There are a large number of commercial tools available; here, for the benefit of the readers, I have listed some freely available software for this purpose. I have not tested each of them personally and hence cannot recommend one over the other.

http://mlagen.sourceforge.net/

http://www.biblioscape.com/biblioexpress.htm

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/RWL/Projects/citation/

http://www.gnu.org/software/groff/groff.html

http://www.santafe.edu/~dirk/sixpack/

I, however, strongly believe that no force,⁶ guidelines⁷ or undertaking¹ alone can help in avoiding errors and inaccuracies of this nature; what will help and succeed is the desire of a person to give his best to every paper bearing his name in the byline. The fulfillment of this desire can be facilitated by the correct knowledge of the norms of writing and it is the editors' responsibility to spread this knowledge.

D. K. Sahu

Executive Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Sciences,

12, Manisha Plaza, MN Road, Kurla (W), Mumbai-400 070. E-mail: dksahu@vsnl.com

References

1. Bhattacharya K. Accuracy of references: Whose responsibility is it? Indian J Pharmacol 2003;35:400.
2. Raveendran R. Accuracy of references: Whose responsibility is it? Indian J Pharmacol 2003;35:280.
3. Mohta A, Mohta M. Accuracy of references in Indian Journal of Surgery. Indian J Surg 2003;65:156-8.
4. Sahu DK. Accuracy of references in Indian Journal of Surgery: Comments. Indian J Surg 2003;65:290-1.
5. Pujari BD. Accuracy of references: towards improving the quality of references (and the journal). Indian J Surg 2003;65:453.
6. A few steps towards responsible authorship (and editorship). J Postgrad Med 2001;47:233-4.
7. Gitanjali B. Citing books as references: A student's dilemma. Indian J Pharmacol 2003;35:401.

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