The accuracy of references in Anaesthesia

Abstract

We reviewed all the references quoted in Volume 45 (1990) (n = 3967) and half the references quoted in Volume 49 (1994) (n = 2183) of Anaesthesia. The references were numbered sequentially and 100 references from each year were randomly selected. Citations of non-journal articles were omitted leaving 197 citations for careful scrutiny. The authors' names, article title, journal title, volume number, page numbers, and year were examined in each selected reference. A reference was deemed correct if each element of the citation was identical to its source. Of the references examined, 32% and 41% contained one or more errors in 1990 and 1994, respectively. The elements most likely to be inaccurate were, in descending order of frequency, article title, author, and page number. There was no significant difference in the error rate between the 2 years. It is the responsibility of contributors to ensure that all references are carefully checked.

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