Reference citation accuracy in theJournal of Anesthesia

Abstract

To determine the accuracy of the bibliographic citations in theJournal of Anesthesia, all references appearing the years 1987 (Vol. 1;n=548) and 1994 (Vol. 8;n=1839) were sequentially numbered and 100 references from each year were randomly selected. After citations of non-journal articles were excluded (n=8 in 1987;n=7 in 1994), the remaining 185 citations were scrutinized. The authors' names, article title, journal title, volume number, page numbers, and year were examined for each reference. A reference was deemed correct if each clement of the citation was identical to its source. Of the references examined, 41% and 42% in 1987 and 1994, respectively, contained one or more errors. The elements that were inaccurate most often were, in descending order of frequency, article title, author, and page number. No significant differences existed in the error rate between the two years. We have demonstrated a considerable level of citation error in the reference lists of theJournal of Anesthesia articles, and no improvement over the last seven years. We recommend that contributors to theJournal of Anesthesia should carefully check the accuracy of their reference listings.