How accurate are quotations and references in medical journals?
Open accessAbstract
The accuracy of quotations and references in six medical journals published during January 1984 was assessed. The original author was misquoted in 15% of all references, and most of the errors would have misled readers. Errors in citation of references occurred in 24%, of which 8% were major errors--that is, they prevented immediate identification of the source of the reference. Inaccurate quotations and citations are displeasing for the original author, misleading for the reader, and mean that untruths become 'accepted fact.'
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Cites
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Claims the paper makes
0 of 1 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged
- Findingown data
Of all references, 12% contained errors that either slightly misled the reader or seriously misrepresented the original.
“Of all references, 12% contained errors in these two categories.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
- Rests on an assumption: The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
- Findingown data
Most of the errors in quotations would have misled readers.
“and most of the errors would have misled readers.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Of the citation errors, 8% were major errors that prevented immediate identification of the source.
“ofwhich 8% were major errors-that is, they prevented immediate identification of the source of the reference.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Minor errors of citation were in the title of the article or an author's name or initials.
“The minor errors were in the title of the article or an author's name or initials.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
The prevalence of misquotations in the different journals ranged from 10% to 20%.
“The prevalence of misquotations in the different journals ranged from 10% to 20% (table).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
- Findingown data
Roughly one fifth of the misquotations were classified as trivial.
“Roughly one fifth of these were classified as trivial.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
The original author was misquoted in 15% of all references.
“The original author was misquoted in 15% of ali references”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“We found misquotations in 15% of all references, some of them trivial.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
- Rests on an assumption: The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
Errors in citation of references occurred in 24% of references.
“Errors in citation of references occurred in 24%, ofwhich 8% were major errors-that is, they prevented immediate identification of the source of the reference.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“The overall prevalence of errors of citation was 24%, ranging from 8% to 46%.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
- Rests on an assumption: The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
Of the remaining misquotations, roughly half were classified as slightly misleading.
“Of the remaining misquotations, roughly half were classified as slightly misleading.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Roughly a third of the citation errors were major errors.
“Roughly a third of these were major errors, which were in the title of the journal, the volume, or the page numbers.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
The incidence of errors of citation varied among the journals, ranging from 8% to 46%.
“The incidence of errors of citation varied considerably among the journals, ranging from 8% to 46%.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“The overall prevalence of errors of citation was 24%, ranging from 8% to 46%.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
Major errors of citation were in the title of the journal, the volume, or the page numbers.
“Roughly a third of these were major errors, which were in the title of the journal, the volume, or the page numbers.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Interpretationcitation
The prevalence of errors of citation found in this study compares closely with the prevalences found by Goodrich and Roland in 1977.
“These figures compare closely with the prevalences of error found by Goodrich and Roland in their report in 1977 assessing 10 different medical journals.5”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites [5] Goodrich JE, Roland CG. Accuracy of published medical reference citations. J7ournal of Technical Writing and Communication 1977;7:15-9. source
- Rests on an assumption: The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
- Rests on an assumption: The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
- Interpretationown data
In most instances errors were caused by either carelessness or misleading use of language.
“In most instances errors were caused by either carelessness or misleading use of language.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Interpretationown data
The overall prevalence of errors found is probably an underestimate because some references could not be verified.
“It should be noted that the overall prevalence of errors we found is probably an underestimate, as all the journals contained some references that could not be verified (table ).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim- Rests on an assumption: Unverifiable references would have contained errors if they could be verified.
- Interpretationown data
At an overall prevalence of misquotation of 15%, none of the journals scrutinised would have an empty 'Misquotations' column.
“At an overall prevalence of misquotation of 15% none of the journals we scrutinised need be concerned that this new column would remain empty.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
- Rests on an assumption: The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
- Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 11
- May combine two claims. 2
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).
Findingnone givenA reference often represented only a minor aspect of a paper.
“A reference often represented only a minor aspect of a paper, and we did not attempt to record whether an error had a minor or major impact on the overall findings contained in the paper.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingnone givenTwo of the journals in this survey contained over 400 references in their January 1984 issue.
“for instance, two of the journals in this survey contained over 400 references in their January 1984 issue.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Interpretationown dataErrors occurred when a reference was not to the original source, and this appeared to be because the original source had not been read.
“Errors occurred when a reference was not to the original source, and this appeared to be because the original source had not been read.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).
InterpretationreasoningA few errors of citation will be due to inaccurate transcription by editorial staff or printers, particularly with letters where proofs are not seen by the author.
“A few errors of citation will undoubtedly be due to inaccurate transcription by editorial staff or printers, and this will occur particularly with letters, where proofs are not seen by the author.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Interpretationown dataPrevalences of error of citation of 24% and over (including one of 46%) might give cause for concern regarding the accuracy of other material contained within the papers.
“prevalences of error of citation of 24% and over (including one of 46%) might properly give cause for concern regarding the accuracy of other material contained within the papers.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
- Rests on an assumption: The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.
InterpretationreasoningIf the British Medical Journal accepts full responsibility for accuracy of quotations, then its position is unsatisfactory with an error in one out of every five quotations.
“If the British Medical 7ournal accepts full responsibility for accuracy of quotations (and we emphasise that we do not think that this is reasonable, let alone manageable) then the position of that journal is unsatisfactory with an error in one out of every five quotations.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).
Interpretationnone givenVirtually all errors of citation are readily and easily eliminated by careful checking of the final manuscript and galley proofs.
“These errors are understandable, but virtually all are readily and easily eliminated by careful checking of the final manuscript and galley proofs.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Study design and conductnone givenThe study did not assess emphasis or arbitrate on differences in interpretation when the differences had been made clear.
“We did not assess emphasis or arbitrate on differences in interpretation when the differences had been made clear.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).
Study design and conductreasoningSome misquotations classified as seriously misleading might appear to be only slightly so (and vice versa) to another reader.
“Of course some misquotations classified as seriously misleading might appear to be only slightly so (and vice versa) to another reader, and it would be difficult to eliminate completely such differences in opinion.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Study design and conductnone givenFifty references for each issue were selected by random numbers.
“Fifty references for each issue were then selected by random numbers.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Study design and conductreasoningThe study did not attempt to record whether an error had a minor or major impact on the overall findings.
“A reference often represented only a minor aspect of a paper, and we did not attempt to record whether an error had a minor or major impact on the overall findings contained in the paper.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Study design and conductnone givenThe study assessed only whether the findings, claims, or statements in the original work had been referred to accurately.
“We assessed only whether the findings, claims, or statements in the original work had been referred to accurately.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
The paper relies on this without support.
The six selected journals are representative of medical journals generally.
“Six journals were selected.They comprised three general medical journals (the British Medical Journal, the Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine); two specialist journals (Clinical Radiology and the British Journal ofSurgery); and a journal with a high proportion ofreview articles”
The paper relies on this without support.
The first issue of each journal published during 1984 is representative of that journal's overall accuracy.
“The first issue of each journal published during 1984 was obtained.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Unverifiable references would have contained errors if they could be verified.
“It should be noted that the overall prevalence of errors we found is probably an underestimate, as all the journals contained some references that could not be verified (table ).”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
It is well established that reference inaccuracies are highly prevalent in the peer-reviewed literature, ranging from 4% to 48% of citations.
“It is well established that reference inaccuracies are highly prevalent in the peer-reviewed literature, ranging from 4% to 48% of citations [8-11].”
From High Rates of Fabricated and Inaccurate References in ChatGPT-Generated Medical Content (2023) · cites this paper as [9]
The Results and Discussion report that citation errors were common in the six medical journals studied: 24% overall, ranging from 8% to 46% by journal. They do not support the stated 4%–48% range or establish that range across peer-reviewed literature generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe first and only systematic investigation of the overall rate of quotation errors in the general medical literature estimated that 15% of all cited assertions in published journal articles, including original research articles and literature reviews, were inaccurate.
“In the first, and only, systematic investigation of the overall rate of quotation errors representing the general medical literature,[6] the authors estimated that 15% of all cited assertions in published journal articles (including original research articles and literature reviews) were inaccurate.”
From Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
The Abstract reports misquotations in 15% of sampled references from six medical journals and says the sample included original articles and reviews. The Discussion says quotation accuracy had not, to the authors’ knowledge, previously been assessed in medical journals, supporting the ‘first’ characterization. The paper cannot establish that it remained the ‘only’ such investigation. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredde Lacey et al. reported a quotation error rate of 14.4% in original research articles, which is very close to the 14.5% rate calculated in the primary analysis here.
“Notably, de Lacey et al.[6] reported a quotation error rate of 14.4% (in original research articles), which is very close to the rate 14.5% calculated in the primary analysis here.”
From Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
The Discussion reports misquotations in 15% of all references, supporting the claim's general point about quotation errors. It does not report a 14.4% rate or a rate restricted to original research articles; the Methods say the sample also included reviews, leading articles, and correspondence. The citing paper's own 14.5% calculation is not a finding attributed to de Lacey et al. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe primary reason for including the de Lacey et al. study representing the broad medical field was that it was the only study that examined quotation errors in the major general medical journals (BMJ, the Lancet, the NEJM).
“The primary reason for including the de Lacey et al. study[6] representing the broad medical field was because that was only study that examined quotation errors in the major general medical journals (BMJ, the Lancet, the NEJM) and the study might be viewed as a focused study of quotation error rates in general medical journals.”
From Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
The Materials and methods section identifies the BMJ, the Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine as three general medical journals studied, and the Discussion reports misquotation rates. The Discussion says quotation accuracy had not, to the authors’ knowledge, previously been assessed in medical journals, but it does not establish that this remained the only such study when the citing authors selected it. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA secondary reason for including the de Lacey et al. study was to partially weight the overall mean of quotation errors towards the rate reported in the only study designed to estimate the rate of quotation errors throughout the medical field.
“A secondary reason was to partially weight the overall mean of quotation errors towards the rate reported in the only study designed to estimate the rate of quotation errors throughout the medical field.”
From Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
The Abstract reports a 15% misquotation rate, and Materials and methods describes sampling six general and specialist medical journals. The Discussion says quotation accuracy had not, to the authors’ knowledge, previously been assessed in medical journals. That supports the study’s broad scope and novelty at the time, but not the unqualified claim that it was the only study designed to estimate a rate throughout the medical field. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Major and minor errors are not always defined the same among studies, but the intention of the distinction between major and minor errors remains the same (whether an error makes finding an original source difficult).
“Major and minor errors are not always defined the same among studies, but the intention of the distinction between major and minor errors remains the same (i.e.whether an error makes finding an original source difficult to find).”
From Reference accuracy of primary studies published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals: A scoping review (2024) · cites this paper as de Lacey et al., 1985
The Materials and methods passage defines major citation errors as those preventing immediate identification of the source; all remaining citation errors are minor. This supports the claimed purpose of the distinction, but the paper does not establish that studies define major and minor errors differently. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredDe Lacey et al. reported substantial quotation error rates in major medical journals.
“De Lacey et al. reported substantial error rates in major medical journals [2].”
From Systematic review and meta-analysis of quotation inaccuracy in medicine (2025) · cites this paper as [2]
The estimated rate reported here, 14.5%, which spans nearly 25 years of data, is notably similar to the 14.4% quotation error rate reported in a sample from 1984.
“The estimated rate reported here, 14.5%, which spans nearly 25 years of data, is notably similar to the 14.4% quotation error rate reported[6] in a sample from 1984 (after excluding the data from the journal selected to include a high number of review articles).”
From Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
There is consensus that authors are primarily responsible for the accuracy of their reference lists.
“There is consensus that authors are primarily responsible for the accuracy of their reference lists (de Lacey et al., 1985;Foreman and Kirchhoff, 1987;Place, 1916;Poyer, 1979;Putterman and Lossos, 1991;White, 1987a).”
From Reference accuracy of primary studies published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals: A scoping review (2024) · cites this paper as de Lacey et al., 1985
Most analyses reveal that between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 citations are used to support claims incongruous with the results of the cited paper.
“Depending on the field and the methodology, most analyses of the problem reveal that between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 citations are used to support claims incongruous with the results of the cited paper (refs. 74-76 and references therein).”
From Misinformation in and about science (2021) · cites this paper as [76]
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“To compare our results with those from previous studies (de Lacey et al., 1985; Schulmeister, 1998; Lee and Lee, 1999; Fenton et al., 2000), we also calculated the percentage of quotation errors per reference.”
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BackgroundHow accurate are citations of frequently cited papers in biomedical literature?
Pavlovic, V., Weissgerber, T., Stanisavljevic, D., Pekmezovic, T., Milicevic, O., Lazovic, J. M., Cirkovic, A., Savic, M., Rajovic, N., Piperac, P., et al. (2021) · Clinical Science · doi:10.1042/cs20201573 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
The quality of citations in major international obstetrics and gynecology journals
a, V. J. R., Lau, T. K., & Keeb, W. D. N. (1997) · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1016/s0002-9378(97)70303-x · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Reference accuracy in the dermatologic literature
George, P. M., & Robbins, K. (1994) · Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · doi:10.1016/s0190-9622(94)70136-9 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
A Survey of Reference Accuracy in Five National Dental Journals
Doms, C. (1989) · Journal of Dental Research · doi:10.1177/00220345890680030101 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Accuracy of references in burns journals
Al-Benna, S., Rajgarhia, P., Ahmed, S., & Sheikh, Z. (2009) · Burns · doi:10.1016/j.burns.2008.11.014 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“A major citation error was one that ‘‘prevented immediate identification of the source of the reference,’’ for example, incorrect journal name, omission of year and volume, and incorrect pages that did not overlap with correct pages [5].”
BackgroundAccuracy of references in general surgical journals — An old problem revisited
Reddy, M. S., Srinivas, S., Sabanayagam, N., & Balasubramanian, S. P. (2008) · The Surgeon · doi:10.1016/s1479-666x(08)80067-4 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Richardson, J. T. E. (2015) · Interchange · doi:10.1007/s10780-015-9251-9 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Lexchin, J., & Holbrook, A. M. (1994) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Quotation errors in general science journals
Smith, N., & Cumberledge, A. (2020) · Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspa.2020.0538 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The Principles of Biomedical Scientific Writing: Citation
Bahadoran, Z., Mirmiran, P., Kashfi, K., & Ghasemi, A. (2020) · Intern J Endocrinol Metab · doi:10.5812/ijem.102622 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“Inaccurate quotations are displeasing for the cited author, misleading for the reader, and initiate circulation of false facts (7, 10).”
BackgroundLee, S. Y., & Lee, J. S. (1999) · International Journal of Dermatology · doi:10.1046/j.1365-4362.1999.00706.x · Cited by 34 · see citing works
The accuracy of references of three allergy journals
Siebers, R. W. L. (2000) · Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · doi:10.1067/mai.2000.104935 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Manuscript Referencing Errors and Their Impact on Shaping Current Evidence
Rivkin, A. (2020) · American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · doi:10.5688/ajpe7846 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The dissemination of false data through inadequate citation
Larsson, K. (1995) · Journal of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2796.1995.tb01222.x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Quotation Accuracy in Review Articles
Neihouse, P. F., & Priske, S. C. (1989) · DICP · doi:10.1177/1060028089023007-813 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Buijze, G. A., Weening, A. A., Poolman, R. W., Bhandari, M., & Ring, D. (2012) · The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volume · doi:10.1302/0301-620x.94b2.27618 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
(2005) · PubMed · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Accuracy of Referencing in the Ophthalmic Literature
Buchan, J. C., Norris, J. L., & Kuper, H. (2005) · American Journal of Ophthalmology · doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2005.07.018 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
A review of the accuracy of references in the journal Emergency Medicine
O’Connor, A. E. (2002) · Emergency Medicine Australasia · doi:10.1046/j.1442-2026.2002.00307.x · Cited by 26 · see citing works
The accuracy of reference lists in five experimental psychology journals.
Faunce, G. J., & Job, R. F. S. (2001) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.56.10.829 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Comparison of Researcher’s Reference Management Software: Refworks, Mendeley, and EndNote
Basak, S. K. (2014) · Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies · doi:10.22610/jebs.v6i7.517 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“…years (Hernon & Metoyer-Duran, 1992), or a misspelling when the search is done on a computer (Orlin et al., 1996) and “inaccurate quotations and citations are displeasing for the original authors, misleading for the reader, and mean that untruths become ‘accepted fact’”(De Lacey et al., 1985).”
BackgroundAccessibility and Accuracy of Web Page References in 5 Major Medical Journals
Crichlow, R., Winbush, N., & Davies, S. (2004) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.292.22.2723-c · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Incorrect citations: a comparison of library literature with medical literature.
Benning, S., & Speer, S. C. (1993) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Reference Accuracy: Best Practices for Making the Links
Meyer, C. A. (2008) · Journal of Electronic Publishing · doi:10.3998/3336451.0011.206 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Technical editing of research reports in biomedical journals
Wager, E., & Middleton, P. (2007) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.mr000002.pub2 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Reference accuracy in four rehabilitation journals
Unver, B., Senduran, M., Unver Kocak, F., Gunal, I., & Karatosun, V. (2009) · Clinical Rehabilitation · doi:10.1177/0269215508102968 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Referencing practices in physical geography: How well do we cite what we write?
Haussmann, N. S., McIntyre, T., Bumby, A. J., & Loubser, M. J. (2013) · Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment · doi:10.1177/0309133313482135 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Such suggestions have been summarized by Todd et al. (2010) and include publishing citation errors identified by readers (de Lacey et al., 1985), as well as instigating a process whereby authors are required to submit appropriate sections of text from cited material as requested by the editor,…”
BackgroundLiterature Reviews and Inaccurate Referencing: An Exploratory Study of Academic Librarians
Hernon, P., & Metoyer-Duran, C. (1992) · College & Research Libraries · doi:10.5860/crl_53_06_499 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Accuracy of References in<i>Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport</i>
Stull, G. A., Christina, R. W., & Quinn, S. A. (1991) · Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport · doi:10.1080/02701367.1991.10608720 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
HOW ACCURATE ARE REFERENCES IN THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF SURGERY?
Kee, W. D. N., Roach, V. J., & Lau, T. K. (1997) · Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery · doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.1997.tb02005.x · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Accuracy of References in Ten Library Science Journals
Colyar, N. N. (1992) · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Reference Accuracy in The Journal of Hand Surgery
Jackson, K., Porrino, J. A., Tan, V., & Daluiski, A. (2003) · The Journal of Hand Surgery · doi:10.1053/jhsu.2003.50085 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
How accurate is the neurosurgery literature? A review of references
Montenegro, T. S., Hines, K., Gonzalez, G. A., Fatema, U., Partyka, P. P., Thalheimer, S., & Harrop, J. (2021) · Acta Neurochirurgica · doi:10.1007/s00701-020-04576-3 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Technology in nursing scholarship: Use of citation reference managers
Smith, C. M., & Baker, B. (2007) · International Journal of Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1447-0349.2007.00462.x · Cited by 17 · see citing works
The Ombudsman: Verification of Citations: Fawlty Towers of Knowledge?Preprint
Wright, M., & Armstrong, J. S. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1941335 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Burden of proof: combating inaccurate citation in biomedical literature
Peoples, N., Østbye, T., & Yan, L.-J. L. (2023) · British medical journal · doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-076441 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Martella, A. M., Yatcilla, J., Martella, R. C., Marchand‐Martella, N. E., Ozen, Z., Karatas, T., Park, H. H., Simpson, A., & Karpicke, J. D. (2021) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654321991228 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Accuracy of References in General Readership Nursing Journals
Oermann, M. H., Mason, N. M., & Wilmes, N. A. (2002) · Nurse Educator · doi:10.1097/00006223-200211000-00006 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Citation Errors in Two Journals of Psychiatry: A Retrospective Analysis
Wyles, D. F. (2004) · Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian · doi:10.1300/j103v22n02_02 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Gehanno, J.-F., Darmoni, S. J., & Caillard, J. (2005) · PubMed · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Evaluating the Accuracy of Citations in Drug Promotional Brochures
Keng, A., & Coley, R. M. (1994) · Annals of Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1177/106002809402801102 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Accuracy of references in psychiatric literature: a survey of three journals
Lawson, L. A., & Fosker, R. (1999) · Psychiatric Bulletin · doi:10.1192/pb.23.4.221 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Carelessness in reference citations could be indicative of a lack of discipline that also reflectsthe investigator's approach to other aspects of the research (i.e. research protocol, data man agement and laboratory practices in general) (de Lacey et al, 1985; Biebuyck, 1992).”
BackgroundResultReference accuracy in spine surgery
Montenegro, T. S., Hines, K., Partyka, P. P., & Harrop, J. (2021) · Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine · doi:10.3171/2020.6.spine20640 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Assessing citation integrity in biomedical publications: corpus annotation and NLP models
Sarol, M. J., Ming, S., Radhakrishna, S., Schneider, J., & Kilicoglu, H. (2024) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btae420 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“…errors are often categorized as major and minor; the former referring to errors that seriously misrepresent the claims of the reference paper and the latter referring to inconsistencies or factual errors that are not sufficiently serious to alter the meaning of the source (De Lacey et al. 1985).”
BackgroundThe accuracy of references in the Hong Kong Medical Journal.
Kee, W. D. N., Roach, V., & Lau, T. K. (1997) · PubMed · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis as a complication of treatment with gold.
Cohen, M., Day, C. P., & Day, J. L. (1985) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.290.6476.1179 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Celayir, A. C., Sander, S., & Celayir, S. (2003) · Journal of Pediatric Surgery · doi:10.1053/jpsu.2003.50154 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Systematic review and meta-analysis of quotation inaccuracy in medicine
Baethge, C., & Jergas, H. (2025) · Research Integrity and Peer Review · doi:10.1186/s41073-025-00173-z · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“And yet, in an early investigation into their accuracy, De Lacey et al. reported substantial error rates in major medical journals [2].”
Verify Your Citations: Accuracy of Reference Citations in Twelve Business and Economics Journals
O'Connor, L. G., & Kristof, C. (2001) · Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship · doi:10.1300/j109v06n04_03 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Accuracy of references in the ophthalmic literature
Oren, G. A., & Watson, M. M. (2009) · Journal of the Medical Library Association JMLA · doi:10.3163/1536-5050.97.2.014 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Taking Control of Your Digital Library
Mahajan, A. K., & Hogarth, D. K. (2013) · CHEST Journal · doi:10.1378/chest.13-0856 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
How Accurate Are References in Clinical Chemistry?
Siebers, R. W. L. (2001) · Clinical Chemistry · doi:10.1093/clinchem/47.3.606 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
How to Reduce Errors and Improve Transparency by Using More Precise Citations
Lin, T., & Hung, T. (2022) · Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine · doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.866279 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“[(1), D3] more than two decades ago, suggesting that merely pointing out how prevalent these errors do little to reduce them.”
BackgroundShould all casualty radiographs be reviewed?
Channells, P. M., & Wardrope, J. (1985) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.291.6490.284-a · Cited by 8 · see citing works
A comprehensive bibliography database using a microcomputer.
Sellu, D. P. (1986) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.292.6536.1643 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Frels, R. K., & Slate, J. R. (2010) · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Importance, Errors, and Patterns of Quotations to Psychiatric Original Articles
Baethge, C. (2020) · Pharmacopsychiatry · doi:10.1055/a-1167-3567 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“De Lacey and co-authors [1], in what is probably the first study on the subject in medicine in 1985, related a 15 % error rate among 300 quotations.”
BackgroundDriscoll, P. (1997) · Emergency Medicine Journal · doi:10.1136/emj.14.2.65 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Citation Accuracy: A Case Study on Definition of the Grey Water Footprint
Ansorge, L., & Stejskalová, L. (2023) · Publications · doi:10.3390/publications11010008 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Reference accuracy of primary studies about reference accuracy: A descriptive study
Logan, S. W., Hussong-Christian, U., Case, L., & Noregaard, S. (2024) · Journal of Librarianship and Information Science · doi:10.1177/09610006231224437 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Ultimately, there is widespread acceptance that while editors and reviewers may play a role in reference accuracy, the primary responsibility relies with the authors (de Lacey et al., 1985; Logan et al., 2023; Place, 1916a, 1916b; Stull et al., 1991).”
Quotation Accuracy of Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols on Acupuncture
Morán, J. M., Romero-Moreno, M., García, A. S., & Herrera‐Peco, I. (2021) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare10010055 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Misquotations are unpleasant for the original author, misleading to the reader, and imply that falsehoods and inaccuracies become “established knowledge” that pollutes the body of knowledge on the topic under study [5].”
BackgroundGlenton, C., & Carlsen, B. (2019) · International Journal of Qualitative Methods · doi:10.1177/1609406919841251 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“…between citation errors (errors that could prevent immediate identification of the source of reference, for instance, because of misspelling of author names) and quotation errors (errors that deal with the accuracy of statements made in regard to another author’s work; De Lacey et al., 1985).”
BackgroundInfluentialA retrospective analysis of reported errata in five leading medical journals in 2012
Bhatt, V. R., Aryal, M. R., Panta, S., Mosalpuria, K., & Armitage, J. O. (2014) · Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives · doi:10.3402/jchimp.v4.25738 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Citing practices in ecology: can we believe our own words?
Todd, P. A., Yeo, D. C. J., Li, D., et al. (2007) · Oikos · doi:10.1111/j.2007.0030-1299.15992.x · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Nuzzo, J. L. (2021) · Scientometrics · doi:10.1007/s11192-021-04068-w · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- de Lacey, G., Record, C., & Wade, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1985-09-28
- Volume
- 291
- Issue
- 6499
- Pages
- 884-886
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0267-0623
- 1468-5833
- OpenAlex
- W2009777888
- Cited by
- 160
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 48.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Academic Writing and Publishing
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Publishing and Scholarly Communication
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Academic integrity and plagiarism
- Keywords
- quotation errors, citation errors, medical journals, citation accuracy, misquotation, scientific integrity, editorial quality control
- MeSH terms
- Information Services, Periodicals as Topic, Publishing
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-11.
Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-11.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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