Mohammad, AE (Mohammad, Ali E.); Laskin, DM (Laskin, Daniel M.) Citation accuracy in the oral and maxillofacial surgery literature JOURNAL OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY, 66 (1): 3-6 JAN 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: dmlaskin at vcu.edu

Author(s): Mohammad, AE (Mohammad, Ali E.); Laskin, DM (Laskin, Daniel M.) 

Title: Citation accuracy in the oral and maxillofacial surgery literature 

Source: JOURNAL OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY, 66 (1): 3-6 JAN 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: JOURNALS; QUOTATION 

Abstract: Purpose: Readers frequently assume that the references in an 
article published in a well-respected, peer-reviewed journal will be cited 
correctly. However, previous studies have shown that this is not always 
true. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the citation accuracy in 5 
oral and maxillofacial surgery journals.
Materials and Methods: A search was done using PubMed 
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.library.drexel.edu/sites/ entrez?
db=PubMed) to locate the articles cited in 108 references in each journal. 
If the article could not be located, a search was done in the specific 
journal in the medical library. The references were then divided into 
those with major errors that prevented the article from being located and 
those with minor errors that still permitted the article to be found.

Results: There were a significant number of citations with major errors in 
each of the journals that made it impossible to find these articles. No 
correlation was found between the number of major or minor errors and the 
rank of the senior author or if the article was submitted from a non 
English-speaking country.
Conclusions: This study shows that there needs to be a greater effort on 
the part of authors to provide accurate citations in their articles. (C) 
2008 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. 

Addresses: Virginia Commonwealth Univ, Dept Oral & Maxillofacial Surg, 
Richmond, VA 23298 USA 

Reprint Address: Laskin, DM, Virginia Commonwealth Univ, Dept Oral & 
Maxillofacial Surg, 521 N 11th St,POB 980566, Richmond, VA 23298 USA. 

E-mail Address: dmlaskin at vcu.edou

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC 

Publisher Address: 1600 JOHN F KENNEDY BOULEVARD, STE 1800, PHILADELPHIA, 
PA 19103-2899 USA 

ISSN: 0278-2391 

Cited Reference Count: 5
 
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