Errors in bibliographic references in academic reports: a case study

Abstract

Analysis of the error rate of bibliographic citations in the dissertations presented for a master degree in bioengineering at University of São Paulo from 1999 to 2000. A random sample of 280 references was verified in MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science and Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Literature (LILACS), excluding non-indexed materials. The accuracy of the authors names, title and source items was determined. The errors founded were classified as minor when they did not delay the retrieval of the document and major when they did. From the 163 references verified 27.6% had at least one citation error. 60 errors in total were found: 70% major and 30% minor. The error rate was low (27.6%), but the majority of them can delay the document retrieval and so compromising their quality as a source of information. More attention is required from reviewers of the texts. The librarians must contribute with the authors by improving the citations accuracy through technological information sources. According to a recent paper, the length of reference list is a risk factor for citation errors. It is necessary to consider this factor in order to improve the accuracy of the references