Quotation and reference accuracy of articles from a major nursing research journal

Errors of citation in the scientific literature reflect unfavorably on the nursing profession and create difficulties for researchers using that literature. This study examines errors contained in the reference lists of selected published articles in one nursing journal. Assessment of these errors included whether the original cited references could be retrieved and verified against the published article. The articles were randomly selected and references were chocked for errors. These errors were classified as major or minor errors and expressed as percentages based upon the total number of errors found in the articles' reference list, citations, and quotations. Results revealed major errors in citations of 1.0% out of a sample size of 168. Minor errors in citations were 10.70. Errors in direct quotations were 7.14% and minor errors, 5.36%.