Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

How accurate is the neurosurgery literature? A review of references

  • Original Article - Neurosurgery general
  • Published:
Acta Neurochirurgica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The reference list is an important part of academic manuscripts. The goal of this study is to evaluate the reference accuracy in the field of neurosurgery.

Methods

This study examines four major peer-reviewed neurosurgery journals, chosen based on their clinical impact factor: Neurosurgery, J Neurosurg, World Neurosurg, and Acta Neurochir. For each of the four journals, five articles from each of the journal’s 12 issues published in 2019 were randomly selected using an online generator. This resulted in a total of 240 articles, 60 from each journal. Additionally, from each article’s list of references, one reference was again randomly selected and checked for a citation or quotation error. The chi-square test was used to analyze the association between the occurrence of citation and quotation errors and the presence of hypothesized risk factors that could impact reference accuracy.

Results

62.1% of articles had a minor citation error, 8.33% had a major citation error, 12.1% had a minor quotation error, and 5.8% of articles had a major quotation error. Overall, Acta Neurochir presented with the fewest quotation errors compared with the other journals evaluated. The only association between the frequency of errors and potential markers of reference mistakes was with the length of the bibliography. Surprisingly, this correlation indicated that the articles with longer reference lists had fewer citation errors (p < 0.01). Statistical significance was found between the occurrence of citation errors and the journals of publication (p < 0.01).

Conclusions

In order to advance medical treatment and patient care in neurosurgery, detailed documentation and attention to detail are necessary. The results from this analysis illustrate that improved reference accuracy is required.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Al-Benna S, Rajgarhia P, Ahmed S, Sheikh Z (2009) Accuracy of references in burns journals. Burns 35:677–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2008.11.014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Armstrong MF, Conduff JH, Fenton JE, Coelho DH (2018) Reference errors in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery literature. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 159:249–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0194599818772521

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Awrey J, Inaba K, Barmparas G, Recinos G, Teixeira PG, Chan LS, Talving P, Demetriades D (2011) Reference accuracy in the general surgery literature. World J Surg 35:475–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-010-0912-7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Davids JR, Weigl DM, Edmonds JP, Blackhurst DW (2010) Reference accuracy in peer-reviewed pediatric orthopaedic literature. JBJS 92:1155–1161. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.I.00063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. De Lacey G, Record C, Wade J (1985) How accurate are quotations and references in medical journals? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 291:884–886. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.291.6499.884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Doms CA (1989) A survey of reference accuracy in five national dental journals. J Dent Res 68:442–444. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220345890680030101

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Evans JT, Nadjari HI, Burchell SA (1990) Quotational and reference accuracy in surgical journals. A continuing peer review problem. JAMA 263:1353–1354. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1990.03440100059009

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Fenton J, Brazier H, De Souza A, Hughes J, McShane D (2000) The accuracy of citation and quotation in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery journals 1. Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci 25:40–44. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2273.2000.00322.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. George PM, Robbins K (1994) Reference accuracy in the dermatologic literature. J Am Acad Dermatol 31:61–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0190-9622(94)70136-9

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Hauptman JS, Chow DS, Martin NA, Itagaki MW (2011) Research productivity in neurosurgery: trends in globalization, scientific focus, and funding: a review. J Neurosurg 115:1262–1272. https://doi.org/10.3171/2011.8.JNS11857

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Luo M, Li CC, Molina D IV, Andersen CR, Panchbhavi VK (2013) Accuracy of citation and quotation in foot and ankle surgery journals. Foot Ankle Int 34:949–955. https://doi.org/10.1177/1071100713475354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. McLellan MF, Case LD, Barnett MC (1992) Trust, but verify. The accuracy of references in four anesthesia journals. Anesthesiology 77:185–188. https://doi.org/10.1097/00000542-199207000-00024

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Montenegro TS, Hines K, Partyka P, Harrop J (2020) Reference accuracy in spine surgery. J Neurosurg Spine. https://doi.org/10.3171/2020.6.SPINE20640

  14. Neihouse PF, Priske SC (1989) Quotation accuracy in review articles. DICP 23:594–596. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060028089023007-813

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. O’Connor AE (2002) A review of the accuracy of references in the journal Emergency Medicine. Emerg Med 14:139–141. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-2026.2002.00307.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Reddy M, Srinivas S, Sabanayagam N, Balasubramanian S (2008) Accuracy of references in general surgical journals—an old problem revisited. Surgeon 6:71–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1479-666x(08)80067-4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Wei M, Wang W, Zhuang Y (2016) Worldwide research productivity in the field of spine surgery: a 10-year bibliometric analysis. Eur Spine J 25:976–982. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-016-4442-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, 901 Walnut Street 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Thiago S. Montenegro, Kevin Hines, Glenn A. Gonzalez, Umma Fatema, Sara Thalheimer & James Harrop

  2. School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University, Stratford, NJ, USA

    Paul P. Partyka

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    Paul P. Partyka

Authors
  1. Thiago S. Montenegro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kevin Hines
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Glenn A. Gonzalez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Umma Fatema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paul P. Partyka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sara Thalheimer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. James Harrop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thiago S. Montenegro.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

Informed consent

For this type of study, informed consent is not required.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Neurosurgery general

No portion of the paper has been published or is under review in any other journal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Montenegro, T.S., Hines, K., Gonzalez, G.A. et al. How accurate is the neurosurgery literature? A review of references. Acta Neurochir 163, 13–18 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-020-04576-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-020-04576-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation