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The accuracy of references in Australian and New Zealand Medical Journals.

AIMS
Previous studies have found high error rates in references in biomedical journals. The aim of this paper was to assess the accuracy of references in three Australian and New Zealand general medical journals.


METHODS
References from the August 1999 issues of the Medical Journal of Australia, the New Zealand Medical Journal and the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine were assessed for accuracy using PubMed of the National Library of Medicine.


RESULTS
This study found a high rate of reference errors in Australian and New Zealand medical journals. The reference error rate ranged from 33.5 to 48.8%. The most frequent errors were in the author's names and in the title.


CONCLUSIONS
The reference error rate in Australia and New Zealand medical journals is high and is preventable. Authors should be more diligent and preferably verify cited references against the original article.