I should have reported that about 30-45 percent of the footnotes in a published work will contain an error of some kind, while about TEN percent of the total footnotes in the published work will have an error so major as to prevent the cited work from being found. My apologies for having mis-remembered the figures, but the actual numbers of errors in footnotes are still quite daunting.
If you'd like to follow-up on this topic, here are key articles and reports on this topic:
Faunce, Gavin J., and R.F. Soames Job. “The Accuracy of Reference Lists in Five Experimental Psychology Journals.” _American Psychologist_, v. 56, no. 10 (October 2001), p. 839-30.
Harper, J.A. “Citation Inaccuracy in a Scientific Journal: A Continuing Issue.” _Science & Technology Libraries_, v. 20, no. 4 (2001), p. 39-44.
Kristof, Cynthia. “Accuracy of References in Five Entomology Journals.” [Master’s research paper, Kent State University, 1994.] 36 p.
Available as ERIC Document, ED389341.
Benning, S.P., et al., “Incorrect Citations: A Comparison of Library Literature with Medical Literature.” _Bulletin of the Medical Library Association_, v. 81 (January 1993), p. 56-58.
Pope, Nancy N. “Accuracy of References in Ten Library Science Journals.” _RQ_, v. 32, no. 2 (Winter 1992), p. 240-243.
White, Arden, et al. “A Sixteen Journal Study of Accuracy of Direct Quotes and Associated Reference List Entries.” [Research report, 1991.] 9 p. Available as ERIC Document, ED331079.
White, Arden, and Nelda R. Hernandez. “Direct Quote and Reference List Entry Faults and Errors in a Sample of Articles from the American Educational Research Journal, Compared with Findings from Previous Research.” [Research report, 1991.] 14 p. Available as ERIC Document, ED331081.
White, Arden. “A Ten Journal Study of Reference List Inaccuracies.” [Research report, 1991.] 22 p. Available as ERIC Document, ED331080.
Sweetland, James H. “Errors in Bibliographic Citations: A Continuing Problem.” _The Library Quarterly_, v. 59, no. 4 (October 1989), p. 291- 304.
Eichorn, Philip, and Alfred Yankauer. “Do Authors Check Their References?: A Survey of Accuracy of References in Three Public Health Journals.” _American Journal of Public Health_, v. 77 (August 1987), p. 1011-1012.
White, Arden. “Reference Inaccuracies in Two Counseling Journals.” _Counselor Education and Supervision_, v. 26, no. 4 (June 1987), p. 286- 292.
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Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901