Exploring the Accuracy of Citations: A Study of Four International Geological Journals

Abstract

Objective- This research investigated the accuracy of citations in four international peer reviewed indexed geological journals, viz. International Geology Review (IGR), Mathematical Geosciences (MGS), New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics (NJG), and Russian Journal of Pacific Geology (RJP).

Methods- In Toto, one hundred article citations were randomly selected for checking of accuracy, choosing 25 citations from each journal’s first issue of the year 2023. Each article citation was carefully verified either from the actual source article or from alternative sources such as Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and indexing and abstracting sources when the actual source was unavailable.

Results- In the study, 52 out of the 100 citations were found to be accurate, while the remaining 48 were inaccurate. The citations accuracy level was 52%. The ratio of number of errors (average number of errors) was 0.62. Twenty-two major errors and 40 minor errors were found in 100 citations.

Conclusion- Not only geological scientists and researchers need to be more attentive while compiling the reference list but also librarians should conduct referencing behaviour programs along with library orientation programs for research scholars. Training of skill development in reference management tools and software can be conducted in libraries.