TY - JOUR
T1 - The dangers of citing papers you did not read or understand
AU - van de Weert, Marco
AU - Stella, Lorenzo
PY - 2019/6/15
Y1 - 2019/6/15
N2 - References in scientific papers play an important role in acknowledging prior work of others on the topic under investigation. Moreover, they are used to show the research is built on solid ground, carefully prepared by others. However, proper citation requires that one has read and understood the paper that is cited. We discuss an example of one of our own papers erroneously being cited in support of the interpretation of an equation, while we in reality demonstrated this interpretation is incorrect. This is likely a result of the citing authors not having read or understood the paper. We place this in a broader perspective, pointing to similar examples in other fields of science. Such improper citation practices can lead to perpetuation of false information, which is then incorrectly linked to scientists who in reality do not support the claims being made. We urge the scientific community to ensure the papers we cite fully support the statement we make, as references otherwise become meaningless.
AB - References in scientific papers play an important role in acknowledging prior work of others on the topic under investigation. Moreover, they are used to show the research is built on solid ground, carefully prepared by others. However, proper citation requires that one has read and understood the paper that is cited. We discuss an example of one of our own papers erroneously being cited in support of the interpretation of an equation, while we in reality demonstrated this interpretation is incorrect. This is likely a result of the citing authors not having read or understood the paper. We place this in a broader perspective, pointing to similar examples in other fields of science. Such improper citation practices can lead to perpetuation of false information, which is then incorrectly linked to scientists who in reality do not support the claims being made. We urge the scientific community to ensure the papers we cite fully support the statement we make, as references otherwise become meaningless.
KW - Double log equation
KW - Fluorescence spectroscopy
KW - Ligand binding
KW - Proper citation practices
U2 - 10.1016/j.molstruc.2019.03.024
DO - 10.1016/j.molstruc.2019.03.024
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85063262122
SN - 0166-1280
VL - 1186
SP - 102
EP - 103
JO - Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM
JF - Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM
ER -