The citations or references are vital component of any scientific publication. The quality or accuracy of citation is of paramount importance in lending credibility to the article & author(s) in general and to the publishing journal in particular. They do provide an essential component of the communicative nature of scientific papers. Even reputed international journals have been found deficient in following the correct pattern of citations in variable degrees. This study was aimed at finding the degree of accuracy/quality of citations in journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine (JIAFM). For this purpose, all the articles of volume 1 (first) and 4 (last) of JIAFM published in the year 2003 and 2004 were evaluated on the yardstick of Vancouver system of referencing; as also recommended by JIAFM.
Significantly an extremely high error rate in referencing was found in various articles of both volumes of JIAFM for year 2003, while 2004 issues of the journal had relatively less error rate. Although the responsibility of correct citation lies with the authors/contributors of the article but editorial board plays an equality important role during the process of publication; as quite often mistakes occur in these subsequent stages of publication. Various issues related to citations/referencing are being discussed so as to minimize the errors and thereby improving the quality of publication in JIAFM.
Citation, References, JIAFM, Vancouver System
