摘要：Background: Inaccurate citations are erroneous quotations or instances of paraphrasing of previously publishedmaterial that mislead readers about the claims of the cited source. They are often unaddressed due tounderreporting, the inability of peer reviewers and editors to detect them, and editors’ reluctance to publishcorrections about them. In this paper, we propose a new tool that could be used to tackle their circulation.Methods: We provide a review of available data about inaccurate citations and analytically explore current ways ofreporting and dealing with these inaccuracies. Consequently, we make a distinction between publication (i.e., firstoccurrence) and circulation (i.e., reuse) of inaccurate citations. Sloppy reading of published items, literatureambiguity and insufficient quality control in the editorial process are identified as factors that contribute to thepublication of inaccurate citations. However, reiteration or copy-pasting without checking the validity of citations,paralleled with lack of resources/motivation to report/correct inaccurate citations contribute to their circulation.Results and discussion: We propose the development of an online annotation tool called “MyCites” as meanswith which to mark and map inaccurate citations. This tool allows ORCID users to annotate citations and alertauthors (of the cited and citing articles) and also editors of journals where inaccurate citations are published. Eachmarked citation would travel with the digital version of the document (persistent identifiers) and be visible onwebsites that host peer-reviewed articles (journals’ websites, Pubmed, etc.). In the future development of MyCites,challenges such as the conditions of correct/incorrect-ness and parties that should adjudicate that, and, the issue ofdealing with incorrect reports need to be addressed.
关键词：Inaccurate citations; Editorial process; Post-publication peer-review; Annotations; Research integrity;
Responsibilities
