What happens when good info...isn't
Last week, Rosen's Emergency Medicine (9th ed) was removed from ClinicalKey due to several drug dosage errors. So what happens when errors appear in published works?
Here's how we're managing this issue at Himmelfarb Library:
- Links to the 9th edition of Rosen's Emergency Medicine now connect to the 8th edition which was made available online once again by the publisher, Elsevier inc.
- Catalog and e-book links to Rosen's Emergency Medicine now include a note describing the issue and pointing users to the 8th edition.
- Print copies of the 9th edition were pulled from our stacks, but remain available upon request. If you would like access, please contact Travis Nace (tnace@gwu.edu). Corrected print copies will be returned to the shelf as soon as they are received from the publisher
While authors, editors, and publishers make every effort to ensure that accurate information is published, mistakes do sometimes occur. For insight into how these errors are handled check out:
- PubMed's Fact Sheet on Errata, Retractions, and Other Linked Citations in PubMed
- RetractionWatch: this blog tracks specific instances and issues with errors in the scientific literature.
- Rebranding Retractions and the Honest Error Hypothesis - this article describes some of the different types of errors in published literature and discusses the issues surrounding different responses.
