Pitfalls in Using Internet References
Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: I was pleased to read Slater and Zimmerman’s fine brief report on problems associated with health-related Web site listings for the public.1 That report reinforces and complements my contention, published recently, that similar obstacles exist in the use of Internet references for scientific articles.2
Further testimony about electronic references was given several years ago by Frank Davidoff, MD, in Annals of Internal Medicine, of which he was editor at the time. He concluded, “Even—perhaps especially—in the new information age, a scientific discovery does not exist until it is safely in print.”3(p58)
All of this emphasizes the points made by Slater and Zimmerman—that there are pitfalls in using Internet references and that extreme care must be taken in accepting them or quoting them. My follow-up article4 offers some suggestions to aid authors in being accurate; however, this is no panacea. Much study—by both electronic advocates and electronic skeptics—will be needed to try to eliminate recurring difficulties in this area and to protect all of us.
However, none of us has addressed the greater danger: that electronic information may be accepted as infallible by professionals or lay individuals, who might then base actual human therapy on these reports—with possible dire consequences. Therein lies a potentially major public health problem, and perhaps some medicolegal ones also.
Thanks to Slater and Zimmerman for shedding more light on this problem.
Author: Arnold Melnick
Institution: Nova Southeastern University
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2166524292