Skip to main content

Correcting the Printer’s Proofs

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
How to Write Better Medical Papers
  • 2175 Accesses

Abstract

After the journal finally accepts your paper, they will send you printer’s proofs to double-check and approve. You should read those carefully, because small errors can often still be found in a manuscript even at this late stage. In particular, you should double-check that every statement and number in the Abstract still matches the main paper. Many papers undergo substantial revision for peer review. If you made changes to the main paper but did not change the Abstract accordingly, then the final Abstract will not accurately reflect the final paper. That lack of consistency occurs frequently [1–7], surely because authors do not bother to check the printer’s proofs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Fontelo P, Gavino A, Sarmiento RF. Comparing data accuracy between structured abstracts and full-text journal articles: implications in their use for informing clinical decisions. Evid Based Med. 2013; 18: 207-211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Estrada CA, Bloch RM, Antonacci D, Basnight LL, Patel SR, Patel SC, Wiese W. Reporting and Concordance of Methodologic Criteria Between Abstracts and Articles in Diagnostic Test Studies. J Gen Intern Med. 2000; 15: 183-187.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Pitkin RM, Branagan MA, Burmeister LF. Accuracy of Data in Abstracts of Published Research Articles. JAMA. 1999; 281: 1110-1111.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pitkin RM, Branagan MA. Can the accuracy of abstracts be improved by providing specific instructions? A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 1998; 280: 267-269.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ward LG, Kendrach MG, Price SO. Accuracy of abstracts for original research articles in pharmacy journals. Ann Pharmacother. 2004; 38: 1173-1177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Harris AHS, Standard S, Brunning JL, Casey SL, Goldberg JH, Oliver L, Ito K, Marshall JM. The Accuracy of Abstracts in Psychology Journals. J Psychol. 2002; 136: 141-148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Altwairgi AK, Booth CM, Hopman WM, Baetz TD. Discordance Between Conclusions Stated in the Abstract and Conclusions in the Article: Analysis of Published Randomized Controlled Trials of Systemic Therapy in Lung Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2012; 30: 3552-3557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bullimore MA. Love the Data, Hate the Figures. Optom Vis Sci. 2004; 81: 642-643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Christiansen S, Flanagin A. Correcting the Medical Literature: “To Err is Human, to Correct Divine”. JAMA. 2017; 318: 804-805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Scarlat MM. Erratum, corrigenda et emendatio or “mistake, correction and amendment”. Int Orthop. 2017; 41: 1071-1072.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Pulverer B. When things go wrong: correcting the scientific record. EMBO J. 2015; 34: 2483-2485.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. The PLoS Medicine Editors. Getting Closer to a Fully Correctable and Connected Research Literature. PLoS Med. 2013; 10: e1001408.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hanna, M. (2019). Correcting the Printer’s Proofs. In: How to Write Better Medical Papers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02955-5_57

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02955-5_57

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02954-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02955-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics