692 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1089 



even in tlie same paper one may find differ- 

 ences. Because of this it is not surprising 

 that all of us do not agree with Scudder. 



Our position is stated in the directions 

 given for the " Placing of References " as 

 foimd in Bibliographic Style, published by the 

 American Medical Association. 



All comments or bibliographic references (ex- 

 cept footnotes that concern the article as a whole) 

 on various matters mentioned in an article should 

 be used as indi's'idual footnotes, numbered consec- 

 utively throughout the article, each to be placed 

 at the foot of the required column (or page), 

 rather than grouped at the end as a bibliography. 

 The latter method may be followed, however, if an 

 author desires merely to give a general survey of 

 the literature on the subject. When the same ref- 

 erence is used twice, instead of duplicating the 

 note or using the words "loc. eit.," it is better 

 to repeat in the text the reference number of the 

 original note. 



References are given for the convenience of 

 the reader. In general they are specific in 

 character and the reader desires to consult 

 them in connection with the particular point 

 in question and not in a general way. It is 

 more economical of time from the reader's 

 point of view to have references at the foot of 

 the page, where they may readily be consulted, 

 than at the end of the article, which necessi- 

 tates the turning of an indefinite number of 

 pages every time a reference is needed. This 

 is especially true in those cases where it is 

 necessary to find a reference to a particular 

 fact. One looks through the article in ques- 

 tion until the desired point is found and then, 

 by glancing at the foot of the page, at once 

 finds the reference. 



While this is a personal opinion the writer 

 finds that it is shared by a number of his 

 fellow- workers. If the method suggested by 

 Scudder is as convenient as he would have us 

 believe, it is surprising that more of the jour- 

 nals written by and for busy scientific men 

 should not have adopted it. To our knowl- 

 edge the only journal that consistently uses 

 Scudder's method is the Biochemical Journal.^ 

 The journal recently founded by Dr. V. C. 



2 This journal uses a modified form, since a sep- 

 arate line is given for each reference. 



Vaughan, The Journal of Lahoratory and 

 Clinical Medicine, apparently uses, in part at 

 least, the same system of reference-giving in 

 the original articles (it may be at the author's 

 discretion), but uses the more convenient form 

 of references at the foot of the page in the 

 editorial section. 



Another point made by Scudder in favor of 

 grouping references at the end of the article 

 is that this method assists one in looking up 

 original references, in that it saves time in the 

 long run. References are individual and are 

 found in different magazines or in different 

 volumes of the same magazine. In the interval 

 between looking up two original articles it is 

 just as easy, or easier, to turn a page or two 

 to find the next numbered reference, as it is to 

 locate one's place in a running paragraph of 

 references, printed in eight-point or even in 

 smaller type. 



In this connection it may be permissible to 

 call attention to one aspect of the question 

 which would really effect a saving of time. 

 Much annoyance and loss of time is caused 

 by the inaccurate quotation of references. The 

 degree of inaccuracy may be either a wrong 

 page ntunber, a wrong volume number, or a 

 wrong journal. Sometimes the error is easily 

 corrected, but more frequently it is not. Be- 

 cause it is so easy to make mistakes of this 

 kind, it is only just to the reader that all refer- 

 ences be carefully checked in the manuscript 

 and verified in the galley proof. In very few 

 cases does the journal publishing the article 

 verify the reference, so the burden and the 

 blame usually fall upon the author. 



As a rule, journals are desirous of pleasing 

 their contributors and readers and will print 

 references as given. The question of saving 

 one per cent, of the space would probably give 

 way to the question of convenience to the 

 reader. Since each contributor has the right 

 to decide for himself, we have felt it worth 

 while to emphasize the old way of giving refer- 

 ences, as opposed to Scudder's modification, 

 especially since it seems to be by far the better 

 way. Claeence J. West 



The Eockefellee Institute 

 roR Medical Eesearch, 

 New York 



