Citation Accuracy: A Case Study on Definition of the Grey Water Footprint

Citing sources is an important part of any research paper. A number of studies in the past have dealt with discrepancies or errors in citations. The citation errors range from several percent to tens of percent. Although in most cases, these are minor formal inconsistencies that do not prevent tracing the source used, there are cases where the citations are incorrect or refer to non-existent articles. In this study, an analysis of the citation of the grey water footprint definition was conducted. The water footprint concept was introduced in 2002 as a methodology for the description of quantity aspects linked to water use in the life cycle. The grey water footprint, which represents the quality aspects of water use, was added to the water footprint concept later on. In this study, almost 300 articles that provide a definition of the grey water footprint and are indexed in the Scopus database were reviewed. More than two-thirds of the articles added the definition by citing the source. Only 3.5% of the citing articles contained an incorrect citation that could be considered a significant error. Although this is a low number, these significant errors have been appearing only in recent years. This suggests the possibility that the percentage of errors could gradually increase as the use of grey water footprint expands in practice. In the first period (up to 2017), only the grey water footprint originators are cited. From 2017 onwards, papers not written by the originators of the grey water footprint idea are also cited.