To the Editor,
Recently, this Journal published a "Letter to the Editor1" referring to an article published by my research group.2 The letter expressed regret for the lack of rigor in the references. When I learned about this letter while reading in the Journal, I was shocked.
Regarding the essence of the letter, I can do nothing but accept the criticism and apologize. The software for dealing with references is far from perfect and I should have reviewed the references one by one. In any case, the zeal of José L. Zambrana seems excessive when he includes "Sunol" as an error. Although I love the letter eñe and consider it something specifically Spanish, the article by Suñol was published in an English journal and the author appears as "Sunol." The responsibility José L. Zambrana attributes to the referees is debatable. Their task of substantially improving the articles in an altruistic way is already sufficient. Perhaps someone dedicated to reviewing references could be considered in a journal of this standing.
The problem of errors in references has been widely addressed in the literature. The percentage of errors in highly prestigious scientific journals is around 30%,3-5 and in some cases it reaches 56%.6 Even authors as sensitive to this issue as José L. Zambrana lie within these ranges, as can be appreciated by reviewing the references in one of their articles mentioned in his letter.7