Is email a reliable means of contacting authors of previously published papers? A study of the Emergency Medicine Journal for 2001.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether it is possible to contact authors of previously published papers via email.


METHODS
A cross sectional study of the Emergency Medicine Journal for 2001.


RESULTS
118 articles were included in the study. The response rate from those with valid email addresses was 73%. There was no statistical difference between the type of email address used and the address being invalid (p=0.392) or between the type of article and the likelihood of a reply (p=0.197). More responses were obtained from work addresses when compared with Hotmail addresses (86% v 57%, p=0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Email is a valid means of contacting authors of previously published articles, particularly within the emergency medicine specialty. A work based email address may be a more valid means of contact than a Hotmail address.
O'Leary
F
F
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia. fmoleary@bigpond.com
D001319:Authorship; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D034742:Electronic Mail; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011643:Publishing