Sometimes reading lists may have errors. Common errors include:

• recording a different publishing date to the copy of the book you find in the library (may be a different edition)
• not updating the edition number - check which one you should be using
• misspelling the name of an author or title (try searching by a different method)

Sometimes it is assumed that you will know what a shortened reference means. For instance:

• they might list only the author of a book because they listed the full citation earlier in the list or in other notes
• some writers use the standard abbreviations of journal titles (e.g. A.A.L.R. for Anglo-American Law Review)
• some writers use the standard abbreviations in their references (e.g. put 'op.cit' instead of the title when the citation comes from the same source as the one previously cited somewhere in the list)