To inform knowledge in research methods and disseminationethicsforthe natural and social sciences, this article reinforces the importance of citation to support allassertions of fact. New findings are presented forthe history of biochemistry, nutrition, psychology, medicine, and the social sciences. Bio-chemistry papers and scientific news reports from the 1930’s seriously undermine along standing truism that in the 1920s and 30s, bio-chemists,nutrition experts, public health policy makers,and E. Segar the creator of the newspaper comic strip Popeye weremisled either by a decimal place error in 19th Centurypublished research, or else by erroneousinterpretation of 19th Century scientific findings, to exaggerate the iron content of spinach tenfold. Further, the failure to study original sourcesis evidenced in a multitude of completely erroneous publications claiming that these apocryphal errors caused Segar to choose spinach for Popeye’s super human strength. In fact, Segarchose and promoted spinach for its vitamin A content alone.