This study investigated the extent to which seven papers on mechanical weed control have been cited, understood and utilised in subsequent publications. Web of Science was used to identify the citing publications, and citation content analysis was conducted to investigate the cognitive links between the citing and cited publications. Cognition involves acquiring, understanding, and using knowledge. Citation of the seven publications in 305 publications was classified, and it was found that perfunctory citations (those that were routinely referenced, with little effort to understand or use content) accounted for 53% of all citations and 16% of the citing articles included citations that were not supported by the references. The most striking finding was that key content was rarely used in articles, despite being referenced in 42% of the published articles. It is recommended that more time be allocated by authors to understanding literature, as this would appear to be a matter of diminishing concern for the scientific community. For those who assume their research area has a better citation practice than found in this study, it is recommended that authors conduct a citation content analysis within their own research area to increase the focus on good literature practices.