The bends in the slopes of radial abundance gradients in the disks of spiral galaxies – do they exist?

Spiral galaxies with a reported bend in the slope of the oxygen abundance O/H_{R 23}, derived with the traditionally used R₂₃-method, are examined. It is shown that the artificial origin of the reported bends can be naturally explained. Two causes of the false bend in the slope of O/H_{R 23} are indicated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.