An examination of the consistency of the published levels of the p2, p3 and p4 isoelectronic sequences using jj-relativistic expressions

•A new criterion to check the consistency of the levels in isoelectronic sequences.•It is applied to 10 isoelectronic sequences.•It uses the jj coupling theory, which introduces a greater number of Slater parameters compared to the LS coupling.•We can detect a relative uncertainty of the energy levels as small as ≈1E(−3).

We check the consistency of the known energy levels of the p2, p3 and p4 isoelectronic sequences tabulated at the NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Database. We used a screening parameter formulation using the Slater integrals arising from the jj-coupling relativistic expressions for the matrix elements. The general conclusion is that the use of the screening parameters is very adequate to check the consistency of level values along their isoelectronic sequences, more suitable than comparison of Slater integrals or other criteria, such as the widely used difference between theoretical and observed values.