L-shell X-ray production cross-sections by 5.0 to 7.5 MeV B-10(2+) heavy ion impact on selected rare elements (Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy, Ho, Gd and Yb) were measured. An evaluation is given of the effect of using several databases for the atomic parameters (fluorescence yields and Coster-Kronig probabilities). Moreover, the application of different theories to predict ionization cross-sections, such as the ECPSSR and the ECPSSR with United Atom correction (ECPSSR-UA) is considered, as well as the effect of multiple ionization in outer shells of the target atom. It is found that the ECPSSR-UA approximation describes the experimental results very well. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.