spin

Very often, when somebody argues a position they refer to evidence without exactly specifying the source, whether it be ancient or modern. Often you just get a vague name and subject. This doesn't give the reader the hope that the argument has been checked by the presenter and there is little hope for the reader to check the source.

I propose that, whenever any new material from a source is mentioned in a thread, its source is cited clearly, eg exact bible or other ancient reference, or title, author and page number of a modern text. This will give the presenter of the new material more credibility and the opportunity to check what they are saying, rather than shooting from the lip. It will also pay courtesy to the reader who can evaluate any claims.

This is a request to make reasonable citation a policy for this forum, ie not an option. Members should be expected to supply sources for any substance that is not their own.


spin

ApostateAbe

"This will give the presenter of the new material more credibility..."

Do you have a source for that? Has there been a psychological study that proves such a thing? If you can't provide a source, then you have broke the proposed rule.

This isn't a scholarly forum. We have a lot of members who are complete amateurs, and I welcome them. Even within scholarly academia, you don't need to provide a citation for a claim if the claim is already common knowledge or at least commonly accepted. In this forum, there are people who may believe that up is down unless you provide incontrovertible proof that up is up. I wouldn't want to burden Toto with all that police work.

ApostateAbe

But, hey, I do think that citations or arguments for unusual claims should at least be strongly encouraged.

spin

You should have read this:

Members should be expected to supply sources for any substance that is not their own.

spin

ApostateAbe

Any substance that is not their own? You mean like absolutely everything in the fields of historical scholarship? I don't really get it. Maybe you can flesh out the details of your proposal.

spin

Any citation (that hasn't already been mentioned in the thread).


spin

brettpalmer

I know what you mean, and I agree.

Instead of writing merely, "So-and-so said...." or "So-and-so said in his last book..." or "the Bible says..." without citing where So-and-so said it, or what his/her last book was or which Bible verse, provide those book titles, page numbers and Bible verses so readers can check to see if the representation/paraphrase is being used accurately.

I don't think that's such a tall order.