Discouraging Verification: Citation Practices across the Disciplines

The purpose of reference notes in scholarly writing is to provide readers with the opportunity to learn more about an issue or to test an author's credibility. As such, they need to include whatever details are necessary to ensure that access be maximally efficient. These data should always include page numbers for both quotes and close paraphrases. Unfortunately, this practice is remarkably uncommon in the sciences and even the social sciences. Failure to include these data is also a failure of good epistemological practice.