11
votes
When are citations needed in an answer?
Don't cite everything.
In my undergraduate honours degree I came from the other end of the stick and referenced too much; an equally unhelpful filter. I cited almost every sentence and statement with ...
- 11.3k
11
votes
When are citations needed in an answer?
My opinion on when is citation needed.
References are always appreciated but are strictly required in certain cases such as:
Answers stating non-obvious facts and recent experimental findings.
...
- 35.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Should I simplify answers for people who are not biologists?
Summary:
No, don't simplify. But please do explain! :).
Long Answer:
You can do as you please regarding this, but...
I suggest and invite you to revisit our Tour page, which indicates for whom ...
- 29.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Increase in answers that do not have any references backing them
Good point and referencing is not only appreciated, it's necessary on a scientific stack and vital to maintain this site's quality.
Commenting and downvoting are the primary means to go about this. ...
AliceDMod
- 52.3k
7
votes
How to post an answer to a closed question?
It has to be re-opened first. I see the question image has been updated and I vote to re-open. Four other users need to vote-to-re-open and then you're good to go.
You can delete your answer-in-...
AliceDMod
- 52.3k
7
votes
Why are all of my answers downvoted?
I haven't previously seen your answers and didn't downvote, but with a quick look it looks like a lot of your answers are strongly overlapping with existing answers and don't really add anything by ...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 44.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Retrieving answers from deleted questions
The user was removed, this is correct. Regarding your answer, you should be able to see your own answers, if not they are here and here. If you still can't see them, let me know, then I will copy+...
ChrisMod
- 51.5k
6
votes
Functionality Request: Community Voting for Answers: Citations Need Banner
I think the current banner is too ineffectual, and should
i) Be more strongly worded
ii) Answers with the banner should be faded out (the same as highly downvoted answers) to highlight to other ...
- 16k
6
votes
On answers that are basically "extended comments"
Perhaps just follow the SE convention - downvote. I've done that, although it unfortunately did result in a discussion with remi (r: why are hi-rep users judged more stringently - me: you should be an ...
AliceDMod
- 52.3k
5
votes
Why are all of my answers downvoted?
To add to @BryanKrause's answer (to which I agree):
Your posts are also of low quality relative to the expectations we have for answer posts on this site. See How do I write a good answer? in our ...
- 29.7k
4
votes
When should answers be deleted?
From the help:
Why and how are some answers deleted?
Answers that do not fundamentally answer the question may be removed. This includes answers that are:
commentary on the question or other answers
...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 44.1k
4
votes
When should answers be deleted?
I'm only posting this answer to give my opinion and relevant information I have found. Obviously I would also like other people's opinions as well.
If a post attempts to answer the question, it ...
- 17.7k
4
votes
How to deal with an incorrect answer that received many upvotes?
OP here,
First off, I HAVE NOT FORSAKEN YOU (as another answer suggested)
But I have taken a bit of a leave of absence. The sudden flurry activity on this question has brought me back. So…
Why did ...
- 2,495
4
votes
Retrieving answers from deleted questions
You should be able to find them yourself using either of the following methods:
Anyone can find their deleted recent (i.e. posted in the past 60 days) answers by going to the answer tab of their ...
- 787
3
votes
Increase in answers that do not have any references backing them
One way of improving things (fond hope) might be to revise the Help. If you look at the ‘How do I write a Good Answer’, you will see that providing references is not even mentioned. The only reference ...
- 24.3k
3
votes
Increase in answers that do not have any references backing them
I'd like to see if we can revisit this discussion again. The participants in the highest voted meta question about this topic have all been absent for over a year, and I don't think the issue has ...
- 8,751
3
votes
Why was this answer moved to a comment?
Why was the answer converted to comment:
The statement "This is true for most proteins, ignoring things like imprinting and X-inactivation, which is a bit more advanced to grasp", requires ...
- 35.3k
3
votes
How do you people identify all these critters?
Some thoughts....
In general, having good overall knowledge of groups (orders/families etc) and their characteristics can quickly narrow down the answer set, which makes searching for traits more ...
- 16.7k
3
votes
On answers that are basically "extended comments"
I am coming to this question from this one by Remi.b on essentially the same topic. In the interest of maintaining the SE spirit, I've voted to close the other and answer here, as I must have missed ...
- 15.2k
3
votes
An effective measure to counter unreferenced answers
Deletion
Deleting answers which do not meet the referencing standards we strive for.
How it could work
High rep users can vote to delete the post on the basis of lacking (suitable) references. ...
- 16k
3
votes
When are citations needed in an answer?
Citations and external material serve two purposes, to support claims and statements made in the post, and to allow easier follow-up reading by the readership. At the end of the day, we should be ...
- 16k
2
votes
Feature Request: Modification to the "citations needed" banner
Post-notices are basically templated comments that come with a box. They can be posted only by moderators. There are no custom post-notices. If you want a change in the statement then it has to be ...
- 35.3k
2
votes
An effective measure to counter unreferenced answers
Short answer- I think an effective method to solve this problem would be to lock upvoting and allowing only downvoting on unreferenced or poorly referenced answers till proper references are added (...
- 14.1k
2
votes
How to deal with an incorrect answer that received many upvotes?
Following the first part of the above @fileunderwater's comment, I posted an answer here on Why do males have nipples. I made it a community post (thanks to @fileunderwater's help).
I suppose that we ...
- 68k
2
votes
Accepted
How does one challenge an unsourced answer?
As discussed in the comments, the resolution here is:
Users who would like to challenge an answer that doesn't have references should
downvote (this is particularly important)
leave a comment ...
- 8,751
2
votes
Are comments that partially answer the question discouraged?
Is there a policy regarding this in biology.stackexchange.com?
Yes. The policy is quite clear. It is the general policy of Stack Exchange that appears in the question comment box of every Stack ...
- 24.3k
2
votes
Are comments that partially answer the question discouraged?
I tend to say to users that have hidden answers in the comments that
comments are for comments, answers are for answers
It's a cliche, but it's just what it is. The help center is also quite ...
AliceDMod
- 52.3k
2
votes
Are comments that partially answer the question discouraged?
disclaimer: this is just my own opinion as a user and, though it may be reflected in how I currently think about comment flags, this is my own personal answer and not representative of the other mods
...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 44.1k
1
vote
Are comments that partially answer the question discouraged?
See here for a discussion on this from way back.
What are the reasons to withhold answering in the comments?
You already posed a few scenarios. They are all valid in my opinion. Some questions are ...
- 6,192
1
vote
Functionality Request: Community Voting for Answers: Citations Need Banner
Some of the information contained in this post requires additional
references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that
support the assertions made here. Unreferenced answers may not ...
- 16k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible