Henke 2022e

Bibliographies are Important

Kevin R. Henke

September 15, 2022

Anytime someone quotes an individual or refers to information that is not “common knowledge”, those statements need to be properly referenced. Except for perhaps links to webpages, that means organizing a bibliography with the name of the author, publication year, journal or book title and other relevant information. Like many geologists, I use the Chicago style with some modifications. However, many other styles are available.

Of course, what is “common knowledge” is often subjective. Mr. Lundahl in Lundahl (2022a) seems to think that everyone should know who Bishop Challoner is, but that is a bad assumption. It’s always better to cite the obvious than to underestimate the diversity of our readers (Henke 2022i). As discussed in essays Henke (2022f), Henke (2022g), and Henke (2022h), the lack of references in Lundahl (2022a) and his other essays creates unnecessary confusion.

Failing to properly cite information or quotations is not only sloppy and inconsiderate to the readers, but it can lead to plagiarism. Proper bibliographies and citations also allow the reader to check the author’s references for relevance, obtain further information and confirm the author’s claims. Authors that fail to use proper bibliographies are inconsiderate to their readers. Such authors are telling their readers that they just expect their claims to be taken at face value and that the readers should just believe whatever they say. Readers may identify such authors as arrogant, rude and condescending.

In his May 17, 2022 (12:41 PM Eastern US time) email to me, Mr. Lundahl makes the following irrelevant statement:

“There are definitely more people around the English speaking world who know who William Chaucer was, than who require a Chicago format of references.”

Now, some people would remember who Chaucer was from school. However, relatively few people can actually read and enjoy Middle English. In contrast, for millions of scientists, who aren’t interested in Chaucer, a good bibliography, whether in the Chicago or another format, is absolutely essential for any paper we read. We want to be able to look up references to find more information or check the claims in the article. The lack of references in Lundahl’s articles would discourage a lot of people from taking his unreferenced and vague claims seriously.

In Lundahl (2022h), Mr. Lundahl attempts to give an excuse for why he does not have bibliographies in his essays. He claims that his essays are not meant to be academic. However, that’s the problem. Considering the format of this debate, the importance of bibliographies in documenting the claims of each side and the promotion of good communication, his essays should be academic and should contain formal bibliographies for any of his references and any of his claims that are not “common knowledge.”