Sometimes the questions can be answered from general logical thinking, but sometimes they cannot and require references to precise definitions concerning some corner cases of the German grammar and/or typography. In sciences, you usually prefer to provide references to peer-reviewed publications in reputable venues. Since the World Wide Web, which is most references here, contrains lots of imprecise and contradictory material, which standards should this community impose for references? I guess, duden.de, wissen.de and references to the works of language masters (such as Helbig and Buscha, e.g.) would be in (though even these sources contain errors and can be improved), whereas chat transcripts would be out. Can we make the standard of referencing a little bit more precise?
1 Answer
From my point of view it is very opinion based which references are to be prioritized. Given the fact most postings lack of references it is already nice to have some references at least. The only thing I can imagine is to have a guideline of a reference format, but not a preferred reference list. This is not a scientific forum. Of course scientists are welcome to discuss here and in fact there are some.
Please also note Duden and Wissen.de are private driven institutions, so it is difficult to list them above others. Such lists are hard to maintain and might change over time.
