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Very regrettably, most newspapers still do not link to the original journal article when discussing academic work. Even places like the NY Times started doing this routinely only a few years ago, more than a decade after it become trivially easy to do technically.

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It's not just academic studies, journalists very frequently don't cite their sources for many factual claims. Their editors and them knowing what or whom it is is way too often enough for them.

It rubs me the wrong way. It feels a lot like: "We know better and can tell you what to think. We don't need to show our work."

That said, it has been getting better, especially for the tech savy younger generation with Twitter links (:P), but their editors are probably trying to keep the number of hyperlinks relatively low.

That's why I like the BBC; they link to the study the article is discussing, and have always done so.

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