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the comment may be superficial and dismissive without pointing out factual issues, but ad hominem attacks are still a very different thing than dismissing the credibility of a publication that has a track record of misleading pop science sensationalism

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> dismissing the credibility of a publication that has a track record of misleading pop science sensationalism

Attacking the publication's track record, rather than the article's content, is clearly covered by PP's cited definition:

"a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself"

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