Wikipedia:Cite tendentious texts directly

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This is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. It is not a policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it.

This suggestion is short, as every suggestion ought to be. Wikipedia already requires verifiability (WP:V and WP:OR) and fairness (WP:NPOV), but it seems that in order to lay a claim to objectivity, Wikipedia must also require source citations to be treated differently according as whether the substance of the text is indifferent (i.e. cannot spark an argument among the majority of readers) or tendentious. It is not fair to readers to cite tendentious texts indirectly, because that is the way in which certain authors with personal agendas influence the content of an article. So let us demand that any text which takes a side on a difficult question be cited directly.

That's all.