Viidatuse

Viidatuse is a fictional term used to describe a normative framework for evaluating and presenting sources in scholarly work. It is not an established concept in real-world practice, but is used here to illustrate how such frameworks might be described in a wiki-style article.

The word is presented as deriving from Estonian-like roots meaning reference, and was coined in a hypothetical 2020 publication by scholars J. Randmaa and K. Serra. The etymology is provided for illustrative purposes only.

The central idea of viidatuse is to ensure traceability and reliability by organizing citations along seven dimensions: provenance, verifiability, reproducibility, transparency, accessibility, relevance, and contextualization. Each dimension is intended to guide authors in documenting sources comprehensively.

In practice, a document following viidatuse would include an explicit audit trail. Primary sources, datasets, code, and methodological notes would be linked through parallel citations in each section, enabling readers to locate and verify all elements of the argument.

Proponents argue that the framework enhances scholarly integrity, reproducibility, and cross-disciplinary utility. Critics contend that it imposes rigid requirements, increases workload, and may be impractical for humanities materials or non-digital sources.

As a constructed example, viidatuse serves to illustrate how a standardized citation regime might be described in a concise encyclopedia entry. No current real-world adoption or official standards are associated with the term.