Your experience speaks to different expectations of various audiences. For example, business writing (e.g., internal reports or talking points) shares information with employees that originated within the organization so employees can communicate on behalf of the organization in emails or other formats. Since the organization is the group author and the audience receiving the information understands the source of the information, citations may not be included. However, business writing that is intended for external audiences, such as external reports, will usually cite sources to help readers understand where the information originated. Writing for the web is a complicated topic when it comes to citations because there may not be clear guidelines as to what is expected, there can be different standards than what is expected by academic audiences, and/or the author may have made choices that don't reflect the choices expected by North American academic audiences.
If you're comparing what you're expected to cite in your academic work with what you see in other types of writing, make sure you engage your critical thinking skills about the differences in the types of writing, audiences, and authors. Keep in mind that for academic audiences, adhering to academic integrity policies is a key expectation and gives authors credibility in the information they’re sharing. One of the key ways authors meet that expectation is through citing other authors whose ideas have contributed to author(s)’s understandings.
For more information on writing for different audiences, please visit Who is your audience?
