Since I just woke up to 20 reports from probably the same few people and I've been seeing some general confusion about the rules, I thought I'd give a reminder/update about the rules and when to report violations.

First, there seems to be some confusion on sources. Sources are not an absolute requirement for every top-level comment. Please stop reporting random comments for sources just because they lack them. However, while sources are not mandatory, you should be able to provide sources if you are asked for them. If you cannot provide adequate sources for a top-level comment, you probably shouldn't make one. Because this is a fact-based subreddit, not every top-level comment needs a source. Example: "How long is a Senator's term?" doesn't need to link to the Constitution. However, you should know where to find it if someone wants a source. If someone reports a comment for "sources" and zero people have asked for a source, the comment stays up. Only report a top-level comment for sources if the commenter was asked for sources and refused to provide them.

Second, the "informed, comprehensive, and courteous" (ICC) rule gets abused quite often to report comments that are controversial or that users disagree with. Reporting is not an appropriate way to register disagreement with a comment. If you dislike a comment but lack the motivation to actually argue why you disagree with it, don't even bother reporting. This rule essentially exists to prevent people from leaving low-effort responses. Top-tier comments don't need to be novels; a properly ICC answer could very well be a short paragraph. As long as a layman can see the question, read your comment, and leave having a reasonable answer to the question, it's fine.

(n.b.: These two rules only apply to top-level comments. Stop using the "sources" rule to report comments all the way down comment threads.)

Third, jokes are not categorically banned in this subreddit. They're generally considered inappropriate in top-tier comments, especially if said comment only contains a joke. A joke can be fine in a sufficiently ICC top-level comment, and there's generally more leeway in lower-level comments.

If there is confusion about the rules, what rule violations look like, or how/when to report things, please let us moderators know. We'd be more than happy to revise/expand our guidelines (again) in order to clarify some of these cases.