On 8/1/06, ScottL scott@mu.org wrote:
I have seen a number of cases where a general category of people holding a position are referenced to and a single notable example given without the implication that they are the only ones "such as green peace (link to ref)", "such as Roger Ebert (ref)".
That's usually a good way of doing it. Even better would be to provide some sort of (useful, not derogatory) label to identify the category of people being referred to. For example, "Marxist critics, such as John Doe <ref>, say this". If the category has already been established with a few examples, then the category can be used again later in the text, and further footnotes would not be necessary (although direct quotes and contentious or particularly complex points should always be footnoted).
Another option, when the body is getting too cluttered with "A said this, and then B said that" is to leave it to the footnotes. "Some commentators, such as A, take this position," with a footnote citing similar commentators B, C and D in addition to A.