Once I've cited the source, I can replace the sentence in the article that says "the world is round" with the sentence "The U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office states that for many navigational purposes the earth is assumed to be a sphere, without intolerable error." Problem solved.
Of course, now you have replaced a four-word sentence that a child could understand by a 22-word monster that makes tears come to my eyes. Double negative included. And someone who's not from the USA might wonder why the US Navy gets to decide what the shape of the Earth is.
Normally we would just state "for many navigational purposes the earth is assumed to be a sphere, without intolerable error" and cite the source in the references.
Regards, Haukur