We are limited in how much space we have for either a question or an answer. If we are going to properly tackle either one, we need space to do it with. If we supply all of the required references to the stated facts, then you say that the article is too long. For a system that is essentially based on popularity, this environment diminishes the chances for a subject to be tackled outside of the immediate realm of conversation, thereby extinguishing any advanced discussion on the stack exchange platform.
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2 Answers
This site expects answers to show their work, to support their claims with evidence and references, but it isn't a peer reviewed academic journal. Our standards aren't that high. 1000 words is usually plenty to give a quite detailed answer to a question on this site, and the actual character limit is far more than that. Answers that are much longer than this are usually so long because they're not focused, instead digging into tangents.
Part of providing references is so that readers can go read them if they do want to go into some issue even deeper. Just as this site isn't an academic journal, so too should it not be a place where primary research is done. Just like Wikipedia is a secondary source that summarises the actual research done elsewhere, this site shouldn't have very many original interpretations. So answers can rely on their sources and references to give a detailed defense of some argument, and just give a summary of that argument and then show how it is applied to the particular question.
The question presumes academic journal styles, where due diligence is exhaustive and onerous. We are brief and concise, which makes us unique since most academic styles have word minimums rather than word maximums (albeit approximate). In this, newswriting is more or less part of our style expectation, often antithetical to the academic world.
While many academic styles expect length to meet the need of diligence, we use targeted quotes and linked citation to meet that need while simultaneously keeping with that other need of brevity.
These differences often confuse diligent and educated users when they are new to the site. So, this is a good question that I upvoted on account of being able to write this helpful answer.
Another answer from a moderator addresses other important aspects as we see them from our perspective on this site, reflecting our sentiment quite accurately.
