Unfortunately, that is typical of academic texts, where that embellishment is expected, if not almost mandatory for the whole thing to be approved by the jury.
While it's certainly true of quite a few academic texts, I've read quite a lot for which it's not the case. I don't think it's mandatory, particularly for jury approval, rather just a quirk of many academic individuals.
Moreover, this is blog post and comments on a blog post: academic juries aren't the intended audience.
Moreover, this is blog post and comments on a blog post: academic juries aren't the intended audience.