Debaters can demand written evidence instead of refuting unsourced claims themselves.

Evidence

As an outsider, you will hardly have heard of most of the snippets of information often cited without sources, let alone be able to place them in the proper context or refute them. However, you do not have to get involved in such discussions. It is perfectly okay to refer to the relevant experts, literature or websites and to stop the discussion. If your counterpart is not satisfied with this, you can demand written evidence for the claims they have made. Those who give such litanies of details usually have the idea of being more scientific than the scientists and can be challenged to provide scientific evidence as well. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 817

Categorization

• APHORISMS: Practical advice for handling those who wield details as pseudo-authority: shift the burden of evidence back onto the claim-maker.
• XREF: connects to: Recording reasons and evidence makes arbitrary-action review more feasible. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2898