> Users who post answers in comments do so for a number of reasons:
1. They don't want to bother to flesh out a complete answer.
2. See #1.
Unfortunately, comments are not the best place to post answers. When I poach a comment like this, I'll typically mark my answer Community Wiki, since it's not my work.
Of course, if the comment is only a small part of a larger, complete answer, the poster deserves full credit for their contribution.
Citing comments? Meh. That's angels dancing on the head of a pin. If a person wants credit for their work, they should post it as an answer, where it bel…