Can I add a different dimension. We are used to citing other articles which support (or contradict) the arguments being presented. We are less used to citing data (as a "FAIR" first class object), often relying on data "buried" in an article or the supporting information and hoping the interested reader will find it in much the same manner often as the needle in the haystack.

But what about other objects? What about citing the instrument which might have been used to obtain data, and perhaps associated with a calibration curve or say a probe fitted for the experiment? If the article is about searches of a database, how about citing the version of that database? If software has been used to simulate a model, how about the version of that software? These can be informally cited, perhaps in the "experimental section", but a proper citation should have formal metadata associated with it and this would require a formation citation. We are moving into an era where persistent identifiers (often known as DOIs) can be assigned to all these properties. We should get used to quoting such DOIs for all aspects of the research processes, not just articles describing the research outcomes. Or to put it more generally, metadata really can help to assign a context to the citation.