"The standard of justification says what counts as sufficient reason for accepting a conclusion."

A standard of justification is the criterion used to decide whether a conclusion has been adequately supported.

Example:

Suppose a historian claims:

"The reform increased labor mobility."

A reviewer asks:

"Why should I accept that?"

The historian replies:

• contemporary employment records,
• wage data,
• parliamentary debates,
• factory reports,
• consistent chronology.

The discipline has implicit standards for what counts as sufficient support.

Another historian cannot simply say:

"I have a strong intuition."

because intuition alone does not satisfy the discipline's standard of justification.

Different disciplines have different standards.

For example:

• Mathematics requires proof.
• Experimental science requires reproducible empirical evidence.
• History requires persuasive use of sources, contextual analysis, and reasoned inference.