A typographic proposal: replace cumbersome inline citation formats like ’Foo et al. (201014ya)’ with subscripted dates/sources like ‘et al2020’. Intuitive, easily implemented, consistent, compact, and can be used for evidentials in general.
I propose reviving an old General Semantics notation: borrow from scientific writing and use subscripts like ’Gwern2020’ for denoting sources (like citation, timing, or medium).
Using subscript indices is flexible, compact, universally technically supported, and intuitive. This convention can go beyond formal academic citation and be extended further to ‘evidentials’ in general, indicating the source & date of statements.
While (currently) unusual, subscripting might be a useful trick for clearer writing, compared to omitting such information or using standard cumbersome circumlocutions.