No he means implicitly. By not providing everything the academic implicitly requests a conversation before providing everything. The request is never stated but is implied by the assumption that there is no other way to acquire everything.
I actually assumed that before. The way you had quoted it was revealing. My comment reeks of nerd-rage now that I re-read it. Damn italics. I should have mentioned that it would be fair to say: The academic wants an explicit request for everything. I can see how it would have been easy to misinterpret his statement in this way. It's true. It's just not what was stated.
If you're reading the paper you're aware of their existence. If you want to know more, you have to ask them, but they never directly (explicit) state this. It's implied and something of a cultural (academic/research culture) unwritten rule.
