Question

Why would it be important for a reliable source to list the author's name?

so that they can be held accountable for what they say
so others will recognize their scholarship
so that they can get paid for any royalties that might be coming their way
so that they can use their own work if they ever decided to become a college professor

Answer 1

yup so that they can be accountable for what they said.

Answer 2

The first one "so they can be held accountable for what they say"