What rule prevents this usage of commas: "this research, see references [1] and [2], has shown some success"?

Solution 1:

The reason you are looking for is called "comma splice" --

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma_splice

I'm with you. I don't see commas as being appropriate punctuation here. I'd go with either parens or em dashes, as in the following:

"This research--see references [1] and [2]--has shown some success."

The em dashes are more obtrusive, though. My first choice would be parens. I'd hope, too, that your colleagues don't interrupt mid-sentence when it's not necessary. I'd like to recast your example as "This research has shown some success (see references [1] and [2])."