I believe the linked article has some misinformation in it (unless there's some hidden mechanic I've never found on any of my 4 L51 chars...):

From the linked page: " In STO, every accolade you earn gives you a small boost to a particular stat, including DPS, strength, or armor, among others."

Is this true? I thought the only accolades that did stuff were ones that said they added a passive ability or something.