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Common
knowledge doesn't need to be cited. It represents the kind of general
information a person is expected to know or could easily look up in
an authoritative source or reference work. Common knowledge is . . .
| COMMON
KNOWLEDGE |
EXAMPLE |
| Common
proverbs, quotes or sayings |
"The
early bird catches the worm" |
| Widely
reported and generally accepted facts within a given group of
people |
"Smoking
is dangerous to your health" |
| Easily
observable information |
Certain
trees lose their leaves in the fall |
While a fact or
two may be used, you cannot summarize or paraphrase long passages
from any source without citation. Also, if a source includes its
own statement or wording along with common knowledge, be sure
to cite the source and place quotations around the full statement
including any ideas that are common knowledge.
YOUR
PERSONAL BELIEFS or POINT OF VIEW are not common knowledge
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