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When in doubt, cite it!
This is a great phrase to remember if you’re wondering what you should or shouldn’t cite in a paper.
It’s far better to cite too much then to not cite enough.
Let’s talk about what must be cited.
Anything that is not your own original information needs to be cited.
This includes opinions, ideas, facts, figures, and statistics.
Basically, anything you didn’t know before starting a paper that you learned while researching it needs to be cited.
Works you use in your paper like images, graphs, and tables that have been created by others need to be cited as well.
This, obviously, means your own opinions, ideas, and works don’t need citations.
Along with this, common knowledge does not have to be cited.
Common knowledge is information that is widely known.
Some very blatant examples would be that Florida has everglades,
that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776,
and that Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
Now, common knowledge can be tricky.
For example, you’re a dietetic student who is taking your first nutrition class and needs to write a paper on a vitamin.
Now your knowledge in this area is very limited, so you will cite most of the information you use.
Two semesters later you’ve taken a lot of nutrition courses and built up a knowledge base of facts
from all the sources you’ve read and used in classes.
Now when you write a research paper, you will not need to cite some of the more well-known information
since you know it before even starting your research.
Your professor who will be reading this paper has this knowledge base as well, because of their extensive education in the field.
This just shows that common knowledge is based on you and your reader’s familiarity with the subject.
Again, it can be tricky to decide if information is common or not, so remember the phrase: When in Doubt, Cite It!
There are other things that do not have to be cited.
These are proverbs, maxims, catch phrases, and familiar quotes.
Like common knowledge, they are well-known to you and your reader and have become part of everyday language.
Continue to the next tutorial to learn about different citation styles.