Plagiarism and Academic Integrity Tutorial

If you are not sure whether something is considered common knowledge, assume that it is not and cite the source. It is much easier to remove a citation than it is to hunt down a citation and try to add it later. Finally, when in doubt, check with your professor.

There is no clear boundary on what is considered common knowledge. The criteria that are most commonly used in deciding whether or not something is common knowledge relate to quantity:

• the fact can be found in numerous places and ubiquity
• it is likely to be known by a lot of people. Ideally both conditions are true.

Whether information can be easily found in a general reference source is another criteria that is sometimes used to determine whether something is common knowledge.