Avoiding Plagiarism
"Ten Traits of Common Knowledge"
By Julia Johns, SVP of Development
Scholars inadvertently plagiarize when they mistake obscure information learned or memorized during research for common knowledge. To avoid making this mistake, you should familiarize yourself with these ten characteristics of common knowledge:
- Known before research
- Source of knowledge is your brain1
- Your audience is familiar with the fact or concept
- Simple for your audience to verify without citations 2
- Available in a variety of secondary sources3
- Usually mentioned in introductory material on the subject4
- Accepted as fact by most experts 5
- Not cited by admirable authors6
- Not an opinion about a widely known fact7
- Quickly accessible in "any good library"8
If information in your paper fits all of the criteria above, then it is certainly common knowledge. If this is the case, then you do not have to include a citation for it.
If your work contains information that seems to be common knowledge, but it does not have the ten traits listed above, then it might be common knowledge within a particular field of experts. If your audience does not have credentials in your field of research, then it is best to cite the original source where you "first learned" the information.9
Examples of common knowledge: capital cities, simple mathematics, notable dates in history, primary colors, water's chemical composition, major political figures' names and roles, planets' names
Link to Endnotes
http://www.sourceaid.com/newsletter/2005/avoiding.plagiarism/endnotes.rtf
