Common knowledge is a sometimes difficult concept that can be interpreted in different ways. Your history teacher may tell you that a piece of information that can be found in four or more sources is common knowledge and needs no citation, while your science teacher may want nearly everything cited, including facts that are known by many people. The facts below are likely to be considered common knowledge by your teacher:
In order to avoid any mistakes or confusion, be sure to ask your teacher about the definition of common knowledge for that class.
Some teachers will expand the idea of common knowledge to include information or ideas that are discussed in class. This can make the attribution/citation process even more confusing as there will be a good bit of variation from teacher to teacher. Use the following guidelines to avoid possible plagiarism:
Once again, be sure to ask your teacher for clarification so you don't make any mistakes.
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