Okay, when you are writing a paper, let's say on something you have no idea of, but it includes facts, dates, names, events, etc., how do you know when you make a citation and when not to?

Let's say a book tells me "such and such happened on this day," should I cite it or not? It is a fact, and it's not something found exclusively in that book. I could have even been there to experience the event myself or have heard about the event from various sources. And you can't site common knowledge (unless you forcibly seach for a resource that conforms to what you had known all along.)

I have always cited only opinions and ideas, not facts. If I were to cite facts my papers would be drowning in numbers and parentheses (especially if it was for history).

I'm trying to rationalize this. But what is the common protocol for knowing when to cite something?

Last edited by mechanesthesia; 04/09/2006 11:51 AM.
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