[OT] A note on citations

[Guest guest]

To clear up a recent bit of confusion, here's a crash course

on citations.

Common knowledge: Information which is commonly known by

educated individuals within the field or can be easily

looked up by educated individuals outside the field.

Historical facts: Undisputed historical facts are considered

common knowledge ( " X was built in 1932. " ). Historical

assessments ( " X was the greatest Y of its time. " ) require

citation.

Geographic data: General data are common knowledge, as they

can be corroborated from many sources ( " X is the largest

city in Y. " ). Specific data should be cited ( " The population

of X is 1,999,203. " ).

Thus, if a fact is objectively known and either present in

the appropriate references of a field or expected knowledge

of those in the field, it does not need citation.

Apropos of the discussion which brought this up, " China and

India are the largest exporters of tea in the world, " is

common knowledge, but " In 1999, China exported X tons of

tea, " is not. Similarly, " China does not fluoridate its

municipal water supply, " is common knowledge, but " Most U.S.

cities use between X and Y ppm of sodium fluoride in their

water, " is not.