When Do I Need a Citation?
Use this interactive decision tree to determine if your statement needs a citation
Unsure whether a term counts as common knowledge? Look it up in WordWell to see how specialized it is before you skip the citation.
1
Is this your own original idea or analysis?
Did you come up with this thought yourself, based on your own thinking and interpretation?
Common Scenarios
📊
Statistics and Data
Always need citations - someone researched those numbers!
🔬
Research Findings
"Studies show..." requires a citation to the actual study
💭
Your Analysis
Your interpretation of evidence doesn't need a citation (but the evidence does!)
🌍
Common Knowledge
Widely known facts (e.g., "Paris is in France") don't need citations