Common knowledge refers to information that is widely known and accepted by the average, educated person without needing to be looked up or cited. It includes facts that most people know, information shared by cultural or national groups, or knowledge common within specific academic or professional fields. For example, facts like "water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit" or "Paris is the capital of France" are generally considered common knowledge
. Characteristics of common knowledge:
- It is information that an average educated reader would accept as reliable without needing a source citation
- It can vary depending on the audience, culture, or field of expertise; what is common knowledge in one group may not be in another
- It includes well-known facts, historical dates, and foundational theories in a field
- It does not include specific data, statistics, or interpretations that require citation
- Common knowledge is often stable but can change over time as new facts become accepted or old beliefs are disproved
- In academic writing, if in doubt about whether something is common knowledge, it is safer to cite the source
In social contexts, common knowledge also refers to information that everyone in a group knows and knows that everyone else knows, enabling coordination and communication
. In summary, common knowledge is broadly defined as information widely known and accepted without needing citation, but it depends on the audience and context, and it excludes specialized data or disputed claims
