Recognizing common knowledge in APA papers

Read the student passage and determine if the student needs to cite the source of the information. If the material does not need citation because it is common knowledge, click on Common knowledge. If the material is not common knowledge and the student should cite the source, click on Needs citation. Click Submit after each question to see feedback and to record your answer. After you have finished every question, your answers will be submitted to your instructor’s gradebook. You may review your answers by returning to the exercise at any time. (An exercise reports to the gradebook only if your instructor has assigned it.)

For help with this exercise, see Avoiding plagiarism.

Example

Question 1 of 10

Question 1. In double-blind trials to test the effectiveness of St. John’s wort as an antidepressant, the plant performed no better than a placebo.

Question 2 of 10

Question 2. In 2012, Ben Bernanke was the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

Question 3 of 10

Question 3. In both 2011 and 2012, the most popular name given to baby girls in the United States was Sophia.

Question 4 of 10

Question 4. Phrenology, the study of bumps on the skull, advanced scientists’ understanding of the ways different parts of the brain function.

Question 5 of 10

Question 5. The sense of smell and the sense of taste are linked.

Question 6 of 10

Question 6. When the Homestead Act took effect, granting 160 acres of western land to any head of a household—male or female—who would live there and improve it for five years, women filed 10% of the claims.

Question 7 of 10

Question 7. Babe Ruth’s record for home runs in a single season was not broken for decades.

Question 8 of 10

Question 8. Many California earthquakes occur along the San Andreas Fault.

Question 9 of 10

Question 9. Studies have shown that unlike elderly Americans, who tend to become more forgetful as they age, elderly people in mainland China have memories as good as those of younger people in their culture.

Question 10 of 10

Question 10. Anorexia and bulimia are disorders affecting more young women than young men.