Using Others' Ideas

Tutor: There are two important points. First, when you use other people’s ideas, you have to show exactly where you got them. You have to refer to them – in other words, to create a reference. The reference is called a citation.
Student: Hmm, what if I am using information that everyone already knows, like for example, “Tokyo is the capital of Japan?"
Tutor: You don’t need a citation in that case. Information that many people know or that appears in many sources is called “common knowledge.”
Student: OK, I get it. So if I do need a citation, exactly how do I include it in my paper?
Tutor: Well first, let’s look at some examples of citations.