Footnotes
Footnotes are the least intrusive way for an author to provide citations or
supplemental information about a topic. In some cases, such as when using
Chicago Style, footnotes are often used instead of in-text citations with a
bibliography at the end of the paper. Footnotes allow an author to guide his or
her reader to additional information or further study, without disrupting the flow of
the sentence.
While the rules regarding footnotes vary according to the citation style used,
there are two distinct purposes for footnotes:
1. To provide necessary information to text in the form of a citation.
2. To provide supplementary information to text, such as clarifying an idea or
expounding on it for further inquiry.
Another great use of footnotes is to define or explain a word or idea that might
require further explanation to a general audience. A definition or explanation can
be provided within the footnote without any visual or logical disruption in the text.
Regardless of their purpose, a footnote is usually added to text as a superscript,
starting at 1, and with a corresponding number at the bottom of the page (known
as the footer) where the citation or additional information is included.
See the example below, which shows the superscript footnote numbers, along
with the footnotes and the way they are formatted on the paper. Keep in mind
that the gray line is the bottom of the paper, so your footnotes will be printed that
close to the end of the page.
An example of superscript footnote numbers.
Style guides and footnotes
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) requires the use of footnotes instead of
in-text citations. Other styles, such as the Modern Language Association (MLA)
and the American Psychological Association (APA) also allow the use of
footnotes. However, while CMS requires footnotes for citations and supplemental
information, APA and MLA suggest footnote use for supplemental information
only.
Modern Language Association's (MLA) rules regarding
footnote use
Below are the rules regarding footnote use in MLA style, taken from the Purdue
Online Writing Lab.
● MLA discourages extensive use of explanatory or digressive notes.
● MLA Style does, however, allow you to use endnotes or footnotes for
bibliographic notes, which refer to other publications your readers may
consult.
Following are some examples:
1. See Blackmur, especially chapters 3 and 4, for an insightful analysis of this
trend.
2. On the problems related to repressed memory recovery, see Wollens
120-35; for a contrasting view, see Pyle 43; Johnson, Hull, Snyder 21-35;
Krieg 78-91.
3. Several other studies point to this same conclusion. See Johnson and Hull
45-79, Kather 23-31, Krieg 50-57.
Or, you can also use endnotes/footnotes for occasional explanatory notes (also
known as content notes), which refers to brief additional information that might be
too digressive for the main text:
● In a 1998 interview, she reiterated this point even more strongly: "I am an
artist, not a politician!" (Weller 124).
MLA style has a few additional rules concerning footnote use:
1. For footnotes placed in dependent clauses, such as this one,1 add the
number after the comma.
2. Footnotes should follow the period at the end of a sentence.2
3. The only exception to a footnote following the punctuation would be this
one3—the dash. When a dash is used as punctuation following a word, the
footnote connected to that word should come before it.
American Psychological Association's (APA) rules regarding
footnote use
APA style discourages the use of footnotes and endnotes, according to the
Purdue Online Writing Lab, as detailed below.
● APA does not recommend the use of footnotes and endnotes because they
are often expensive for publishers to reproduce. However, if explanatory
notes still prove necessary to your document, APA details the use of two
types of footnotes: content and copyright. When using either type of
footnote, insert a number formatted in superscript following almost any
punctuation mark.
● Footnote numbers should not follow dashes ( — ), and if they appear in a
sentence in parentheses, the footnote number should be inserted within
the parentheses.
Also keep in mind, when using the footnote function in a word-processing
program like Microsoft Word®, place all footnotes at the bottom of the page on
which they appear. Footnotes may also appear on the final page of your
document (usually this is after the References page). Center the word
"Footnotes" at the top of the page. Indent five spaces on the first line of each
footnote. Then, follow normal paragraph spacing rules. Double-space throughout:
Chicago Manual of Style rules regarding footnote use
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) uses footnotes as the primary way to cite
sources. While in-text citations can be used, footnotes are most typical for this
style. As with MLA, the footnotes should follow the punctuation unless the
punctuation is a dash. There are more specific rules regarding footnote
placement and numbering for this style that can be found at the Purdue Online
Writing Lab.
Footnote examples for all style guides