THE NOTE SYSTEM

Referencing with Footnotes (or Endnotes)

Please note: This document is intended as an introductory guide to the use of the Note System. There is more than one
accepted version of the Note System, with the version described here following the conventions of the Australian
Government Printing Service, Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 2002. You can use this guide for footnotes or
endnotes.
Before commencing your assignment, you must check with your course book or topic coordinator for their preferred style.

Referencing is a standard convention within the academic and professional communities designed to inform
readers of the sources of information used in a piece of written work. There are a number of referencing
formats in common use, with certain styles preferred in different academic departments. It is an accepted
and expected academic convention to cite all your references in order to:
• Acknowledge your sources
• Allow the reader to verify the data/information
• Allow the reader to consult your sources independently
• Indicate the depth and breadth of your reading
Most importantly, the reader knows how your thinking and reasoning have been informed by the material
you have read. In other words, the reader knows ‘where you are coming from’. References must be provided
wherever you quote (use exact words), paraphrase (use other people’s ideas expressed in your own words),
summarise (use main points of someone else's opinions, theories or data) or use other people’s data or
figures. Your references may be sources of information such as books, periodicals, websites, newspapers,
government reports, legal cases, electronic recordings (CD, DVD, television) or brochures.

INTRODUCTION
The Note System is a sequential numbering system in which a number is used each time a reference is cited,
in the order in which it appears in the text. There are three components in the footnote/endnote system:
• The in-text numerical identifier to a reference (or to a point that needs further clarification).
• The notes themselves either as footnotes or endnotes.
• The complete list of your references in alphabetical order as a bibliography/reference list.
• As footnotes are more commonly used than endnotes, and the method of use is much the same, this
leaflet will only focus on the use of footnotes.

THE CITATION IN THE TEXT

The way to identify the citation of a reference used in your text is to use a superscripted number 1 or a
number in parentheses (1). The numbers run consecutively, from 1 to 2 to 3, etc. through the whole text. The
numbers are placed as close as possible to the point to which you are drawing attention, generally at the
end of the relevant sentence following any punctuation marks.
EXAMPLE:
Three points are identified in the following passage by means of superscripted numbers. Each of these points needs
a note at the foot of the page or at the end of the text identifying the reference from which it is taken:
These professional groups often worked in tandem with middle-class philanthropists in a concerted effort toward social
reform, initially directed at the working class. However, by the inter-war years, the ideology of the ‘modern’ family had
penetrated across every class.1 As Ward suggests, economic development and societal innovations had far reaching
consequences on family patterns. The Australian birth-rate began to fall during the 1870s and by the turn of the century,
couples were having smaller families.2 As Kociumbas points out, the initial decline coincided with the Compulsory
Education legislation introduced in 1872. The policy was hard on working class families. Children spent longer in school,
were less able to contribute their labour to the family economy and therefore cost more to support.3

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 THE NOTE SYSTEM
Referencing with Footnotes (or Endnotes)

REFERENCING IN FOOTNOTES
Footnotes (sometimes just called ‘notes’) are what they sound like; a series of notes corresponding with the
numbers used in the text, that are placed at the foot of the page. The advantage of footnoting is that the
reader can simply cast their eyes down the page to discover the source of a reference that interests them.
Page numbers are used in footnotes to identify the specific section of the reference. For example, the citation
may indicate the location in the reference of an exact quotation, or a diagram or an idea used to inform
your writing.
EXAMPLE:
During the peak of its prominence in the 1940s, 1 the film noir’s most recognisable tropes consisted of its aesthetic
and narrative elements. Visually, the film noir was known for dark shadows, gritty urban environments, and the
dark trench coats worn by its cynical protagonists.2 The film noir’s narratives were often told through subjective
retrospective narration, 3 and were comprised of stock characters like private eyes and femme fatales.4

1. A Dickos, Street with No Name: A History of the Classic American Film Noir, University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, 2002,
p. 60.
2. J Naremore, More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2008, p. 12.
3. W Luhr, Film Noir, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2012, pp. 1-5.
4. E Bronfen, ‘Gender and Noir’, in HB Pettey & RB Palmer (eds.), Film Noir, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2014, p.
143

Note: You should check with your lecturer whether page numbers are required; they are typically required
for direct quotations.

BOOKS
X Li & NB Crane, Electronic styles: a handbook for citing electronic information, 2nd edn,
BOOK Information Today Inc., Medford, NJ, 1996, p. 245.

PLAY O Wilde, The duchess of Padua, Tiger International Books, 1990, Act III, scene I, pp. 31-36.

REFERENCE BOOK Roget’s thesaurus of English words and phrases, ed. & rev. B Kirkpatrick, Penguin, London, 2004.

BOOK WITH MORE HM Green, A history of Australian literature: pure and applied, vol. 2, Angus & Robertson,
THAN ONE VOLUME Sydney, 1961, p. 1097.
CHAPTER IN EDITED J Holloway, ‘Dickens and the symbol’, in M Slater (ed.), Dickens, Chapman Hall, London, 1970,
BOOK p. 53.
QUOTATION FOUND
P Gould, 1993, in I Hay, D Bochner & C Dungey, Making the grade, Oxford University Press,
IN A SECONDARY Victoria, 2002, p. 116.
SOURCE
GOVERNMENT Department of Education, Science and Technology, Higher education at the crossroads, DEST,
PUBLICATION Canberra, 2002.
COMMISSIONED R Garnaut, The Garnaut review 2011: Australia in the global response to climate change,
REPORT Cambridge University Press, New York, 2011.
PARLIAMENTARY Australia, Parliament, Parliamentary spending: report of the Public Accounts Committee, (L Bent,
PUBLICATION chairperson), Parl. Paper 142, Canberra, 2000.

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 THE NOTE SYSTEM
Referencing with Footnotes (or Endnotes)

PERIODICALS
C Leatherwood, ‘Gender, equity and the discourse of the independent learner in higher
JOURNAL ARTICLE education’, Higher Education, vol. 52, no. 4, 2006, pp. 611-633.
S Volet, ‘Challenges of internationalization’, Proceedings of the Language and Academic Skills in
CONFERENCE PAPER
Higher Education Conference, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 24 – 25 November,
(published proceedings) 2003, pp. 1-10.
A McNeilage, ‘Students may be disadvantaged by starting school at 5 years old’, Sydney
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE Morning Herald, 26 January 2014, p. 32.
NEWSPAPER
(no author or other Melbourne Age, 28 January, 2004, p. 5.
details of article)

ELECTRONIC SOURCES
JOURNAL ARTICLE D Kember, J Biggs, & D Leung, ‘Examining the multidimensionality of approaches to learning
through the development of a revised version of the LPQ’, British Journal of Educational
FROM A FULL-TEXT Psychology, vol. 74, no. 2, pp. 261-279, viewed 4 May 2007,
ONLINE DATABASE <[Link]
K Frantzi, ‘Human rights education: the United Nations endeavour and the importance of
ARTICLE FROM AN
childhood and intelligent sympathy’, International Education Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, viewed 9
ELECTRONIC JOURNAL May 2007, <[Link]
The International Narcotics Control Board’s web site, viewed 12 October 2007,
WEBSITE <[Link]
Attorney-General’s Department, ‘Review of the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901’,
DOCUMENT WITHIN A
Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra, 1998, viewed 5 April 2007,
WEBSITE <[Link]

CD-ROM The art of comedy, CD-ROM, Western Publishing, New York, 2002.

E Scrooge, <scrooge@[Link]>, ‘The life and times of a superstar’, list server, 1 April
LIST SERVER 2004, Dickensian Society of London, viewed 23 September 2007,
<[Link]

EMAIL A Savonarola, email, 24 January 2007, <Savonarola@[Link]>.

MOTION PICTURE Crash, motion picture, Lions Gate, Los Angeles, CA, director P Haggis, 2005.

‘Episode 18026: It was the best of times, it was the best of times’, The Daily Show with Jon
TELEVISION PROGRAM Stewart, television program, Comedy Partners, New York, 15 November 2012.

OTHER SOURCES
IM Smart, ‘The problem of gambling addiction in South Australia’, PhD thesis, Flinders
THESIS University, Adelaide, South Australia, 2002, p. 25.
COURSE GUIDE OR School of Humanities, Flinders University, Professional English course book (ENGL 1001),
HANDBOOK Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 2003, p. 144.

LEGAL CASE The state of New South Wales v. The Commonwealth (1915) 20 CLR 54.

CONFERENCE PAPER M Alright & S Okay, ’The right way to learn’, paper presented at the Academic Skills in Higher
(unpublished) Education Conference, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 24-25 November 2003.

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 THE NOTE SYSTEM
Referencing with Footnotes (or Endnotes)

REPEATED REFERENCES
Once a source has been fully detailed in a footnote or endnote, there is no need to repeat the entire note
in a second or subsequent reference - you just need the minimum information to clearly indicate which text is
being referred to. You may be able to distinguish the second use of a note clearly by an abbreviation, such
as the author's last name and/or a short or abbreviated title, followed by the relevant page number. The
following footnote list contains abbreviated versions of an earlier citation in the same list.
1. S Sullivan, Revealing whiteness: The unconscious habits of racial privilege, Indiana University Press,
Bloomington, Indiana, 2006, p. 87.
2. KL McDougall et al., ‘Phytophthora cinnamomi causing disease in sub-alpine vegetation in New South Wales’,
Australasian Plant Pathology, vol. 32, no. 1, 2003, viewed 13 September 2004,
<[Link]
3. Sullivan, p. 98.
4. G Hage, White nation, Pluto Press, Sydney, 2000, p. 228.
5. A Godzins Gold, ‘Grains of truth: shifting hierarchies of food and grace in three Rajasthani tales’, History of
Religions, vol. 38, no. 2, 1998, p. 170.
6. G Hage, ‘Multiculturalism and white paranoia in Australia’, Journal of International Migration and
Integration, vol. 3, no. 3-4, pp. 417-437.
7. Hage, White nation, p. 222.
8. H Harper, ‘Nomads, pilgrims, tourists: Women teachers in the Canadian north’, Gender and Education, vol.
16, no. 2, 2004, pp. 209-224.
9. D Gillborn, ‘Risk-free racism: Whiteness and so-called ‘free speech’’, Wake Forest Law Review, vol. 44, no. 2,
2009, pp. 535-555.
10. Harper, p. 223.

ABBREVIATIONS FOR REPEATED FOOTNOTES

Another way to shorten second or subsequent references is with Latin abbreviations. Please note, however,
that not all disciplines allow this. You must find out the preference required in your topic.
ibid. Use ibid. when your reference is identical to the previous one.
same as the last entry
op. cit. Use op. cit. when you have already given full details of that source in an earlier note.
as previously cited When using op. cit. you still need to provide information such as the author’s name to
make the source clear. These abbreviations should be in lower case, even when they
appear at the beginning of a note.

EXAMPLE:
1. S Sullivan, Revealing whiteness: The unconscious habits of racial privilege, Indiana University Press, Bloomington,
Indiana, 2006, p. 87.
2. ibid., p. 26.
3. H Harper, ‘Nomads, pilgrims, tourists: Women teachers in the Canadian north’, Gender and Education, vol. 16, no.
2, 2004, pp. 209-224.
4. Sullivan, op. cit., p. 147.

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 THE NOTE SYSTEM
Referencing with Footnotes (or Endnotes)

BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCE LIST
If all sources are acknowledged in the footnotes or endnotes, it may not be necessary to include a
consolidated list at the end of the piece of written work. If, however, a decision is made to include a
bibliography/reference list, there are two things to keep in mind. In the traditional Note System, it was
common to use the term ‘Bibliography’ rather than ‘Reference list’. If your topic requires you to include a
bibliography/reference list, it is placed at the end of the work, before the index or appendices. A
bibliography is organised alphabetically according to the authors' family names, with initials now following
the author’s last name. A bibliography may also contain other sources of information used in constructing
your particular piece of written work, but which may not appear as a citation in the text. You must find out
for each topic the preferred option. Below is an example of a bibliography.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alright, M & Okay, S, ‘The right way to learn’, paper presented at the Academic Skills in Higher Education
Conference, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 24-25 November 2003.
Flinders University School of English, Professional English course book (ENGL 1001), Flinders University, Adelaide,
South Australia, 2003.
Frantzi, K, ‘Human rights education: the United Nations endeavour and the importance of childhood and intelligent
sympathy’, International Education Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, 2003, viewed 9 May 2004, <[Link]
Garbutt, R, ‘The locals: A critical survey of the idea in recent Australian scholarly writing’, Australian Folklore, vol. 21,
2006, pp. 172-192.
Garner, S, Whiteness: An introduction, Routledge, London and New York, 2007.
Kember, D, Biggs, J & Leung, D, ‘Examining the multidimensionality of approaches to learning through the
development of a revised version of the LPQ’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 74, no. 2, pp. 261-279,
viewed 4 May 2004, <[Link]
Kitney, G, ‘PM is up against more than four’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 2003, p. 29.
McDougall, KL, ‘Phytophthora cinnamomi causing disease in sub-alpine vegetation in New South Wales’, Australasian
Plant Pathology, vol. 32, no. 1, 2003, viewed 13 September 2004,
<[Link]
Melbourne Age, 28 January, 2004, p. 5.
Randell-Moon, H, ‘‘Common values’: Whiteness, Christianity, asylum seekers and the Howard Government’, Australian
Critical Race and Whiteness Studies e-Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1-14.
Reid, C, Negotiating racialised identities: Indigenous teacher education in Australia and Canada, Common Ground
Publishing, Victoria, Australia, 2004.
Smart, IM, ‘The problem of gambling addiction in South Australia’, PhD thesis, Flinders University, Adelaide, South
Australia, 2002.
Volet, S, ‘Challenges of internationalization’, Proceedings of the Language and Academic Skills in Higher Education
Conference, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 2003, pp. 1-10.

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