example of footnotes in a research paper

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Footnotes & Appendices 

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APA style offers writers footnotes and appendices as spaces where additional, relevant information might be shared within a document; this resource offers a quick overview of format and content concerns for these segments of a document. Should additional clarification be necessary, it is always recommended that writers reach out to the individual overseeing their work (i.e., instructor, editor, etc.). For your convenience, a student sample paper is included below; please note the document is filled with  Lorem Ipsum  placeholder text and references to footnotes and appendices are highighlighted. Additional marginal notes also further explain specific portions of the example. 

Footnotes 

Footnotes are supplementary details printed at the bottom of the page pertaining to a paper’s content or copyright information. This supporting text can be utilized in any type of APA paper to support the body paragraphs.

Content-Based Footnotes

Utilizing footnotes to provide supplementary detail can enrich the body text and reinforce the main argument of the paper. Footnotes may also direct readers to an alternate source for more detail on a topic. Though content footnotes can be useful in providing additional context, it is detrimental to include tangential or convoluted information. Footnotes should detail a focused subject; lengthier sections of text are better suited for the body paragraphs.

Acknowledging Copyright

When citing long quotations, images, tables, data, or commercially published questionnaires in-text, it is important to credit the copyright information in a footnote. Functioning much like an in-text citation, a footnote copyright attribution provides credit to the original source and must also be included in a reference list. A copyright citation is needed for both direct reprinting as well as adaptations of content, and these may require express permission from the copyright owner.

Formatting Footnotes

Each footnote and its corresponding in-text callout should be formatted in numerical order of appearance utilizing superscript. As demonstrated in the example below, the superscripted numerals should follow all punctuation with the exception of dashes and parentheses.

For example: 

Footnote callouts should not be placed in headings and do not require a space between the callout and superscripted number. When reintroducing a footnote that has previously been called out, refrain from replicating the callout or footnote itself; rather, format such reference as “see Footnote 4”, for example. Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the page on which the corresponding callout is referenced. Alternatively, a footnotes page could be created to follow the reference page. When formatting footnotes in the latter manner, center and bold the label “Footnotes” then record each footnote as a double-spaced and indented paragraph. Place the corresponding superscripted number in front of each footnote and separate the numeral from the following text with a single space.

Formatting Copyright Information

To provide credit for images, tables, or figures pulled from an outside source, include the accreditation statement at the end of the note for the visual. Copyright acknowledgements for long quotations or questionnaires should simply be placed in a footnote at the bottom of the page.

When formatting a copyright accreditation, utilize the following format:

• Establish if the content was reprinted or adapted by using language such as “from” for directly copied material or “adapted from” for material that has been modified
• Include the content’s title, author, year of publication, and source
• Cite the copyright holder and year of copyright or indicate that the source is public domain or licensed under Creative Commons
• If express permission was required to reprint the material, include a statement indicating that permission was acquired

Appendices 

When introducing supplementary content that may not fit within the body of a paper, an appendix can be included to help readers better understand the material without distracting from the text itself. Primarily used to introduce research materials, specific details of a study, or participant demographics, appendices are generally concise and only incorporate relevant content. Much like with footnotes, appendices may require an acknowledgement of copyright and, if data is cited, an adherence to the privacy policies that protect participant identities.

Formatting Appendices

An appendix should be created on its own individual page labelled “Appendix” and followed by a title on the next line that describes the subject of the appendix. These headings should be centered and bolded at the top of the page and written in title case. If there are multiple appendices, each should be labelled with a capital letter and referenced in-text by its specific title (for example, “see Appendix B”). All appendices should follow references, footnotes, and any tables or figures included at the end of the document.

Text Appendices 

Appendices should be formatted in traditional paragraph style and may incorporate text, figures, tables, equations, or footnotes. In an appendix, all figures, tables, and other visuals should be labelled with the letter of the corresponding appendix followed by a number indicating the order in which each appears. For example, a table labelled “Table B1” would be the first table in Appendix B. If there is only one appendix in the document, the visuals should still be labelled with the letter A and a number to differentiate them from those contained in the paper itself (for example, “Figure A3” is the third figure in the singular appendix, which is not labelled with a letter in the heading). 

Table or Figure Appendices 

When an appendix solely contains a table or figure, the title of the figure or table should be substituted with the title of the appendix. For example, if Appendix B only includes a figure, the figure should be labelled “Appendix B” rather than “Figure B1”, as it would be named if there were multiple figures included.

If an appendix does not contain text but includes numerous figures or table, the appendix should be formatted like a text appendix. The appendix would receive a name and label, and each figure or table would be given a corresponding letter and number. For example, if Appendix C contains two tables and one figure, these visuals would be labelled “Table C1”, “Table C2”, and “Figure C1” respectively.

Sample Paper    

Media File: APA 7 - Student Sample Paper (Footnotes & Appendices)

How to Use Footnotes in Research Papers

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• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

A footnote is a reference, explanation, or comment 1 placed below the main text on a printed page. Footnotes are identified in the text by a numeral  or a  symbol .  

In research papers and reports , footnotes commonly acknowledge the sources of facts and quotations that appear in the text.

" Footnotes are the mark of a scholar," says Bryan A. Garner. "Overabundant, overflowing footnotes are the mark of an insecure scholar — often one who gets lost in the byways of analysis and who wants to show off" ( Garner's Modern American Usage , 2009).

Examples and Observations

• " Footnotes: vices . In a work containing many long footnotes, it may be difficult to fit them onto the pages they pertain to, especially in an illustrated work."
• " Content footnotes  supplement or simplify substantive information in the text; they should not include complicated, irrelevant, or nonessential information..." " Copyright permission footnotes  acknowledge the source of lengthy quotations, scale and test items, and figures and tables that have been reprinted or adapted."
• Content Footnotes "What, after all, is a content footnote but material that one is either too lazy to integrate into the text or too reverent to discard? Reading a piece of prose that constantly dissolves into extended footnotes is profoundly disheartening. Hence my rule of thumb for footnotes is exactly the same as that for  parentheses . One should regard them as symbols of failure. I hardly need to add that in this vale of tears failure is sometimes unavoidable."
• Footnote Forms All notes have the same general form: 1. Adrian Johns. The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 623. If you cite the same text again, you can shorten subsequent notes: 5. Johns. Nature of the Book , 384-85.
• The Disadvantages of Footnotes "More than one recent critic has pointed out that footnotes interrupt a narrative . References detract from the illusion of veracity and immediacy . . . . (Noel Coward made the same point more memorably when he remarked that having to read a footnote resembles having to go downstairs to answer the door while in the midst of making love.)"
• Belloc on Footnotes "[L]et a man put his foot-notes in very small print indeed at the end of a volume, and, if necessary, let him give specimens rather than a complete list. For instance, let a man who writes history as it should be written — with all the physical details in evidence, the weather, the dress, colors, everything — write on for the pleasure of his reader and not for his critic. But let him take sections here and there, and in an appendix show the critic how it is being done. Let him keep his notes and challenge criticism. I think he will be secure. He will not be secure from the anger of those who cannot write clearly, let alone vividly, and who have never in their lives been able to resurrect the past, but he will be secure from their destructive effect."
• The Lighter Side of Footnotes "A footnote is like running downstairs to answer the doorbell on your wedding night."

1 "The footnote has figured prominently in the fictions of such leading contemporary novelists as Nicholson Baker 2 , David Foster Wallace 3 , and Dave Eggers. These writers have largely revived the digressive function of the footnote." (L. Douglas and A. George, Sense and Nonsensibility: Lampoons of Learning and Literature . Simon and Schuster, 2004)

2 "[T]he great scholarly or anecdotal footnotes of Lecky, Gibbon, or Boswell, written by the author of the book himself to supplement, or even correct over several later editions, what he says in the primary text, are reassurances that the pursuit of truth doesn't have clear outer boundaries: it doesn't end with the book; restatement and self-disagreement and the enveloping sea of referenced authorities all continue. Footnotes are the finer-suckered surfaces that allow tentacular paragraphs to hold fast to the wider reality of the library." (Nicholson Baker, The Mezzanine . Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1988)

3 "One of the odd pleasures in reading the work of the late David Foster Wallace is the opportunity to escape from the main text to explore epic footnotes , always rendered at the bottoms of pages in thickets of tiny type." (Roy Peter Clark, The Glamour of Grammar . Little, Brown, 2010)

• Hilaire Belloc,  On , 1923
• Chicago Manual of Style , University of Chicago Press, 2003
• Anthony Grafton,  The Footnote: A Curious History . Harvard University Press, 1999.
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 6th ed., 2010.
• Paul Robinson, "The Philosophy of Punctuation."  Opera, Sex, and Other Vital Matters . University of Chicago Press, 2002.
• Kate Turabian,  A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations , 7th ed. University of Chicago Press, 2007 .
• What Are Endnotes, Why Are They Needed, and How Are They Used?
• Formatting Papers in Chicago Style
• Turabian Style Guide With Examples
• What Is a Style Guide and Which One Do You Need?
• Top 10 Reference Works for Writers and Editors
• Definition of Appendix in a Book or Written Work
• Documentation in Reports and Research Papers
• What Is a Citation?
• Margin (Composition Format) Definition
• Justification (Typesetting and Composition)
• What Is a Senior Thesis?
• 140 Key Copyediting Terms and What They Mean
• What are Ellipsis Points?
• Definition and Examples of Title Case and Headline Style
• Examples of Epigraphs in English
• How to Write a Research Paper That Earns an A

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• Chicago Style Footnotes | Citation Format & Examples

Chicago Style Footnotes | Citation Format & Examples

Published on September 18, 2019 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on April 9, 2024.

The notes and bibliography style is one of two citation options provided by the Chicago Manual of Style . Each time a source is quoted or paraphrased , a superscript number is placed in the text, which corresponds to a footnote or endnote containing details of the source .

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page, while endnotes appear on a separate page at the end of the text.

Pay attention to the punctuation (e.g., commas , quotation marks ) in your footnotes.

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Table of contents

Full notes and short notes, placement of footnotes, content of chicago footnotes, footnote examples for different source types, footnotes vs endnotes, frequently asked questions about chicago style footnotes.

There are two types of footnote in Chicago style: full notes and short notes.

Full notes contain the full publication details of the source. The first citation of each source should be a full note.

Full note example

1. Virginia Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” in Selected Essays , ed. David Bradshaw (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 11.

Short notes contain only the author’s last name, the title (shortened if longer than four words), and the page number (if relevant). They are used for all subsequent citations of the same source. It’s also acceptable to use “ ibid. ” instead to refer to the immediately preceding source.

Short note example

2. Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” 11.

The guidelines for use of short and full notes can vary across different fields and institutions. Sometimes you might be required to use a full note for every citation, or to use a short note every time as long as all sources appear in the Chicago style bibliography . Check with your instructor if you’re unsure.

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Footnotes should be used whenever a source is quoted or paraphrased in the text. They appear at the bottom of the relevant page, corresponding to reference numbers in the text. You can easily insert footnotes in Microsoft Word .

The reference number appears in superscript at the end of the clause or sentence it refers to. It is placed after any punctuation except a dash :

Johnson argues that “the data is unconvincing.” 1

Johnson argues that “the data is unconvincing” 1 —but Smith contends that …

Notes should be numbered consecutively, starting from 1, across the whole text. Your first citation is marked with a 1, your second with a 2, and so on. The numbering does not restart with a new page or section (although in a book-length text it may restart with each new chapter).

The footnote contains the number of the citation followed by a period and then the citation itself. The citation always includes the author’s name and the title of the text, and it always ends with a period. Full notes also include all the relevant publication information in parentheses (which varies by source type ).

If you quote a source or refer to a specific passage, include a page number or range. However, if the source doesn’t have page numbers, or if you’re referring to the text as a whole, you can omit the page number.

In short notes, titles of more than four words are shortened. Shorten them in a way that retains the keyword(s) so that the text is still easily recognizable for the reader:

1. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus , ed. M.K. Joseph (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 91. 2. Shelley, Frankenstein , 91.

Combining multiple citations

Do not place multiple footnotes at the same point in your text (e.g. 1, 2, 3 ). If you need to cite multiple sources in one sentence, you can combine the citations into one footnote, separated by semicolons :

1. Hulme, “Romanticism and Classicism”; Eliot, The Waste Land ; Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” 11.

Sources with multiple authors

Footnotes for sources with two or three authors should include all the authors’ names. When there are four or more authors, add “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) after the first author’s name.

Missing information

You sometimes won’t have all the information required for your citation. You might be missing page numbers, the author’s name, or the publication date.

If one of your sources (e.g., a website ) has no page numbers, but you still think it’s important to cite a specific part of the text, other locators like headings , chapters or paragraphs can be used. Abbreviate words like “paragraph” to “par.” and “chapter” to “chap.”, and put headings in quotation marks :

1. Johnson, “Literature Review,” chap. 2.1 . 2. Smith, “Thematic Analysis,” under “Methodology.”

If the source lacks a stated publication date, the abbreviation “n.d.” (no date) should replace the year in a full note:

1. Smith, Data Analysis (New York: Norton, n.d. ), 293.

If a text doesn’t list its author’s name, the organization that published it can be treated as the author in your citation:

1. Scribbr , “Chicago Style Citation.”

If you use a website name as an author, you may end up repeating the same information twice in one citation. Omit the website name from its usual place if you’ve already listed it in place of the author.

Short notes usually look similar regardless of source type—author, title, page number. However, the information included in full notes varies according to the source you’re citing. Below are examples for several common source types, showing how the footnote should look in Chicago format .

Chicago book citation

Italicize the book title. If the book states an edition (other than the first), include this and abbreviate it (e.g., 2nd ed., rev. ed.). Add the URL if you consulted the book online instead of in a physical copy.

Chicago book chapter citation

Sometimes you’ll cite from one chapter in a book containing texts by multiple authors—for example, a compilation of essays. In this case, you’ll want to cite the relevant chapter rather than the whole book.

The chapter title should be enclosed in quotation marks , while the book title should be italicized. The short note only contains the chapter title.

The author is the one who wrote the specific chapter you’re citing. The editor of the whole book is listed toward the end of the footnote (with the abbreviation “ed.”), and left out of the short note.

Chicago journal article citation

The article title should be enclosed in quotation marks, while the journal name should be italicized. Volume and issue numbers identify which edition of the journal the source appears in.

A DOI is a digital object identifier. This is generally more reliable than the URL when linking to online journal content.

Chicago website citation

The page title should be enclosed in quotation marks. Italicization is not used for website names.

If the publication date is unknown, you can instead list the date when you accessed the page at the end of the citation (e.g., accessed on September 10, 2019).

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All of the above information also applies to endnotes. Endnotes are less commonly used than footnotes, but they’re a perfectly valid option.

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page they refer to.

• Footnotes allow the reader to immediately check your citations as they read …
• … but if you have a lot of footnotes, they can be distracting and take up space on the page.

Endnotes appear in their own section at the end of the text, before the bibliography.

• Endnotes take up less space in the body of your text and reduce distraction …
• … but they are less accessible, as the reader has to flip to the end to check each note.

Endnote citations look exactly the same as those in footnotes. Unless you’ve been told which one to use, choose whichever you prefer. Just use one or the other consistently.

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the relevant page.  Endnotes appear in a list at the end of the text, just before the reference list or bibliography. Don’t mix footnotes and endnotes in the same document: choose one or the other and use them consistently.

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , you can use either footnotes or endnotes, and citations follow the same format in either case.

In APA and MLA style , footnotes or endnotes are not used for citations, but they can be used to provide additional information.

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , the usual standard is to use a full note for the first citation of each source, and short notes for any subsequent citations of the same source.

However, your institution’s guidelines may differ from the standard rule. In some fields, you’re required to use a full note every time, whereas in some other fields you can use short notes every time, as long as all sources are listed in your bibliography . If you’re not sure, check with your instructor.

In Chicago author-date style , your text must include a reference list . It appears at the end of your paper and gives full details of every source you cited.

In notes and bibliography style, you use Chicago style footnotes to cite sources; a bibliography is optional but recommended. If you don’t include one, be sure to use a full note for the first citation of each source.

Page numbers should be included in your Chicago in-text citations when:

• You’re quoting from the text.
• You’re paraphrasing a particular passage.
• You’re referring to information from a specific section.

When you’re referring to the overall argument or general content of a source, it’s unnecessary to include page numbers.

In a Chicago style footnote , list up to three authors. If there are more than three, name only the first author, followed by “ et al. “

In the bibliography , list up to 10 authors. If there are more than 10, list the first seven followed by “et al.”

The same rules apply in Chicago author-date style .

To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .

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Caulfield, J. (2024, April 09). Chicago Style Footnotes | Citation Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 12, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/footnotes/

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What are Footnotes and How to Use Them for Research?

The research process is inherently collaborative, involving the analysis of the collective body of knowledge developed over time. It is academically and ethically vital to acknowledge others’ contributions. Footnotes serve as subtle markers of acknowledgment while also providing supplementary details to enhance the reader’s understanding and engagement with your work. 

Table of Contents

What are footnotes?   

During your research, you’ll encounter inconspicuous superscript numbers at the end of some sentences, which link to corresponding notes at the page’s bottom or ‘foot.’ These notes serve as references to cited works and offer supplementary information to aid the reader’s understanding.  

It’s important to note that not all references and supplementary notes are at the bottom of the page; some are placed at the end of the research paper as “endnotes.” This doesn’t lessen their significance; they still offer valuable context and insights. 

Footnotes vs Endnotes  

Footnotes and endnotes fulfill the same fundamental purpose in scholarly writing. However, the choice between them often reflects an author’s personal preference or aligns with specific style guidelines. Footnotes are frequently utilized for immediate comments or explanations related to the main text. On the other hand, endnotes are commonly reserved for citations of the works referenced within the text.  

Let’s examine footnotes and endnotes more closely to understand the distinctions between these two citation methods: 

Footnotes are highly effective due to their ease of access and their ability to direct readers to relevant citations or supplementary ideas swiftly. This approach increases the likelihood that readers will engage with the citation or additional information. However, the limited space at the bottom of the page necessitates caution. Overloading it with excessive other text can be overwhelming and potentially distracting for readers.  

Endnotes, in contrast, offer the advantage of being located at the end of a paper within a designated section, giving authors the freedom to incorporate supplementary information liberally without the need to use up the limited space on a page. However, endnotes are often overlooked by readers. This oversight can be attributed to a mental justification that if information is not included in the main text, it may not hold significant value.¹²

Footnote Citation Styles  

Incorporating footnotes into your research paper is crucial, but it’s equally important to grasp the specific footnote citation style required by your target journal or publication. The format and style of footnote citations can differ significantly based on the citation style guide in use. Below, you’ll find illustrative examples of how to use footnotes in essays according to the central style guides:¹

Chicago Style  

The Chicago Style uses footnotes to provide full source details in the form of numbered notes at the bottom of each page. A corresponding bibliography is provided at the end of the research essay or document. Here is an example: 

“The Apollo program was designed by men, for men. If we do not acknowledge the gender bias of the early space program, it becomes difficult to move past it.” ¹ 

1.1 Mary Robinette Kowal, To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias (New York Times, 17 July 1969). 

In this example, the superscript “1” in the text corresponds to the first footnote, which provides complete source information for an article by Mary Robinette Kowal in The New York Times. 

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style

The MLA Style does not typically use footnotes for citations. Instead, it relies on in-text citations with an author-page number format. However, the footnotes might be utilized for explanatory or supplementary information. Example: 

“The protagonist’s transformation throughout the novel is central to its theme and character development.” 1 

1 This analysis draws on the ideas of literary critic John Smith regarding character evolution in narrative fiction. 

In this example, the superscript “1” in the main text points to a footnote that offers additional context and acknowledges the source, i.e., John Smith’s ideas. 

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

APA Style typically uses in-text citations rather than footnotes. However, you may use footnotes for clarifications or additional information, not for standard source citations. Here is an example: 

“The study’s results revealed a statistically significant correlation between the two variables^1^.” 

^1^ Note that the p-value was set at 0.05 as the threshold for statistical significance. 

In the example, the superscript “^1^” in the main text indicates a footnote, which is used to provide a brief explanation. 

How to add Footnotes in Microsoft Word and Google Docs?  

So, how do you make footnotes? Adding footnotes in both Microsoft Word and Google Docs is a straightforward process. Step-by-step instructions are provided below for adding footnotes in both applications: 

Microsoft Word  

• Position your cursor where you want to insert a footnote in the document. 
• Navigate to the “References” tab and click on the “Insert Footnote” button. 
• A small superscript number (typically “1”) will appear where you positioned the cursor, and a corresponding footnote area will appear at the bottom of the page. Enter your footnote content in this designated area. 
• To insert additional footnotes, repeat the same steps. Microsoft Word will automatically manage the numbering of footnotes. (4) 

Google Docs  

• Place the cursor at the location where you wish to insert a footnote. 
• In the menu bar, click on “Insert” and select “Footnote.” 
• A superscript number (usually “1”) will appear where you placed your cursor, and a footnote section will be created at the bottom of the page. Type your footnote content in this section. 
• Add more footnotes using the same steps. Google Docs will handle the footnotes numbering. (5) 

References:  

• Footnotes and Endnotes  – Khalifa University 
• Footnotes and Endnotes  – University of Bristol 
• Footnote Referencing Styles  – Bibliography.com 
• Add footnotes and endnotes  – Microsoft Support 
• Use headers, footers, page numbers, & footnotes – Google Docs Editors Help 

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / How to do APA footnotes

How to do APA footnotes

Footnotes are a way for the author to provide additional content to their papers without distracting the reader from the text. The information in footnotes is different from the information provided in APA annotated bibliographies . Footnotes can be content based, providing a little more insight on an idea you raise in the text, or they can be used to provide copyright attribution for long quotes and passages.

Properly formatted APA footnotes can be placed at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, you can put them on their own page after the references. This guide on footnotes, end notes, and parentheticals provides information about the differences between these different types of notes. Either way, it’s important to know how to use footnotes properly.

In this guide, students can learn about the different uses for footnotes as well as how to format footnotes according to APA Style. All of the information here comes straight from the 7th edition of the Publication Manual .

Why use footnotes? What information goes into them?

There are two primary reasons why an author would use footnotes:

1. Using a footnote for content

As mentioned above, there are a few different ways to use footnotes. The more common way is when an author wants to provide extra insight on an idea without disrupting the flow of the text. This is called a content footnote.

In this case, you would write a a couple sentences about the extra insight. For example:

______________________

1 This data refers to the situation in 2010, and it includes emissions from industrial processes. Emissions from the latter are released during the physical and chemical transformation of materials like clinker production. Since these industrial production processes are also consumers of energy, here we made the choice to combine them with CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

2. Using a footnote for copyright attribution

When you are reproducing a portion of a copyrighted work, like an extended passage from a book or journal, it is necessary to provide copyright attribution. This can be done inside a footnote. The footnote is used instead of a parenthetical in-text citation, and you will still need to add the source as an entry in the reference list.

If it is an image or graph you are reproducing, copyright attribution can go in the figure note or table note.

A copyright footnote should start with “ From ” or “ Adapted from ” and the format will change slightly depending on the source.

Here is a template for copyright attribution for a website followed by two examples:

1 From  Webpage title , by Group Author OR Author FirstMiddleName Initials. Author Surname. Year Published, Website Name (URL).

*Note: If the Group Author and Website Name are the same, omit the Website Name slot.

2 From  First images from the James Webb Space Telescope , by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2022 (https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages).

3 From  Question of what now for Syria remains as vexed as ever , by M. Chulov. 2022, The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/19/question-of-what-now-for-syria-remains-as-vexed-as-ever).

Endnotes vs. footnotes: What’s the difference?

According to APA Style, the author may choose to place the footnotes on the bottom of the page on which the callout appears or at the end of the paper on their own page(s).

“Endnotes” is a function on many word processors that inserts callouts and place the notes at the end of the document. While this is the same idea as footnotes, APA calls for a specially-formatted footnotes page.

To place the footnotes at the end of your document, check the preferences of the footnote function. You should be able to select “End of Document” instead of “End of Page.”

How to format APA footnotes

Always use the footnotes function of your word processor to insert footnotes. This will make it much easier to keep track of everything even as page content changes.

How to format footnotes correctly:

• Always use the footnotes function.
• The callout should be in superscript, like this. 1
• The callout should come after the punctuation, like this. 2
• If there’s a dash 3 —the callout comes before the punctuation, not after.
• All callouts should appear in numerical order, like this. 4

APA footnotes example

Now let’s have a look at what properly formatted APA footnotes look like in action.

Here is an example of a concise, relevant, and properly formatted footnote from “The role of renewable energy in the global economy transformation,” published in Energy Strategy Reviews.

. . . A transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon solutions will play an essential role, as energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions represent two-thirds of all greenhouse gases (GHG). 1

In this example, the footnotes function automatically created a dividing line at the bottom of the document. It has also reduced the font size by 1pt, which is neither required nor discouraged by APA.

The reason this is a good example, however, is because the footnote provides supplemental information that is both relevant and substantive.  The information would have been too distracting to appear in the main text, but it provides helpful insight on the author’s research method.

Published October 28, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

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You can include more than one footnote on the same page in APA style. There is no restriction on the number of footnotes to be included on a page. Depending upon the number of footnotes on the page, the text area of the page will be automatically adjusted to fit the footnotes.

Footnotes in APA are used to provide the reader some additional information about the idea or the element being discussed. Footnotes are used in all types of publications such as journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers.

Two types of footnotes are used in APA style: content footnotes and copyright attribution footnotes. A content footnote provides additional explanation or information about something mentioned in the text, while a copyright attribution footnote provides copyright information for lengthy content that has been reprinted in the text. For both types, the in-text citation remains the same. Remember the following guidelines when you want to cite a footnote:

• Footnotes (whether content footnotes or copyright attribution footnotes) are numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text.
• Use superscript Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) to designate a footnote callout.
• This is a footnote. 1
• In this footnote, 2 the author tries to clarify the idea.
• A footnote callout—unlike in-text reference citation 3 —is simple to add.
• You should not add space before the footnote callout.
• If you want to refer to the same footnote again in the text, do not add any superscript Arabic numeral. Instead, write “see Footnote 3.” In this case, the footnote description need not be given again.

Note that a footnote should have only one idea. If you want to add more information, it is advisable to add the content in the text or create an appendix.

APA Citation Examples

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