Write Footnotes

There are two types of footnotes: comments and citations. Comments allow you to make notes on your writing, such as a short explanation or an aside about how you came by certain facts. Citations provide your readers with sources. They’re especially important for academic writing because they show that you did proper research and didn’t plagiarize someone else's work. With word processing software and knowledge of your assigned citation style (MLA, APA, or Chicago Manual), you’ll soon be creating footnotes like a pro.

Steps

Using Word Processing Software

1. Place the cursor after the punctuation. Specifically, the superscript for your footnote should go right after the material you’re citing—not necessarily at the end of a sentence. In most cases, the material ends with a period. However, it could also be after a comma, colon, or semi-colon if the cited material doesn’t extend beyond that punctuation. For example:
   • Doe argues that Jack did not, in fact, jump over the candlestick.
     • Position the cursor after the period.
   • Smith describes the Big Bad Wolf as a metaphor for children’s fears, while Jones frames him as a metaphor for punishment.
     • Position the cursor after the comma first. After you’ve entered that footnote, place the cursor after the period and repeat the process.
   • Dumpty argues that Little Boy Blue should have been fired for falling asleep on the job, but this paper argues otherwise.
     • Place a footnote only after the comma to cite Dumpty. Don’t place a footnote after the period.
2. Find the menu that allows you to insert or add footnotes. You can often find a footnotes feature under the "Insert" or "Reference" menu. Look for the word “Footnotes” in the drop-down list or under the tab you selected.
3. Create the footnote. Choose the number your footnote will start with. Decide how the footnote will look. Then, type the footnote. This will place a superscript number in your main text and take you to the bottom of the page, where you will type the footnote next to the corresponding number.
4. Type the footnote in the correct style. Your professor or editor may have specified a style for you to use. Otherwise, choose the style most often used by writers in your field.
   • MLA (Modern Language Association) style: humanities disciplines like literature and languages.
   • APA (American Psychological Association) style: social sciences like anthropology, psychology, and sociology.
   • Chicago Manual/Turabian: humanities (especially history and art history) and social sciences.
   • AMA (American Medical Association) style: science or medicine.
5. Return to the main text and continue writing. Double-click the number before the citation to return to where you left off in the main text. Your word processor will automatically calculate how much room you need at the bottom of the page for footnotes.
   • If you add or delete footnotes, the word processor will automatically renumber your remaining footnotes and make the necessary adjustments. It will also move footnotes to other pages, if necessary.
6. Delete footnotes, if applicable. Simply delete the superscript number in the main text of the document. This will automatically delete the footnote and renumber the remaining footnotes. Don't try to delete the footnote itself.

Formatting MLA Footnotes

1. Follow the MLA handbook. The MLA Handbook allows for bibliographic notes and content notes. Double-space both kinds. Indent each note five spaces. Make the font size Times New Roman 12-point.
2. Use parenthetical citations. Do this for citing sources in the text. After you finish your sentence, but before you place any punctuation, type the last name(s) of the author(s) and the page number(s) you are citing. For example:
   • Jacques-Louis David’s painting The Oath of the Horatii may be analyzed as a binary opposition between masculinity and femininity (Nochlin 4).
3. Format titles correctly. Capitalize each important word in a title. Italicize the titles of books, journals, magazines/newspapers, movies, music albums, works of art, and websites. Place the titles of articles, essays, chapters, songs, and TV shows in quotation marks.
4. Type a bibliographic note. Refer to a source on your Works Cited page. Most of the time, you’ll refer to more than one source. Include each author’s last name and page number. For example:
   • 1. Several scholars have referred to the influence of color theory on Seurat’s painting. See Kleiner 664 and Herbert 144-145.
5. Create a content note. Use this kind of note to discuss material that doesn’t directly relate to your main text. Include information that reiterates or clarifies your argument. For example:
   • 1. Popular culture has played a powerful role in the promotion of marriage, motherhood, and housewifery for women. See Friedan 33-41, 58-62 and Faludi 87-238.

Formatting APA Footnotes

1. Follow the APA handbook. APA discourages the use of footnotes. They’re only allowed when you need to clarify content or demonstrate copyright permissions. Double-space all notes and format them in Times New Roman 12-point font.
2. Use parenthetical citations. Do this for all cited material in your main text. Include the author’s last name, the source’s publication date, and the page(s) you’re citing in parentheses. Place the information before the punctuation. For example:
   • The symbolism in dreams arguably extends to jokes and folklore (Freud, 1952, p.111).
3. Format titles correctly. Capitalize only the first letter of a title and subtitle. Italicize the titles of books, journals, magazines/newspapers, movies, music albums, works of art, and websites. Place the titles of articles, essays, chapters, songs, and TV shows in quotation marks.
   • For example, a book title looks like this: And keep your powder dry: An anthropologist looks at America.
4. Create a content note. Use content notes to elaborate one small piece of information that would make your main text seem awkward. Make your note as short as possible, preferably no more than a paragraph. If you mention the name of one or more authors, include the publication date of their work(s) that discuses the information in your note. For example:
   • 1. Freud (1952) links the symbolism found in dreams to jokes and folklore.
5. Type a copyright note. Use this to demonstrate that you have the author’s permission to use their material. You only need to do this if your quoted or paraphrased material is more than 500 words, if you’re reproducing a visual aid, or if you think it violates the Fair Use clause of U.S. copyright law. Begin the entry with the word “Note.” For example:
   • Note: From “Title of article,” by J. Doe and J. Smith, 2017, Title of Journal, 20, pp. 30-35. Copyright 2009 by Name of Copyright Holder. Reprinted with permission.

Formatting Chicago Manual Footnotes

1. Follow the Chicago Manual of Style. The Chicago Manual of Style uses the author-date (social sciences) and the notes-and-bibliography (NB) systems (humanities). Author-date uses commentary footnotes—very sparingly. NB makes extensive use of discursive and bibliographic footnotes.
2. Format titles correctly. Capitalize all important words in the title. Italicize the titles of books, journals, magazines/newspapers, movies, music albums, and works of art. Place the titles of articles, essays, chapters, songs, and TV shows in quotation marks.
3. Format footnotes correctly. Whether you’re using NB or author-date, you should single-space your footnotes. Do not make your font size smaller than 10-point or larger than 12-point. Use a default typeface like Times New Roman or Arial.
4. Type a discursive footnote. Discursive notes add information or commentary that isn’t immediately relevant to your main text. You can create them as stand-alone notes or after a citation in the NB format. (Check with your professor or editor for their preference.) For example:
   • 1. In this book, I put words like “masculinity” and “femininity” in quotation marks because they are defined by cultural, as opposed to biological, parameters.
   • 2. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Vintage, 1977), 196. The Panopticon system trains individuals to conform to rules or norms under the condition that they never know when they are being watched.
5. Cite a book with one author. Type the first name first and the last name second. Follow them with a comma. Enter the title of the book. Follow it with an open parenthesis. Enter the location of the publisher, followed by a colon. Type the name of the publisher, followed by a comma. Enter the most recent publication date on the copyright page. Enter a closed parenthesis. Enter a colon, followed by the page number(s) you’re citing. For example:
   • 1. Pat Shipman, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015).
     • This footnote cites the entire book.
   • 2. Pat Shipman, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015): 150.
     • This footnote cites one page in the book.
   • 3. Pat Shipman, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015): 15, 20.
     • This footnote cites two separate pages.
   • 4. Pat Shipman, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015): 178-180.
     • This footnote cites information on three pages in a row.
6. Shorten subsequent footnotes. After the first footnote, you can shorten all future citations for that source. Enter the last name(s) of the author(s), followed by a comma. Type the main title of the book, followed by another comma. Enter the page(s) you’re citing. If you’re citing the entire book, enter a period after the title. For example:
   • 1. Shipman, The Invaders, 15-20.
   • 2. Shipman, The Invaders.
7. Use “Ibid” for consecutive citations. When you refer to a source two or more times in a row, use the abbreviation “Ibid.” (a Latin abbreviation of ibidem, which means “in the same place”). Follow the abbreviation with a comma and the page number. Don’t use this abbreviation when citing two different sources in a row. For example:
   • 1. Shipman, The Invaders, 15-20.
   • 2. Ibid., 35.
   • The second note shows that you’re citing The Invaders again, but you’re citing different pages.
8. Type the full names of two or three authors. Follow the same rules for formatting a book by one author. Include the first and last name(s) of the other author(s) in the same manner as you did with the first author. List the names in the same order as they appear on the title page.
   • 1. Jane Smith, John Doe, and Emily Jones, Random Title (Anytown, USA: Anonymous, 2017), 53-57.
9. Shorten a list of four or more authors. Enter the full name of the first author. Follow it with a comma and the abbreviation “et al” (from the Latin et alii, meaning “and others”). Continue formatting the citation as you would any other book. For example, if Random Title had one additional author, you’d cite it like this:
   • 1. Jane Smith, et al. Random Title (Anytown, USA: Anonymous, 2017), 53-57.
10. Identify a translator. If the author’s name is listed, enter that first. Type the title, followed by a comma. Enter the abbreviation “trans.,” followed by the name of the translator. Finish the entry like any other book. If the author’s name isn’t listed, start with the name of the translator, followed by “trans.” and the title of the book. For example:
    • 1. Sigmund Freud, On Dreams, trans. James Strachey (New York: Norton, 1957).
11. Cite an essay in an anthology. Start with the full name(s) of the author(s), followed by a comma. Enter the full title of the essay. Insert a comma between the last word and the closing quotation mark. Enter the word “in” and the title of the book, followed by a comma. Type the abbreviation “ed.,” followed by the full name(s) of the editor(s). Put the publication info in parentheses. Place a colon after the parentheses followed by page(s) you cite. For example:
    • 1. Kimberly Lamm, “Portraits of the Past, Imagined Now: Reading the Work of Carrie Mae Weems and Lorna Simpson,” in Unmaking Race, Remaking Soul: Transforming Aesthetics and the Practice of Freedom, ed. Christa Davis Acampora and Angela L. Cotton (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2007): 103-140.
12. Cite a journal article. Type the first and last name(s) of the author(s), followed by a comma. Enter the title of the article. Follow it with a comma between the last word and the quotation mark. Type the title of the journal. Don’t insert any punctuation. Enter the volume number, followed by a comma. If there’s an issue number, enter it next preceded by the abbreviation “no.” Place the publication date next in parentheses. Follow this with a colon and the page number(s). For example:
    • 1. Judy Sund, “Why so Sad?: Watteau’s Pierrots,” The Art Bulletin 98, no. 3 (September 2016): 321-347.
    • If the article is electronic, include the date you accessed the article, followed by the 10-digit Digital Object Identifier (DOI) after the page number(s).
13. Shorten subsequent essay or article citations. If you refer to the same article or essay more than once, enter the last name of the author(s), followed by a comma. Type the main title of the article. Place a comma between the last word and closing quotation mark. Insert the page number(s) you refer to. For example:
    • 1. Lamm, “Portraits of the Past, Imagined Now,” 132-135.
    • 2. Sund, “Why so Sad?,” 330.
14. Refer to a website. If the author’s name is listed, enter that first. If not, start with the title of the article. Place a comma between the last word and the closing quotation mark. Enter the title of the website. Italicize it only if it’s affiliated with a newspaper or magazine. After the website title, place a comma, followed by the publication/modification date (if applicable) and the date you accessed the information. Place another comma. Follow it with the full URL. For example:
    • 1. Adam Sweeting, “Prince Obituary,” The Guardian, April 22, 2016, accessed March 21, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/22/prince-obituary.
    • 2. “The Guardian Privacy Policy,” last modified July 23, 2011, accessed March 21, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy.

Tips

• Check for updates to citation handbooks as new editions are published. Look for changes to citing electronic sources like websites, email messages, blogs, and social media posts.
• The OWL at Purdue is a handy source for updated information on the MLA and APA citation methods.
• The entire Chicago Manual of Style is available online through affiliated universities and paid subscriptions. If you’re not a student, employee, or alumnus of an affiliated university, you can still use the Citation Quick Guide for formatting information.
• For large projects, such as theses and dissertations, look into citation software. Two of the best are Zotero (free) and Endnote (paid). Both are great time-savers and can be integrated into your word processing software. Just make sure everything is formatted correctly according to the latest edition of your citation method’s handbook.

Warnings

• Don't confuse a footnote with a footer, which is text that appears on the bottom of every page of the document.
• Don’t rely on citation software if you’re new to creating footnotes. Even after you’ve gotten the hang of it, make sure the software has formatted your footnotes properly. Papers can get rejected or marked down for improperly formatted citations!

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