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Footnotes and Endnotes

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Contents

  1. Overview of Footnotes
  2. IEEE on Footnotes
  3. Author-Date Turabian on Footnotes
  4. APA on Footnotes
  5. Overview of Endnotes
  6. Footnotes vs. Endnotes
  7. References

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Overview of Footnotes

“A footnote is a brief note that provides additional content or copyright attribution. Any type of paper may include footnotes”

APA Style Guide (7th Edition)

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  • IEEE
  • Author-Date Turabian
  • APA

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STEM Citation Styles at DU that use footnotes:

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IEEE on Footnotes

  • Footnotes should be numbered in consecutive order throughout the text
  • Each footnote should be a new paragraph
  • The footnote numbers are superscripts in text
  • In text, place the superscript footnote numbers after punctuation such as periods, commas, parentheses, and quotation marks, but generally before dashes, colons, and semicolons in a compound sentence
  • The footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the text column in which they are cited

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Author-Date Turabian on Footnotes

  • Each footnote should appear at the bottom of the page that includes its numbered in-text reference
  • For note numbers in the text, use superscript
  • Indent the first line of each note half an inch like a paragraph in the main text
  • Use regular text or smaller for the notes
  • Use a short rule to separate footnotes from the main text
  • Singlespace each note, and add a blank line between notes
  • Leave the right margin “ragged”
  • For note numbers in the notes, use normal text with a period and space after, or use superscript with a space but no period after

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APA on Footnotes

Content Footnotes: “Content footnotes supplement or enhance substantive information in the text; they should note include complicated, irrelevant, or nonessential information.” (p. 40)

Copyright Attribution: “When authors reproduce lengthy quotations and/or scale items in the text, a copyright attribution is usually required and should be present in a footnote.” (p. 40)

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Important Tips: 

Do not repeat footnote callouts

  • Do not place footnote callouts in headings
  • Do not put a space before the footnote callout
  • Place footnotes at the bottom of the page where the callout appears, or on a separate page in consecutive order after references (see Style Guide for formatting details). 

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Important Tips: 

  • Do not repeat footnote callouts
  • Do not place footnote callouts in headings
  • Do not put a space before the footnote callout
  • Footnote callouts should always precede a dash
  • Footnotes callouts should follow all other kinds of punctuation

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Overview of Endnotes 

While most endnotes follow the same format for callouts as footnotes, the associated information appears on a separate page at the end of the work instead of on the same page. 

Some consider endnotes less appropriate in the STEM context due to their lack of immediate accessibility, however, hyperlinking is sometimes used to alleviate this issue. 

Citation Styles at DU that use Endnotes:

  • APA
  • Notes-Bibliography Turabian

Other STEM Styles that use Endnotes:

  • CSE (Council of Science Editors)

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Footnotes vs Endnotes

  • Do not use both footnotes and endnotes! 
  • There is no right or wrong answer in choosing your note-style. For most writers it comes down to personal preference and knowing how much material will be cited.

Footnotes

Endnotes

Bottom of page with sentence It is referring to

End of paper on separate pages

Easily accessible for quick reference

Not as quickly accessible

More common in scholarly work

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Break up flow of page and writing

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References

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