Footnotes, Endnotes and Textnotes
Introduction
- Footnotes, endnotes, and textnotes serve two functions: 1) comments on main text, offering subordinate ideas, and 2) source references, giving the origin of something quoted/cited in the text. Footnotes are notes appearing at the bottom of the page. Endnotes are notes in one section at the end of a chapter or complete manuscript. Textnotes are source references appearing parenthetically within the main text.
- Both footnotes and endnotes are keyed by number to a word, phrase, or sentence in the text. (Textnotes do not require this.) Word processing software can do this for you. A superscript immediately follows the appropriate word, phrase, or sentence in the text. If there is a punctuation mark following the word, put the superscript immediately after the punctuation mark, unless the mark is a dash - in which case the superscript should precede it.
- If a paragraph calls for two or more footnotes or endnotes, try to combine all the information within one note if possible, as long as it is not confusing. In this case, try putting the superscript after the last word in the sentence or paragraph.
- The numbering of footnotes or endnotes can run consecutively throughout the manuscript or begin anew with each chapter.
- In tables with figures and in technical manuscripts, footnotes and endnotes may be keyed by symbol rather than number to avoid confusion.
- If you decide to use a combination of footnotes (for comments) and endnotes (for source references), then use symbols for the footnotes and figures for the endnotes.
Footnotes
In most cases, you will be expected to follow a prescribed style for footnotes. When you use the footnotes feature of a word processing program, the software will automatically position the footnotes at the bottom of the page, insert a horizontal line to separate footnotes from the text, continue a footnote on the next page if it is too long to fit, and automatically number the footnotes. Footnotes are usually single-spaced. It is a good idea to read the Help notes in the word processing program to understand how this feature works.
Endnotes
There is usually an endnotes feature in a word processing program. As with footnotes, if you add or delete endnotes, the remaining endnotes will be automatically renumbered. Endnotes are usually single-spaced. The endnote feature will automatically format the endnotes. Read the Help section in the word processing program pertaining to endnotes to understand how this feature works.
Textnotes
- If the manuscript has only a few source references and no bibliography at the end, complete source references may be inserted within the text as parenthetical textnotes.
- If some of the source reference data is mentioned in the text, e.g. the author's name, then there is no need to repeat it in the textnote.
- If the manuscript has a number of source references and a complete bibliography, you may use textnotes in the following way: At the appropriate point in the text, give the author's last name and the referenced page number in parentheses. The reader may then consult the full entry in the bibliography. If the author's name is given in the main text, then give only the page number in the parentheses. If the bibliography lists more than one publication by the author, the text note must list the author, year of publication, and page number. If the bibliography lists publications by two or more authors with the same surname, then give the author's initial or first name along with the surname. If the bibliography's entries are numbered, then the textnote can simply give the appropriate entry number (in italics to distinguish it) as well as the page reference.
General Guidelines
There are a number of reference/style conventions for footnotes, endnotes, and textnotes. If you are supposed to follow a specific style manual or guide, then you must find a print or online guide. Prominent examples are the MLA (Modern Language Association) Style Manual (available at Amazon ISBN: 0873529774. See also http://www.mla.org/ andhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html) and The Chicago Manual of Style (available at Amazon ISBN: 0226104036. See alsohttp://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html). There are also specialized guides like the American Psychological Association's.
Book Title Basic - Business Style
- (The key difference between Business Style and Academic Style is in a slightly different sequence of elements and slightly different form of punctuation.)
- Author, book title, publisher, place of publication, year of publication, page number [if reference is being made to a specific page].
Book Title Basic - Academic Style
Author, book title, (place of publication: publisher, year of publication), page number [if reference is being made to a specific page].
Book Title with Edition Number
Author, book title, edition number [if not the first edition], publisher, place, year, page number.
Book Title with Subtitle
Author, book title: subtitle, edition number [if not the first edition], publisher, place, year, page number.
Book Title with Volume Number and Volume Title
Author, book title, volume number, volume title, edition number [if not the first edition], publisher, place, year, page number.
Book Title with Volume Number Alone
Author, book title, edition number [if not the first edition], publisher, place, year, volume number, page number. [style may be Vol. III, p. 197 or III, 197 or Vol. 5, pp. 681-684 or 5:681-684]
Book Title with Chapter Reference
Author, book title, publisher, place, year, chapter number, "chapter title" [if important], page number.
Selection from Collected Works of One Author
Author, "title of selection," book title, publisher, place, year, page number.
Selection in Anthology
Author of selection, "title of selection," in editor of anthology (ed.), book title, publisher, place, year, page number.
Article in Reference Work
Author [if known], "article title," name of reference work, edition number [if not the first edition], publisher [usually omitted], year, page number [may be omitted].
Article in Newspaper
Author [if known], "article title," name of newspaper, date, page number, column number.
Article in Magazine
Author [if known], "article title," name of magazine, date, page number.
Article in Journal
Author, "article title," title of journal [often abbreviated], series number [if given], volume number, issue number [if given], date, page number.
Quotation from CD-ROM
Author [if known], "article title" [if appropriate], title of work (CD-ROM), publisher [may be omitted], place of publication [may be omitted], year of publication, reference to location of quotation [if available].
Bulletin, Pamphlet, or Monograph
Author [if given], "article title" [if appropriate], title of work, series title and series number [if appropriate], volume number and issue number [if appropriate], sponsoring organization, place [may be omitted], date, page number.
Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis
Author, "title of thesis," doctoral dissertation OR master's thesis, name of academic institution, place, date, page number.
Quotation from Secondary Source
Author, book title, publisher, place, date, page number, quoted by OR cited by author, book title, publisher, place, date, page number.
Note Number
Indent the number .5 inch and type it as a superscript without a space after it or on as a number on the same line followed by a period and 1-2 spaces. The latter is often used in endnotes.
Names of Authors
- Type an author's name (first name first) exactly as it appears in the work. In bibliographies and reference lists where authors are arranged alphabetically, authors' names are inverted to put family name first (see bibliographies).
- If two authors have the same surname, show the surname with each author's listing.
- With three or more authors, list only the first author's name, followed by et al. Do not italicize or underline et al.
- When an organization is the author, it is given in the author's position.
- When an editor(s) is given instead of an author, it is given in the author's position, followed by ed. or eds. in parentheses.
- If the author is unknown, start the note with the title of the work.
Title of the Work
- Use the title page of the work to get the precise wording, spelling, and punctuation. You may adjust the capitalization to make it consistent throughout the notes or bibliography.
- If a title and subtitle are shown on separate lines without intervening punctuation in the original work, you may use a colon to separate them in the note.
- Use italics or underlining for titles of complete published works.
- Use quotation marks for titles referring to parts of complete published works.
Publisher's Name
- List the publisher's name as it appears on the title page of the work or in abbreviated form that is recognizable - and use that form throughout the notes or bibliography.
- Omit the publisher's name from references to periodicals and well-known reference works.
Place of Publication
- List only the city of publication. If the city is / would not be well known to the readers or is easily confused with another city, add the state or the country.
- List only the first city named if there are several on the title page.
- Use the city name of a newspaper if it might otherwise be unrecognized, e.g. The Chicago Sun Times, The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune.
- Omit the place of publication from references to periodicals and well-known reference works.
Date of Publication
- For monthly publications, show the month written out and the year with no punctuation in between, e.g., June 2006.
- For weekly or daily publications, show the month, day, and year with a comma after the day.
Page Numbers
- Possible styles are: p. 3, pp. 3-4, p. v, pp. v-vi.
- You need not use p. or pp. in instances where there is no risk of mistaking the numbers for something other than page numbers.
Subsequent References
- Use ibid. to refer to a work that was fully identified in the note immediately preceding.
- You can use a shorted note to refer to a work that was fully identified in an earlier note: Author's surname, page number.
- If previous reference was made to different works by the same author, any subsequent reference should contain the title of the specific work now being referred to, though it may be shortened to a key word or phrase: Author's surname, book title [shortened if feasible], page number.
- If previous reference was made to different periodical titles by the same author, use: 2Author's surname, periodical title [shortened if feasible], page number.
- A more formal style for subsequent references uses the abbreviations loc. cit. (in the place cited) and op. cit. (in the work cited): Author's surname, loc. cit. [used when reference is made to the very same page in the work previously identified], 2Author's surname, op. cit., page number. [used when reference is made to a different page in the work previously identified]
