UHOH FACULTY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
ACADEMIC WRITING AID SERIES
HOW TO USE FOOTNOTES AND
ENDNOTES
Footnotes and endnotes are a way of:
including additional information
expanding a thought
providing background information
giving your reader further sources they can explore
This doesn’t mean that you should use them as a way of shirking properly editing
your work – you shouldn’t incorporate too many. It also depends on what referencing
style you decide to use. Here, only APA and MLA styles will be referred to. For more
guidance on referencing styles, check out “How to reference” in this series.
It’s important to note that foot- and endnotes can also be used instead of in-text
citations, i.e., instead of placing the author(s) and publication year in parenthesis for
a reference. This means that if you used footnotes, you wouldn’t include a reference
list at the end of your work because you included the references within the writing.
And with endnotes, you would have an “Endnotes” (or “Notes”) page instead. Not all
referencing styles use foot- and endnotes for this reason, however. For example, the
referencing styles highlighted here – APA and MLA – don’t. But, Chicago Manual
Style, for instance, does. So, make sure to check with the regulations of the
referencing style you choose.
Differences and similarities
The main difference between footnotes and endnotes is:
footnotes appear at the bottom (or foot) of the page in which the reference
was made;
whereas endnotes appear at the end of a piece of work, or a chapter, on a
separate page entitled “Endnotes” or simply “Notes”. This section is included
before your references or bibliography page.
In terms of similarities, both are signified in the text by a superscript Arabic
number, and the numbers are ordered sequentially, e.g.,
If you wanted to add some additional information at the end of this sentence,
this foot- or endnote would be numbered as one. 1 Then, you might want to
add some more supplementary information here, 2 so the next foot- or
endnote would be numbered two. The foot- or endnote number corresponds
to the relevant content.
Advantages and disadvantages
Choose between either footnotes or endnotes: don’t use both. To help you make up
your mind, here’s a table listing the advantages and disadvantages of both.
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UHOH AGRAR ACADEMIC WRITING AID SERIES Footnotes and endnotes
Footnotes
Advantages Disadvantages
A reader only has to look at the If you include a few footnotes on
bottom of the page to find the one page, it can make the page
corresponding footnote. appear cluttered.
You don’t need to include a In fact, if the footnote is
separate section. particularly long, it can take up
more space than the main text.
Endnotes
Advantages Disadvantages
As they’re located in a separate A reader has to go to a different
section, they’re not as distracting page to access the endnote.
as footnotes. They can be more confusing to
Your reader can easily look over use if you have different chapters.
all supplementary material as it’s
in one space.
APA style rules
APA style doesn’t encourage foot- or endnotes (simply because they’re expensive
for publishers to deal with). However, there are two reasons it states for using them:
Content notes: these provide your reader with supplementary information, or
tell them where they can find additional information.
Copyright permission notes: these are only necessary if you include a
quote of over 500 words, or include material that requires formal permission
from the author(s).
In regard to formatting:
The superscript number should follow a punctuation mark. 1 The exceptions
are dashes2 – then, the footnote number should be placed before not after a
dash (and, when it comes to parenthesis, the number should be included
within the last bracket.3)
MLA style rules
As with APA style, MLA doesn’t encourage the use of too many foot- or endnotes. It
prefers if they’re used for:
Bibliographic notes: these are where you provide your reader with other
sources they can consult for further information.
Explanatory notes: these are the same as content notes, in which you
provide your reader with additional information.
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UHOH AGRAR ACADEMIC WRITING AID SERIES Footnotes and endnotes
In regard to formatting:
As with APA, footnote numbering should only come after a punctuation mark.1
Apart from with dashes2 – then the superscript number should come before
the dash (and, in the case of parenthesis, inside the final bracket. 3)
Inserting using Microsoft Word
It’s easy to insert foot- or endnotes using Microsoft Word. In the “References” tab
you’ll find the option to include either. Simply place your cursor where you want it
included in the text, then click on the appropriate option.
UHOH Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Academic Writing Aid
Creator: Katharine Cresswell Riol
Last edited: January 11, 2016
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