footnote samples in research paper

Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

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. 

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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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APA Footnotes – Formatting, Copyright & Examples

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One of the most common citation style guide manual for research papers or academic papers is the APA style . A significant part of this citation style guide are in-text citations and references in author-date style. However, sources can also be formatted as footnotes based on APA 7th edition. APA footnotes allow researchers to add supplementary information to their work without interrupting the flow of the text. This article delves into the format and proper use of APA footnotes.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 APA footnotes — In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: APA footnotes
• 3 Formatting APA footnotes
• 4 APA footnotes: Copyright footnotes
• 5 APA footnotes: Content footnotes

APA footnotes — In a Nutshell

• APA footnotes are not mandatory. However, you can use them to provide additional information and copyright attribution.
• APA footnotes have different formatting rules, depending on where you place them.
• You can place them at the end of a specific page or on a separate page after the reference page at the end of your paper.

Definition: APA footnotes

APA Footnotes are notes placed at the bottom of a page in a research paper that includes sources that have to be referenced properly. They also serve as comments on a designated part or section of the text on the page. Typically, the APA style is a citation formatting style in research that mostly demands in-text citations in author-date style. APA footnotes use superscript numbers that typically appear in consecutive order and should follow any punctuation except a dash.

Formatting APA footnotes

You can format footnotes in APA style by using superscript numbers and placing them in consecutive order. Also, the footnote numbers should appear at the end of the sentences or clauses on which they are intended to provide more content. They come after the period or other punctuation (except the dashes ). If the text   ends with a dash , the   footnote   should come   before the   dash .

Note: if the footnote relates to the content in the parentheses , the footnote must be placed enclosed by the parentheses.

• Footnote at the end of the sentence:  The data from the samples is consistent with the information in the literature review. 2
• Footnote within parentheses: (Whose daily exercise schedule does not relate to each other 3 )
• Footnote before a dash: While the productivity levels were significantly low – the data was measured using several methods 3 – like.

APA footnotes should not be repeated . Therefore, if you need to refer to a source that is already cited as a footnote, you should write “see footnote 10” or something similar in the text or parentheses.

Footnotes can appear at the bottom of the relevant page or at the end of the paper on a separate page designated for footnotes:

Footnotes at the end of the essays

This is where you place the footnotes on a designated page at the end of your paper. When doing so, the APA footnotes page should appear after the reference page. Other mandatory formatting requirements are:

• The title of the footnotes page should be centered and bold .
• The first line of each footnote should be indented .
• A single space should appear between the superscript number and the footnote .
• Footnotes at the end of the text should be double-spaced .
• The footnotes should be reported in the order of their figures in the text .

Footnotes at the end of the page

Your word processor can help you automatically insert footnotes at the page’s bottom. This technique helps you ensure that all the superscript numbers correspond to the right footnote. Additionally, it helps you separate the footnotes from the primary text.

Footnotes at the end of essays should ALWAYS be single-spaced. Also, there should be a single space between the superscript number of the APA footnote.

APA footnotes: Copyright footnotes

If you use copyright resources that go beyond the fair use guidelines in your project, you may require copyright footnotes. The role of copyright footnotes is to acknowledge that you have permission to include the copyrighted material in your research.

For instance, you can reproduce an image or infographic with the received permission and include the copyright note in the relevant caption instead of the footnote.

9 From Man and his Vision: A Comprehensive Analysis (p.62), by Jamal H. Anu and John K. Manuel, 2005, Routledge. Copyright 2005 by Marc & Joburg. Reprinted with permission.

APA footnotes: Content footnotes

Content footnotes in APA help you provide additional data about your content to readers.

For instance, you can use them to clarify a point or direct readers to the sources containing more information on a specific topic or detail in your text.

2 See Miranda (2015), Chapter 16, for a detailed report on this study.

Are footnotes required in APA?

APA footnotes are not mandatory for certain papers in APA. However, adding them to your paper would not hurt.

How can you use APA footnotes?

You can use footnotes in APA to provide additional information or copyright attribution .

When should APA footnotes appear?

You can write APA footnotes at the bottom of relevant pages in your paper. However, you can also group them and place them on a separate page at the end of your research paper .

What are footnotes?

Footnotes are a way for authors to provide additional content to their papers without diverting readers from the text.

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• A Research Guide
• Citation Guides
• Citation Basics

Sample Footnotes in MLA Style

How to do footnotes.

Method A: Footnote Citations

• Create the works cited or bibliography prior to entering footnotes. Footnotes are typically a condensed version of a citation at the conclusion of a text. Any content included in a footnote will typically be done last. Finish the paper in its entirety, including all references used, and then add footnotes.
• The footnote symbol should be stamped after any punctuation used. The corresponding number appears outside of the sentence.
• Include the citation for a reference or quote. Should you be using a footnote in the place of an in-text citation, it is necessary to include the surname of the writer or editor, along with the title of the work, edition, series, location of publication, date of publication and the name of the publisher.
• Citation of an online resource. In order to cite a website, or another online source, in a footnote you will need the name of the writer, or the editor of the website, along with the title of the website, the URL and the date it was accessed.
• Using footnotes as a means to provide clarification of information to the reader. Rather than adding information about the source in the footnotes, it is possible to use the footnote as a place to provide related information – often taken from sources that are not directly cited in the body of the paper.
• Keep it brief. If an essay quotes a source that talks about something specific and you need to clarify this, the footnote after the number will be brief, direct and include citations.
• Often time, editors will suggest that additional information be included in parenthesis. Remember to take into account the prose and the flow of information.
• Make sure that the footnote is necessary. Prior to using footnotes to further reference sources, ask your teacher how you should be citing sources and if footnotes are required. Most often MLA footnote format asks writers to make use of in-text citations, instead of a footnotes. In this case, footnotes are reserved for supplementary information.

MLA Format Examples

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Useful information: How to write a research essay professionally?

How to Use Footnotes

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Footnotes and Endnotes

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

APA details the use of two types of footnotes: content and copyright.

When using either type of footnote, insert a number formatted in superscript following any punctuation mark apart from a dash (—). A footnote callout should precede the dash. A footnote callout should only be placed inside of a set of parentheses if it directly pertains to the material inside. There should not be a space before a footnote callout, and a footnote callout should never occur in a heading. For example:

When using the footnote function in a word-processing program like Microsoft Word, place all footnotes at the bottom of the page on which they appear. Footnotes may also appear on their own page after the References page in your document. Center and bold the word “Footnotes” at the top of the page. Indent one tab (or five spaces) on the first line of each footnote. Put a space between the footnote number and the footnote itself. Then, follow normal paragraph spacing rules. Double space throughout.

APA recommends the use of the default formatting footnote settings in word-processing programs when using footnotes in the page footers (e.g. 10-point font and single spacing).

Content Notes

Content notes provide supplemental information to your readers. When providing content notes, be brief and focus on only one subject. Try to limit your comments to one small paragraph. APA recommends that you only include this type of note if the information strengthens your discussion.

Content notes can also point readers to information that is available online or in more detail elsewhere.

Copyright Permission Notes

If you quote more than 500 words of published material or think you may be in violation of fair use copyright laws, you must get the formal permission of the author(s). All other sources simply appear in the reference list.

Follow the same formatting rules as with content notes for noting copyright permissions. Then attach a copy of the permission letter to the document.

If you are reproducing a graphic, chart, or table, from some other source, you must provide a special note at the bottom of the item that includes copyright information. You should also submit written permission along with your work.

The information included in a copyright note includes the same information as in the reference list, but with some additional information. You must state if the material was reprinted or just adapted—use “From” if it is a reprint and “Adapted from” for adaptations. For example:

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.

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