Footnotes vs Endnotes: How and When to Use Them

A footnote appears at the bottom of the page where its marker sits; an endnote is collected at the end of a chapter or document. Chicago notes-bibliography and OSCOLA rely on notes for citations. MLA allows occasional explanatory notes. APA discourages them. Your style guide and your instructor decide which kind you use.

What is the difference between a footnote and an endnote?

Both are numbered notes linked to a marker in your text, usually a small raised number. The only real difference is where the note is printed.

In a student essay, the choice is rarely yours. Follow the style guide named in your assignment brief, and if none is named, ask. Footnotes are far more common in essays because the reader can check a source without losing their place.

Two jobs a note can do

Notes do two quite different jobs, and mixing them up causes most formatting mistakes.

1. Citation notes give the source of a quotation, idea or fact. In Chicago notes-bibliography style and in OSCOLA, the note is the citation.
2. Explanatory (or content) notes add a comment that would interrupt the argument: a definition, a caveat, a related source, a short translation or a point of disagreement.

Keep explanatory notes short. If a note runs past a few lines, the material probably belongs in the main text or should be cut.

Which citation styles use notes?

Style guides are revised, so check the current edition your department requires. The Chicago Manual of Style (published by the University of Chicago Press), the OSCOLA guide (published by the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford), the MLA Handbook and the APA Publication Manual are the authorities here.

Chicago and OSCOLA side by side

Here is the same kind of sentence cited in two note styles. The page numbers are illustrative.

Chicago notes-bibliography (humanities)

Text: The Treaty reshaped the borders of central Europe.¹

First note (full form):

1. Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York: Random House, 2002), 230.

Later note (short form):

2. MacMillan, Paris 1919, 245.

Bibliography entry:

MacMillan, Margaret. Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World. New York: Random House, 2002.

In a Chicago note, the author's name is in normal order (first name first), elements are separated by commas, and the publication details sit in parentheses. In the bibliography, the author is inverted and elements are separated by full stops.

OSCOLA (UK law)

Text: A manufacturer owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer.¹

1. Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) 580. 2. Human Rights Act 1998, s 6. 3. Paul Craig, Administrative Law (8th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2016) 12.

OSCOLA uses no full stops in abbreviations, no commas between case name and citation, and italicises case names. Law students in the UK are expected to cite primary sources (cases and statutes) in this format, and OSCOLA is widely used by UK law schools.

Short notes, ibid. and other abbreviations

After the first full citation of a source, later notes can be shortened.

• Short note: author's surname, a shortened title and the page: "MacMillan, Paris 1919, 245." Chicago now prefers this form.
• Ibid. (from Latin ibidem, "in the same place") refers to the single source in the note immediately before. The Chicago Manual of Style discourages it in favour of short notes, though it still permits it. OSCOLA retains "ibid" (no full stop) for a reference to the preceding note.
• Op. cit. and loc. cit. are older Latin forms that most current guides no longer recommend, because readers often have to hunt for the earlier note.

If your instructor teaches ibid., use it, but only when the note directly before contains one source. If another note comes in between, repeat the short form. For a fuller explanation, see Latin abbreviations and et al. and ibid..

Where to put the note number

• Place the superscript number after punctuation in most cases: "…central Europe.¹" Chicago places it after a full stop or comma, and before a dash.
• Put the number at the end of the clause or sentence, not mid-phrase, unless the note refers only to a specific word.
• Never put a note number on a heading in a student essay unless your style guide says so.
• Number notes consecutively. Do not restart at 1 in each section unless your document is divided into chapters and your guide asks for it.

How to insert footnotes and endnotes

Microsoft Word

1. Click in your text where the marker should appear.
2. Open the References tab.
3. Choose Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote.
4. Type your note in the space Word opens.

Keyboard shortcuts on Windows are Ctrl+Alt+F for a footnote and Ctrl+Alt+D for an endnote. On a Mac, the shortcuts are Cmd+Option+F and Cmd+Option+E. To change between the two, right-click the note and choose Convert to Endnote or Convert to Footnote. The Footnote and Endnote dialog lets you set number format and where numbering restarts.

Google Docs

1. Place the cursor at the right spot.
2. Choose Insert, then Footnote, or press Ctrl+Alt+F (Cmd+Option+F on Mac).
3. Type the note at the bottom of the page.

Google Docs supports footnotes but has no built-in endnote feature. If you need endnotes, write the document in Word, or collect notes in a numbered list under a heading at the end. Menus and shortcuts change between versions, so check the current menu if yours differs.

Checklist before you submit

• Did you use the note type your instructor or style guide requires?
• Is every marker matched to exactly one note, in order?
• Are first notes in full form and later notes shortened consistently?
• Do explanatory notes stay short?
• Does each source cited in a note appear in the bibliography, if your style requires one?
• Are note markers placed consistently relative to punctuation?

Common mistakes

• Using footnotes in APA by habit. APA 7 favours author-date citations in the text. Use notes only for brief additions.
• Putting a full citation in every note. After the first, shorten.
• Overlong explanatory notes. Move the substance into the text.
• Mixing styles. A Chicago note followed by an OSCOLA note in the same essay signals carelessness.
• Typing the number by hand. Always use the software's footnote feature so numbers update when you move text.
• Forgetting the bibliography. Chicago notes-bibliography normally includes one, even though notes already carry the full details.

How AdeptWrite can help

The Citation Generator builds APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard and IEEE citations from a form you fill in. Check each output against your style guide, particularly the note form of Chicago. The Grammar Checker helps you proofread explanatory notes, and it handles up to 6,000 characters per run. If you quote or paraphrase a source in the body text, make sure the idea is in your own words; see how to avoid plagiarism.

← All guides