Foot & End Notes

Footnotes/Endnotes are used:  

  • to cite the source of statements quoted or closely paraphrased in the text. 

  • to make additional comments about some point of the text. 

  • to acknowledge someone else for an idea or argument. 

Notes are numbered consecutively with the number appearing at the end of the passage in question and immediately before the footnote itself.  

The note number within the body of the paper should be superscripted. 

Notes are always single-spaced with the first line indented five spaces from the left margin.  There is a double space between notes. 

Place footnotes at the bottom of each page, separated from the text with a typed line, 1.5 inches long.   Some instructors will allow you to place notes, instead, as endnotes on a separate page (titled Notes) at the end of your paper, after any appendices. 

Use the same number as in the body of your paper. Put a period and two spaces after the number. 

If a single paragraph of your paper contains several references to the same author, it is permissible to use one number after the last quotation, paraphrase, or summary to indicate the source for all of the material used in that paragraph. 

There is no need to use the abbreviations "p." and "pp." before page numbers. 

Notes are formatted differently than your reference or bibliography page at the end of the paper.  The following examples are for notes only.   

Examples of Footnotes and Endnotes

Books

1.  Donald N. McCloskey, Enterprise and Trade in Victorian Britain: Essays in Historical Economics (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981), 54. 

2.  Donald N. McCloskey and Sam Sinclair, The Applied Theory of Price, 2nd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1985), 24. 

3.  Donald A. Lloyd, Harry R. Warfel and Jack Jones, American English and Its Cultural Setting (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), 12. 

Chapter in an Edited Book 

1. Colin J Bennett and Robin Bayley, “The New Public Administration of Information: Canadian Approaches to Access and Privacy.” In Public Administration and Policy: Governing in Challenging Times, ed. Martin W. Westmacott and Hugh P. Mellon (Scarborough: Prentice-Hall, 1999) 34-54. 

Articles 

Journals 

1. Louise M. Rosenblatt, "The Transactional Theory: Against Dualisms," College English 54 (1993): 380. 

Newspapers 

1.  Dan Barry, "A Mill Closes, and a Hamlet Fades to Black." New York Times. 16 February 2001, sec. A. 

Unsigned articles 

1.  "Radiation in Russia."  U.S. News and World Report.  9 August 1993, 41. 

Conference Papers 

1. Barbara F. Freed, ed. Foreign Language Acquisition Research and the Classroom. Proc. of Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning Conference, Oct. 1989, U of Pennsylvania. Lexington: Heath, 1991. 

Thesis or Dissertation 

1. James E. Hoard, "On the Foundations of Phonological Theory" (Ph.D. diss., University of Washington, 1967), 119. 

Government Documents 

1. Congressional Record, 71st Cong., 2nd sess., 1930, 72, pt. 10:10828:30. 

2. Discussion Paper on Values and Ethics in the Public Service, Canada. Privy Council Office. 1996. Ottawa: Privy Council Office. 

Court Reports 

1.  Supreme Court of Canada. Morgentaler v. The Queen, [1976] 1 S.C.R. 616. 

2.  Dickson, C. J. Morgentaler v. The Queen, [1976] 1 S.C.R. 616, at 672. 

3.  Supreme Court of Canada. Simmons v. The Queen, (1988) 55 D.L.R. (4th) 673. 

4.  U.S. Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 

Magazine or Newspaper Articles 

1. A. D. Johnson, “Measuring Excellence.” MacLean's, 23 November 1995, 30-33. 

2. “Spending Limits Irk Cabinet”, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 6 December 1997, A1. 

Sources on the Internet 

Cite sources on the Internet as closely as possible to conventional formats noted above. For example, consult the printed version, which would be referenced as: 

1. Janice R Walker. and Todd Taylor, The Columbia Guide to Online Style,. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997 (15 June 2003). 

Note that in the reference to the electronic document, the date of the print version of the source  and the date of an author’s access to the electronic source are both listed in reference to the electronic version. If an Internet-based source lacks an author (institutional or human), a publisher or a date of printed publication, use the file name, the date the site was last revised or the date you accessed the site. 

2.  Canada Election Study. 2001. http://www.fas.umontreal.ca/pol/ces-eec/ces.html (July 20, 2001). 

Long Quotes 

When a quotation is estimated to run five or more typeset lines (40 words or more) it should be offset from the text (indent about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm)), be single-spaced, and end with the footnote or endnote number (superscripted).  No quotation marks! 

Integration theory has focused on describing and explaining integration processes and the role of supra-national actors such as the Commission and the European Parliament. On the other hand, the role of the policies, interests and actions of its most important actors, the nation-states, has been neglected by theory; existing efforts are mainly empirical and a-theoretical, concentrating on national peculiarities rather than on establishing a theory of national integration policy.12 

Multiple Uses of the Same Author/Reference 

When referring to the same work in the footnote/endnote immediately preceding, do not use the abbreviation "Ibid." for the second reference.  Use the author's last name and if different, the new page number. 

1. Louise M. Rosenblatt, "The Transactional Theory: Against Dualisms," College English 54 (1993): 380. 

2. Rosenblatt, 432. 

Multiple Uses of the Same Author, Different Texts 

When referring to the work of the same author, use the author's last name, date, and if needed, the new page number. 

1. Charles W. Smith, "How West is West?," West Lore, 26 (1990): 245. 

2. Charles W. Smith, "East of Here", West Lore, 45 (1999): 589. 

3. Smith (1990), 267. 

4. Smith (1999), 601.