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Although you will find footnotes in many journal articles, they are not typically required in APA or MLA formatted essays. They are most heavily used when applying the CMOS style.

The footnote usually includes the author's name, publication title, publication information, date of publication, and page number(s) if it is the first time the source is being used. For any additional usage, simply use the author's last name, publication title, and date of publication.

The footnote/endnote begins with the same superscript number as the one that appears in the paper and is followed by a period. Footnotes/endnotes always include a specific page number or numbers where the cited information can be found. The first footnote/endnote to a source provides the full publishing information.

The biggest difference between footnotes and parenthetical citations is that brief information about the source isn't found directly after the borrowed text or paraphrase. Instead, a small bit of information, which includes the last name of the author and the page number, is found at the bottom of the page.

What kind of things should you footnote? To give credit. To assure readers about the accuracy of your facts. To show readers the research tradition that informs your work. To help readers follow or extend your work[1]

Footnotes allow an author to guide his or her reader to additional information or further study, without disrupting the flow of the sentence. Another great use of footnotes is to define or explain a word or idea that might require further explanation to a general audience.

Footnotes appear the bottom of a page whereas endnotes will appear at the end of the article, chapter, or back of the book. Footnotes are more common in scholarly works due to their ease of access for quick reference.

Depending on what you want to use a footnote for, you may use one of two types: content footnotes and copyright permission footnotes. The American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA) and The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) writing guides use both types of footnotes.

Press Ctrl+A to select all footnotes, but only footnotes (Figure B).

If you want to change the formatting of the footnote text at the bottom of the page, select the Footnote Text Style. Click Modify, and then change the formatting options (font, size, and so on). For even more formatting options, click the Format button in the lower-left corner.