Mr. Layne’s Guide to Footnotes

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Now, on to footnotes . . .

What is a footnote, and when do you use them?

A footnote is a method for citing a source in the text of a research paper.  The footnote appears as a small number in the text—usually at the end of a quotation or a sentence, like this.[1]  You should use a footnote anytime you do any of the following with a source:

·         Quote directly from it

·         Summarize it using your own words

How do I insert a footnote?

If you are using Word, then you put the cursor where you want the little number in the text to be. Then you click on “References” at the top of the screen and select “Insert Footnote.”  Word will automatically insert the appropriate number in the text, and then allow you to type the footnote itself at the bottom of the page.

What is the proper format for typing a footnote?

A footnote contains information similar to a bibliography, with some additional information (such as page numbers) as well.  Here’s and example footnote citing something from the first 2 pages of the book The Military Revolution:  Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800 by Geoffrey Parker.[2]

Basically, the format is:

·         Author’s name—first, then last

·         Title

·         Place of publication, publisher, publication date, all in parenthesis

·         The page number of the citation

Do I have to type out all that information every time I cite that source?

No.  You only type out a full citation for each source once.  If I were to cite that same book again, let’s say this time something from page 20, I would just have to type this (the author’s last name and the page number).[3]  If you use more than one book by the same author, then give the author’s last name and part of the title, followed by the page numbers, in order not to confuse your readers.

What’s the format for a magazine or journal?

It looks like this.[4]  Basically, it’s the author’s name, the title of the article, the title of the magazine or journal, the volume and issue numbers, the year, and the page number(s)

What about an internet source?

Here it is.[5]  Again, you need an author (if there is one), a title, the url, the date the website was last updated (if there is one) and the date you last accessed it.

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[1] The footnote itself is at the bottom of the page, like this (that’s why it’s called a footnote).  The footnote here at the bottom of the page corresponds with the number of the footnote in the text.  Make sense?

[2] Geoffrey Parker, The Military Revolution:  Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800 (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 1988), 1-2.

[3] Parker, 20.

[4] James Burke, “The New Model Army and the Problems of Siege Warfare, 1648-51” Irish Historical Studies, vol. 27, issue 105 (1990), 8.

[5] Code of Hammurabi, L.W. King, translator.  http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.html , n.d., last accessed November 26, 2012.