For the usage of footnoting on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Cite sources and Wikipedia:Footnotes. ***************************************************************************************** * *

A footnote (or bootnote^[1]) is a note of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document. A page is one side of a leaf of Paper. It can be used as a measurement of Documenting or Recording quantity ("that topic covers twelve pages" The note comments on and may cite a reference for part of the main body of text. A citation is a reference to a source (not always the original source published or unpublished(citation needed In general a reference is a relation between objects in which one object designates by linking to another object A footnote is normally flagged by a superscript number following that portion of the text the note is in reference to. This article is about the terms 'subscript' and 'superscript' as used in typography

¹ for the first footnote on the page, ² for the second footnote, and so on.

Occasionally a number between brackets or parentheses, is used instead, thus: [1]. Typographical devices such as the asterisk (*) or dagger (†) may also be used to point to footnotes; the traditional order of these symbols is *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶. An asterisk ( *) (Latin asteriscum "little star" from Greek ἀστερίσκος) is a Typographical symbol or Glyph A dagger ( †, &dagger U+ 2020 is a typographical symbol or Glyph. ^[2] In documents like timetables, many different symbols, as well as letters and numbers, may be used to refer the reader to particular footnotes.

Endnotes are similar to footnotes, but instead of appearing at the foot of the page are collected together at the end of the chapter or at the end of the work. They do not impair the image of the page, but may cause inconvenienence for the reader that has to move back and forth between the main text and the endnotes, especially if each chapter starts afresh with number 1.

The U. S. Government Printing Office Style Manual devotes six pages to the topic. ^[3] NASA has guidance for footnote usage in its historical documents. ^[4]

Academic usage

Footnotes are most often used as an alternative to long explanatory notes that can be distracting to readers. Most literary style guidelines (including MLA and APA) recommend limited use of foot and endnotes. However, publishers often encourage note references in lieu of parenthetical references. Aside from use as a bibliographic element, footnotes are used for additional information or explanatory notes that might be too digressive for the main text.

MLA requires the superscript numbers in the main text to be placed following the punctuation in the phrase or clause the note is in reference to. The exception to this rule occurs when you have a hyphen in a sentence, in which case the superscript would appear afterwards.

Aside from their technical use, authors use footnotes for a variety of reasons:

• As signposts to direct the reader to information the author has provided or where further useful information is pertaining to the subject in the main text.
• To attribute to a quote or viewpoint.
• As an alternative to parenthetical references; it is a simpler way to acknowledge information gained from another source.
• To escape the limitations imposed on the word count of various academic and legal texts which do not take into account footnotes. A word count is the number of words that a Document contains Knowing the number of words in a document is sometimes important for instance if the author is required to stay Aggressive use of this strategy can lead the text to be seen as affected by what some people call "footnote disease".

Footnotes as a literary device

At times, footnotes and endnotes have been used for their comical effect, or as a literary device.

• In The Banjo Players Must Die, footnotes constitute a significant portion of the entire text, and often serve to distract the reader from an already complex storyline. Other uses of footnotes in this work include insulting the reader, shedding more light on the alluded-to incompetence of the characters, and using expletives (presumably because no one reads the footnotes and the risk of causing offense is therefore mitigated).
• Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves uses what are arguably some of the most extensive and intricate footnotes in literature. Mark Z Danielewski (born March 5 1966 is an American author He is the son of Polish Avant-garde film director Tad Danielewski and the brother House of Leaves is the debut Novel by the American author Mark Z Throughout the novel, footnotes are used to tell several different narratives outside of the main story. The physical orientation of the footnotes on the page also works to reflect the twisted feeling of the plot (often taking up several pages, appearing mirrored from page to page, vertical on either side of the page, or in boxes in the center of the page, in the middle of the central narrative).
• Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman utilizes extensive and lengthy footnotes for the discussion of a fictional philosopher, de Selby. Brian O'Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966 was an Irish novelist and satirist best known for his novels An Béal Bocht, At The Third Policeman is a novel by Irish author Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. De Selby is the name of a fictitious Irish philosopher and scientist originally invented by Flann O'Brien for his novel The Third Policeman. These footnotes span several pages and often overtake the main plotline, and add to the absurdist tone of the book.
• David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest includes over 400 endnotes, some over a dozen pages long. David Foster Wallace (February 21 1962&ndashSeptember 12 2008 was an American author of novels, Essays and short-stories Infinite Jest ( 1996) is a Novel written by David Foster Wallace. Several literary critics suggested that the book be read with two bookmarks. Wallace uses footnotes in much of his other writing as well.
• Manuel Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman (originally published in Spanish as El beso de la mujer araña) also makes extensive use of footnotes. Manuel Puig (born Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne ( General Villegas, Argentina December 28, 1932 - Cuernavaca, Mexico July 22
• Mark Dunn's Ibid: A Life is written entirely in endnotes. Mark Dunn (* 1956 Memphis Tennessee) is an American Author and Playwright. Ibid A Life is the third Novel by Mark Dunn, published in 2004.
• Luis d'Antin Van Rooten's, Mots d’Heures: Gousses, Rames (the title is in French, but when pronounced, sounds similar to the English "Mother Goose Rhymes"), in which he is allegedly the editor of a manuscript by the fictional François Charles Fernand d’Antin, contains copious footnotes purporting to help explain the nonsensical French text. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The point of the book is that each written French poem sounds like an English nursery rhyme. A nursery rhyme is a traditional Song or Poem taught to young children originally in the nursery.
• Terry Pratchett has made numerous uses within his novels. Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948 is an English fantasy, Science fiction, and children's author. The footnotes will often set up running jokes for the rest of the novel.
• Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell uses dozens of footnotes referencing a number of fictional books including magical scholarship and biographies. Susanna Clarke (born November 1, 1959) is a British author best known for her debut Novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke.
• Jonathan Stroud's The Bartimaeus Trilogy uses footnotes to insert comical remarks and explanations by one of the protagonists, Bartimaeus. Jonathan Anthony Stroud ( 27 october 1970, Bedford, England) is an Author of Fantasy books mainly for children and The Bartimaeus Trilogy is a Fantasy series by Jonathan Stroud and was published as a series of three novels between 2003 and 2005
• Michael Gerber's Barry Trotter parody series used footnotes to expand one-line jokes in the text into paragraph-long comedic monologues that would otherwise break the flow of the narrative. Michael Gerber may refer to Michael Gerber (parodist, an American fiction and humor writer known for his Harry Potter parody Barry Trotter Michael Gerber (non-fiction The immense popularity
• John Green's An Abundance of Katherines uses footnotes in which he says: "[They] can allow you to create a kind of secret second narrative, which is important if, say, you're writing a book about what a story is and whether stories are significant. John Green may refer to John Green (author (b1977 American award-winning writer John Green (botanist (b An Abundance of Katherines is a Young adult Novel by John Green. "
• Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series exploits the use of footnotes as a communication device (the footnoterphone) which allows communication between the main character’s universe and the fictional bookworld. Jasper Fforde (born in London on 11 January, 1961) is an English Novelist. Thursday Next is the main Protagonist in a series of Comic fantasy, Alternate history Novels by the British author Jasper Fforde
• Ernest Hemingway's Natural History of the Dead uses a footnote to further satirize the style of a history while making a sardonic statement about the extinction of "humanists" in modern society. Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist.
• Pierre Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary follows each brief entry with a footnote (often five or six times the length of the main text) in which saints, historical figures, and other topics are used as examples for philosophical digression. Pierre Bayle ( November 18, 1647 December 28, 1706) was a French Philosopher and writer The Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (or Historical and Critical Dictionary in English was a biographical Dictionary written by Pierre The separate footnotes are designed to contradict each other, and only when multiple footnotes are read together is Bayle's core argument for Fideistic skepticism revealed. Fideism is the view that Religious belief relies primarily on Faith or Special revelation, rather than rational inference or observation This technique was used in part to evade the harsh censorship of 17th century France.

Opponents of footnotes

Associate Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States is famous in the American legal community for his writing style, in which he never uses footnotes. Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15 1938 is an American Attorney and Jurist. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. He prefers to keep all citations inline (which is permitted in American legal citation). ^[5]

See also

• Citation

References

Further reading

• Grafton, Anthony (1997). The Footnote: A Curious History. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-90215-7.
• Zerby, Chuck (2002). The Devil's Details: A History of Footnotes. New York: Simon & Schuster.

External links

• Giving Credit to Sources: Footnotes Extensive examples following the MLA style. Ohrstrom Library, St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, USA. This is about St Paul's School in the United States For other schools with the same name see the disambiguation page.

• Footnotes and electronic references' methodology How to write footnotes, endnotes and electronic references in a proper format

• Citation Machine An interactive web tool designed to assist high school, college, and university students, their teachers, and independent researchers in their effort to respect other people's intellectual properties