![]() ![]() ![]() Why do we use footnotes?īasically, historians footnote their sources for two reasons. To reduce clutter, it is usually a good idea to collect all the references for the statements in a paragraph into a single footnote at the end of a paragraph. When the matter in any paragraph comes from several sources, one footnote may contain all these references. Thus you need not footnote a statement that the American Civil War began in 1861 or that the headwaters of the Mississippi River lie in Minnesota and while you may wish to quote the exact wording of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, you need not footnote the source as long as you mention that phrase “Fourteenth Amendment” in your text. When to footnote?Ī reference showing the source of your information must accompany each important statement of fact, each quotation, each citation of statistics, and every conclusion borrowed from another writer - unless the fact or quotation is so well known as to be universally recognized or accepted. ![]() In this guide we will speak of footnotes, but endnotes are equally acceptable. Word processing programs nowadays let you choose footnotes (which appear at the bottom of each page of text) or endnotes (which appear at the end of the paper, after the text). Citing Sources in Footnotes Footnote or endnote? Any student thinking of going to graduate school in history or any other learned discipline should acquire and use the most recent version of this basic reference work.Ī. The following guidelines are loosely based on The Chicago Manual of Style, now in its 17th edition. ![]()
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