Problem: Students who are accustomed to preparing in-text citations rather than footnotes or endnotes may not know what to do when the instructor assigns them to use footnotes instead of in-text citations.
Solution: Read below.
How Not to Enter Footnotes
- Do not type a footnote number and then add the superscript character formatting to it.
- Do not scroll to the bottom of the page and then type the same number you typed above and then type the content of the footnote.
- Do not attempt to manually number or manually position your footnotes in any way whatsoever.
How (Properly) to Enter Footnotes
- Do use the automatic footnote numbering and positioning features of your word processor.
- For Microsoft Word, consult this resource.
- For Open Office or LibreOffice Writer, consult this resource.
- For any other word processor, conduct a web search for the appropriate tutorial.
- Do follow the academic style guide assigned by your instructor, such as the Chicago Manual (common for history papers).