Footnotes and Endnotes

In your paper, when you quote directly from a source in their words, or when you paraphrase someone else’s idea, you need to tell the reader what that source is so the author gets credit for their words and ideas. One method for doing this is creating a footnote.

A footnote is when you follow a quotation, a paraphrased idea, or a piece of information that otherwise needed to be cited with a superscript number (like this.)¹ Then, at the bottom of the page, you give a brief indication of where you retrieved that information. Fuller information about that source is then contained in the paper's bibliography. Think of the footnote as telling the reader where to go in your bibliography to find the source, and the bibliography entry as telling the reader where to go in the real world to find the source.

An endnote is exactly like a footnote, except that endnotes appear all together at the end of the paper, while each footnote appears on the bottom of the same page as its superscripted number.

Creating a Footnote

There are two steps to creating a footnote. First, you need to place a number in the text to tell the reader what note to look for; then, you need to create the note itself. As an example, let's say we are writing a paper about meerkat populations and we write the following sentences:

As of 2009, the meerkat population has increased by 20% in Eastern Botswana. "It's thrilling," says renowned biologist Elizabeth Khama, "The animals are truly making a comeback."

We need to create footnotes to cite our sources.

Numbering

The first step to creating a footnote is place a number next to the statement that needs to be sourced. To do this, place the number at the end of the sentence it refers to, after all punctuation.

As of 2009, the meerkat population has increased by 20% in Eastern Botswana.¹ "It's thrilling," says renowned biologist Elizabeth Khama, "The animals are truly making a comeback."²

Your first footnote of the paper should be numbered 1, your second should be 2, and so on until the end of the paper. If you are writing an exceptionally long paper, such as a doctoral thesis, numbers should restart at the beginning of every chapter.

Creating the Notes

Next, you need to create the note that the number refers to. Every number needs a note. In the note, you will have the author's name, the title of the work, the publication information, and the page number:

1. Andrew Byrd, "The Resurgence of the Meerkat," Southern African Ecology 32, no. 2 (2009): 221.

You only need to create a note that contains all of this information once per paper. If you cite this source again later in the paper (say, in your sixth note), you would simply write the author, title, and page number, separated by commas:

6. Byrd, "The Resurgence of the Meerkat," 256. 

Using "Ibid."

However, if you cite the exact same source more than once in a row, without citing any other sources in between, there is a special shorthand you can use. Chicago NB style has very specific rules for what to do in this situation. If you cite the same source multiple times in a row, simply write "Ibid." in each note after the first—this means "this source is the same as the source in the previous note":

1. Andrew Byrd, "The Resurgence of the Meerkat," Southern African Ecology 32, no. 2 (2009): 221.
2. Ibid.

If you're citing a different page of the same source, add a comma and the new page number after "Ibid.":

1. Andrew Byrd, "The Resurgence of the Meerkat," Southern African Ecology 32, no. 2 (2009): 221.
2. Ibid., 225.

Once you cite a different source, your use of "Ibid." has to start over—you should not use it again until you have multiple notes in a row that cite the same source.