Footnote
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- Endnote redirects here. For the reference management software, see EndNote
A footnote is a note of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document. The note comments on and may cite a reference for part of the main body of text. A footnote is normally flagged by a superscript number following that portion of the text the note is in reference to.
- 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. 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 differ in that they do not appear at the foot of the particular page, but instead collected together, usually chapter by chapter, appearing as an appendix at the end of the work. Endnotes are generally harder to handle than footnotes, as moving to the appendix every time takes additional time and effort. In fact author and media critic Al Franken alleges that endnotes make it much easier to invent quotations, especially if using lots, as nobody is going to sift through pages of footnotes lacking their context (see also "Infinite Jest" below). Endnotes are often referred to as footnotes.
- The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual devotes six pages to the topic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- NASA has guidance for footnote usage in its historical documents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Academic usage
Academic and scientific works are written by a process of argument. A good argument puts forward a point of view that is well grounded: it has evidence to support it. Scholars use footnotes and/or endnotes for a variety of reasons including:
- To make it clear to the reader which views are yours and which are the views of other writers;
- To allow you to acknowledge your intellectual debts to others if you decide to accept their views or information;
- To direct the reader by the most efficient signposts to the place where the information you have provided can be checked and verified or where further useful information is.
Footnotes as a literary device
At times, footnotes and endnotes have been used for their comical effect, or as a literary device.
- Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman utilizes extensive and lengthy footnotes for the discusion of a fictional philosopher "de Selby. 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. Several literary critics suggested that the book be read with two bookmarks.
- Mark Dunn's Ibid: A Life is written entirely in footnotes.
References
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