If you are preparing to write your dissertation or essay for your university or college exam, one thing that you will definitely need to take care of is footnotes. Footnotes are one of the non-negligible elements in academic writing, and you can not submit an essay or a dissertation without them. The main purpose of a footnote is to provide additional information below the main text without disrupting the flow of your text in any way.
Mostly, footnotes contain explanatory notes and cite sources. There is a proper way to format footnotes, which you should be aware of before you begin with your dissertation or essay. In UK universities, you must ensure to properly format your footnotes, hence, we have developed a guide here to help you format your footnotes properly.
What is a Footnote And How to Use it?
Footnotes, as the name suggests, are placed at the foot or bottom of the page in order to provide additional information like citations or other explanatory notes supporting the main text of the dissertation or an essay. They are commonly used in all the writing styles in UK academic content like APA, Chicago, MHRA, and Oxford styles – more on this will be discussed in this blog further below. The footnotes are indicated with the help of superscript numbers mentioned within a page’s main text and in that page’s footer corresponding to the same number or numbers. Using a footnote helps enhance your project by providing supporting citations or lucrative explanatory notes for the readers or your professor to find your project more interesting and well-researched.
General Guidelines on Formatting Footnotes
There is a basic guideline that contains all the details to help you format your footnotes.
Firstly, you should correctly place the footnotes. Within the main text, the superscript numbers that indicate the footnotes should appear at the end of a sentence, quotation or clause. The superscript numbers should always be mentioned after a punctuation mark like commas or periods.
For example: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.2
For the line spacing, there should be a blank line separating each note for readers’ clarity. The font of the footnote should be the same as the main text however the size should be a little smaller. For example, if the main text’s font and size is Calibri 12, then the footnote should be in Calibri 10.
Indentation for the footnote can be based on which style you are using for writing. Either indent the first line of each of the footnotes, or align it with a left margin.
Footnote Formatting According to Styles
Oxford Style
The Oxford style includes bibliographic references; however, sometimes, it also incorporates commentaries. This style is heavily used in history, law, and the humanities.
Example:
¹Max Black, The History of Modern Slangs (London: Academic Press, 2020), p 45
APA Style
APA style is different from other writing styles, and the way of writing footnotes is different because it typically prefers more in-text citations. Footnotes are only allowed in non-essential content and additional commentary.
Chicago Style
In Chicago style, the full details of the citation are only mentioned in the first instance. In the second instance, a shortened version of the citation is used.
Example:
2Max Black, The History of Modern Slangs (London: Academic Press, 2020), 45
3Black, The History of Modern Slangs, 48
MHRA Style
The MHRA style is Modern Humanities Research Association, commonly used in humanities. It uses a formatting that is very similar to the Chicago style, but slightly different.
Example:
¹Max Black, The History of Modern Slangs (London: Academic Press, 2020), p. 45.
How to Write Footnotes in Digital Essays?
In UK universities, digital submissions of essays and dissertations have become the norm and if you’re working on a digital essay or a dissertation, you must ensure the following factors.
- Check if the footnotes are displayed correctly in the PDFs after conversions. Many times, the placement or the indentation changes after converting your file into PDF, so this check ensures that the formatting and placement of the footnotes are correct.
- Wherever applicable, you can use Digital Object Identifier (DOI), especially for journal articles.
- If, as a citation or a source, you’re using hyperlinks in the footnotes, make sure that all of them are functional before submitting.
Conclusion
Footnotes are an essential element in essays and dissertations, and we hope this guide can help you format proper footnotes for your project. Apart from footnotes, if you need any assistance in writing your dissertation or essay and any additional tips that can help you score well in your exams, you can consider Digi Assignment Help for further resources.
Our team at Digi Assignment helps you develop and format proper essays and dissertations for your college and university projects according to UK academic guidelines. For more information check out our website.
