While you may describe a certain method in your main text, you might use an endnote to outline in more detail some other tangential studies, perhaps from a slightly different field, which used that same method, the results they produced and why this may be of interest.

Here too are a couple of examples to illustrate the use of endnotes.

A text may mention a certain sum of money in Korean Won, and the corresponding footnotes will indicate the equivalent sum in US dollars.Īs discussed too, endnotes can comprise much longer parcels of information.

A text may mention the name of an organisation and use a footnote to explain that the organisation had a different name in the past.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate the function of footnotes. You can choose to read them once you have reached the end of the document.Īs discussed, footnotes comprise small bits of information short enough to take in at a glance. On the other hand, endnotes may sometimes contain sizeable amounts of information, but you do not have to interrupt your reading of the main text. You could take a quick look and return to the main text on the same page. Footnotes offer small bits of information that you can choose to take in without breaking stride.

Amount of information (and flow): The above point (space) is a useful distinction that tells readers what to expect.

Space: Footnotes, being located at the bottom of each individual page, are constrained by the amount of space available, whereas endnotes, located right at the end of the text, are afforded much more ample room.Endnotes are placed at the end of a paper, a chapter or a book.

Location: By definition, footnotes appear at the foot of a page on which appears the text they support.

They primarily serve the role of supplying additional information, which, if weaved into the main text, may reduce its ease of readability. Notes – whether footnotes or endnotes – are an important adjunct. Research papers and reports often include adjuncts such as charts and graphs, tables, diagrams, a hierarchy of headings, citations and references etc.

How to use and write Footnotes and Endnotes in academic papers

Core Skills for Early Career Researchers.

Footnote endnote