Footnotes (2.13)
Footnotes (2.13)
Footnotes can appear either in the footer of the page where they are first mentioned (2.13), or starting on a new page after the references with the heading “Footnotes” at the top of the page, centered and in bold font. When they appear on their own page at the end of an essay or assignment, they are called “endnotes“. There are specific formatting requirements for footnotes. These are found in section 2.13 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (the Publication Manual):
- Number footnotes consecutively, in the order in which their callouts appear in the text.
- Use Arabic numbers, e.g.: 1, 2, 3, etc.
- The footnote callout number must be the same as the number that appears with the footnoted text.
- Footnotes are superscripted, e.g.:.1
- Footnotes can follow any punctuation mark except a dash. A footnote callout that follows a dash is always placed before the dash, e.g.: like this2-
- If a footnote is used in a sentence enclosed in parentheses, the footnote appears inside the parentheses, e.g.:
- Do not put a space before a footnote callout.
- Do not place footnote callouts in headings.
- To refer to a footnote that has already been called out, identify it by number in the text, e.g.: “see Footnote 2”.
![An example of a footnote. A paragraph from an essay appears double spaced. There are one inch margins on all sides. The page number 6 appears in the top left corner. The first footnote appears at the bottom of the page, and provides more information about a statement in the text.](https://d1qywhc7l90rsa.cloudfront.net/accounts/47072/images/Footnotes.jpg)
What’s Next?
The next section explains how to format tables and figures in an essay or assignment.
Sources
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style. (7th ed.).
A footnote appears on the bottom of the page that contains the sentence to which it refers. Footnotes provide additional information or context. Most student APA Style papers do not require footnotes.
Endnotes are listed at the end of the paper on separate pages, before the references page. Endnotes provide additional information or context. Most student APA Style papers do not require endnotes.