Inpublishing, anote is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supportingcitations. In theeditorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of text at the bottom of thepage, at the end of a chapter, at the end of a volume, or a house-styletypographic usage throughout the text. Notes are usually identified with superscript numbers or a symbol.[1]
Footnotes are informational notes located at the foot of the thematically relevant page, whilstendnotes are informational notes published at the end of a chapter, the end of a volume, or the conclusion of a multi-volume book. Unlike footnotes, which require manipulating the page design (text-block and page layouts) to accommodate the additional text, endnotes are advantageous to editorial production because the textual inclusion does not alter the design of the publication.[1] However,graphic designers of contemporary editions of the Bible often place the notes in a narrow column in the page centre, between two columns of biblical text.
In English-languagetypesetting, footnotes and endnotes are usually indicated with asuperscript number appended to the pertinent block of text. Typographic symbols are sometimes used instead of numbers, with their traditional ordering being:
Additional typographic characters used to identify notes include thenumber sign (#), the Greek letterdelta (Δ), the diamond-shapedlozenge (◊), thedownward arrow (↓), and themanicule (☞), a hand with an extended index finger.[3][4]
Footnote reference numbers ("cues") in the body text of a page should be placed at the end of a sentence if possible, after the final punctuation. This minimizes the interruption of the flow of reading and allows the reader to absorb a complete sentence-idea before having their attention redirected to the content of the note.[5]
The cue is placed after any punctuation (normally after the closing point of a sentence). ... Notes cued in the middle of a sentence are a distraction to the reader, and cues are best located at the end of sentences.[6]
Notes are most often used as an alternative to long explanations, citations, comments, or annotations that can be distracting to readers. Most literary style guidelines (including theModern Language Association and theAmerican Psychological Association) recommend limited use of foot- and endnotes. However, publishers often encourage note references instead of parenthetical references. Aside from use as a bibliographic element, notes are used for additional information, qualification, or explanation that might be too digressive for the main text. Footnotes are heavily utilized in academic institutions to support claims made in academic essays covering myriad topics.
In particular, footnotes are the normal form of citation in historical journals. This is due, firstly, to the fact that the most important references are often to archive sources or interviews that do not readily fit standard formats, and secondly, to the fact that historians expect to see the exact nature of the evidence that is being used at each stage.
The MLA (Modern Language Association) requires the superscript numbers in the main text to be placed following the punctuation in the phrase or clause the note is about. The exception to this rule occurs when a sentence contains a dash, in which case the superscript would precede it.[7] However, MLA is not known for endnote or footnote citations, and APA and Chicago styles use them more regularly. Historians are known to use Chicago style citations.
Aside from their technical use, authors use notes for a variety of reasons:
As signposts to direct the reader to information the author has provided or where further useful information is pertaining to the subject in the main text.
To attribute a quote or viewpoint.
As an alternative to parenthetical references; it is a simpler way to acknowledge information gained from another source.
To escape the limitations imposed on theword count of various academic and legal texts which do not take into account notes. Aggressive use of this strategy can lead to a text affected by "foot and note disease" (a derogation coined byJohn Betjeman).[8][9]
TheUS Government Printing Office Style Manual devotes over 660 words to the topic of footnotes.[10]NASA has guidance for footnote usage in its historical documents.[11]
Former Associate JusticeStephen Breyer of theSupreme Court of the United States is famous in the American legal community for his writing style, in which he never uses notes. He prefers to keep all citations within the text (which is permitted in American legal citation).[12]Richard A. Posner has also written against the use of notes in judicial opinions.[13]Bryan A. Garner, however, advocates using notes instead of inline citations.[14]
A footnote on the Wikipedia article "William Booth (forger)", rendered as a "pop up" over the relevant text
HTML, the predominantmarkup language for web pages, has no mechanism for adding notes. Despite a number of different proposals over the years, theworking group has been unable to reach a consensus on it.[15] Because of this,MediaWiki, for example, has had to introduce its own<ref></ref> tag for citing references in notes.
It might be argued that thehyperlink partially eliminates the need for notes, being the web's way to refer to another document. However, it does not allow citing to offline sources, and if the destination of the link changes, the link can become dead or irrelevant.[16] One solution is the use of adigital object identifier. As of 2024, the HTML Living Standard has provided several workarounds for including footnotes based on their length or type of annotation.[17]
In instances where a user needs to add an endnote or footnote using HTML, they can add the superscript number using<sup></sup>, then link the superscripted text to the reference section using ananchor tag. Create an anchor tag by using<a name="ref1"></a> and then link the superscripted text to "ref1".
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The London printerRichard Jugge is generally credited as the inventor of the footnote, first used in theBishops' Bible of 1568.[18]
Early printings of the Douay Bible used a four-dot punctuation mark (represented inUnicode as U+2E2C “⸬”) to indicate a marginal note.[citation needed] It can often be mistaken for two closely-spacedcolons.
At times, notes have been used for their comical effect, or as a literary device.
James Joyce'sFinnegans Wake (1939) uses footnotes along with left and right marginal notes in Book II Chapter 2. The three types of notes represent comments from the three siblings doing their homework: Shem, Shaun, and Issy.
J. G. Ballard's "Notes Towards a Mental Breakdown" (1967) is one sentence ("A discharged Broadmoor patient compiles 'Notes Towards a Mental Breakdown,' recalling his wife's murder, his trial and exoneration.") and a series of elaborate footnotes to each one of the words.
Mark Z. Danielewski'sHouse of Leaves (2000) uses what are arguably some of the most extensive and intricate footnotes in literature. Throughout the novel, footnotes are used to tell several different narratives outside of the main story. The physical orientation of the footnotes on the page also works to reflect the twisted feeling of the plot (often taking up several pages, appearing mirrored from page to page, vertical on either side of the page, or in boxes in the center of the page, in the middle of the central narrative).
Flann O'Brien'sThe Third Policeman (1967) utilizes extensive and lengthy footnotes for the discussion 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'sInfinite Jest includes over 400 endnotes, some over a dozen pages long. Several literary critics suggested that the book be read with two bookmarks. Wallace uses footnotes, endnotes, and in-text notes in much of his other writing as well.
Manuel Puig'sKiss of the Spider Woman (originally published in Spanish asEl beso de la mujer araña) also makes extensive use of footnotes.
Luis d'Antin van Rooten'sMots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames (the title is inFrench, but when pronounced, sounds similar to theEnglish"Mother Goose Rhymes"), in which he is allegedly the editor of a manuscript by the fictional François Charles Fernand d’Antin, contains copious footnotes purporting to help explain the nonsensical French text. The point of the book is that each written French poemsounds like an Englishnursery rhyme.
Terry Pratchett has made numerous uses within his novels. The footnotes will often set up running jokes for the rest of the novel.
B.L.A. and G.B. Gabbler's meta novelThe Automation makes uses of footnotes to break thefourth wall. The narrator of the novel, known as "B.L.A.," tells the fantastical story as if true, while the editor, Gabbler, annotates the story through footnotes and thinks the manuscript is only aprose poem attempting to be a literary masterwork.
Susanna Clarke's 2004 novelJonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has 185 footnotes,[19] adumbrating fictional events before and after those of the main text, in the same archaic narrative voice, and citing fictional scholarly and magical authorities.[20]
Michael Gerber'sBarry Trotter parody series used footnotes to expandone-line jokes in the text into paragraph-long comedic monologues that would otherwise break the flow of the narrative.
John Green'sAn Abundance of Katherines uses footnotes, about which he says: "[They] can allow you to create a kind of secret second narrative, which is important if, say, you're writing a book about what a story is and whether stories are significant."[21]
Dr Carol Bolton uses extensive footnotes to provide the modern reader with a cipher for a novel about the travels of the fictional Spanish travellerDon Manuel Alvarez Espriella, an early 19th-century construct of Robert Southey's, designed to provide him with vehicle to critique the societal habits of the day.
Jasper Fforde'sThursday Next series exploits the use of footnotes as a communication device (thefootnoterphone) which allows communication between the main character's universe and the fictional bookworld.
Ernest Hemingway'sNatural History of the Dead uses a footnote to further satirize the style of a history while making a sardonic statement about the extinction of "humanists" in modern society.
Pierre Bayle'sHistorical and Critical Dictionary follows each brief entry with a footnote (often five or six times the length of the main text) in which saints, historical figures, and other topics are used as examples for philosophical digression. The separate footnotes are designed to contradict each other, and only when multiple footnotes are read together is Bayle's core argument forFideistic skepticism revealed. This technique was used in part to evade the harsh censorship of 17th-century France.
Mordecai Richler's novelBarney's Version uses footnotes as a character device that highlights unreliable passages in the narration. As the editor of his father's autobiography, the narrator's son must correct any of his father's misstated facts. The frequency of these corrections increases as the father falls victim to both hubris andAlzheimer's disease. While most of these changes are minor, a few are essential to plot and character development.
InVladimir Nabokov'sPale Fire, the main plot is told through the annotative endnotes of a fictional editor.
^abThe Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992) p. 709.
^Bringhurst, Robert (2005).The Elements of Typographic Style (3.1 ed.). Point Roberts, WA: Hartley and Marks. pp. 68–69.But beyond the ... double dagger, this order is not familiar to most readers, and never was.
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