reference notes: footnotes

If only a few notes are required in an article or chapter and the note material is succinct, use the footnote format. A footnote may do more than simply refer the reader to another work or page for further information; it may give information on how facts presented in the text were ascertained or confirmed. Such a note is useful for conveying supplementary data, as in the following example:

In the United States, by contrast, approximately 49% of psychologists name either teaching or research as their principal activity, compared with only 31% for service functions.¹ Table 15 shows the numbers and proportions of English- and French-speaking² Canadians and of American and other foreign respondents in each of the principal work functions. It is estimated that 13–14% of Canadian psychologists are French-speaking.³

Back to the note¹ 1986 National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel.

Back to the note² French-speaking Canadians were identified by their request for or return of the French version of the questionnaire. Further identification and response rates were confirmed through follow-up telephone contacts with non-residents (see Appendix 3).

Back to the note³ But see discussion by Dr. Bélanger on p. 127.

Number your footnotes page by page or chapter by chapter to avoid the possibility of triple-digit references.

Occasionally two distinct series of footnotes are required: an author’s notes on the one hand and a translator’s or editor’s notes on the other. Use asterisks and a different typeface for the translator’s or editor’s notes, which should end with the appropriate abbreviation (Trans. or Ed.) in parentheses:

*The "commission" referred to is the Canada Labour Relations Board (Ed.).

Use special symbols or letters to indicate notes within the body of mathematical, statistical and other scientific documents, and particularly with tables and graphs, as illustrated below, since superscript numerals could be confused with mathematical indices:

^aprojected
^bincluding Quebec

For detailed information on how to format a reference note for different types of sources, see the following articles:

• REFERENCE NOTES: BOOKS
• REFERENCE NOTES: PERIODICALS (ARTICLES)

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