Minor substantive points that must be addressed but that depart from the main thread of the argument Consider putting some of the following information in footnotes:Ĭitations to sources you do not discuss in the main textīibliographic information about sources (e.g., 24 Cal. I advise taking a flexible approach to footnotes in which you reserve the main text for information that is essential to one’s argument or narrative. The reader can then choose to investigate a point further or check a citation by returning to the footnote at the reader’s leisure. Unlike extraneous asides or citation strings, footnote references are easily glanced over, allowing the reader to continue without interruption. In my view, footnotes can enhance readability by keeping only important information in the main text and avoiding interruptions of an argument or narrative. I advocate using footnotes much more commonly than is typical in legal writing. Bryan Garner, for example, advocates putting citations in footnotes, but believes that footnotes should not contain any substantive information. For example: '(Contradictory reports made in the past have already been proven inaccurate, as noted in the chart below.Legal stylists disagree on how often lawyers should use footnotes and what they should use them for. If the footnote relates only to the material in parentheses, place it inside the closing parentheses. If you have a parenthetical phrase in a sentence, place the superscript number after the period as usual if the footnote applies to the sentence as a whole.For example: 'The research is important 3-whether these efforts are for personal or public gain has yet to be determined, though.' Generally, superscript numbers should follow punctuation.

Example: 'Studies regarding this matter could be difficult to perform, 2 but the effort may well be worth it.' In this example, the footnote is placed after the comma in the first clause to demonstrate that the source does not indicate the effort to perform the studies would be worth it.

If necessary to distinguish between sources, you can place the superscript number at the end of the sentence clause you want to attribute to that source. In most cases, you'll put the reference to the footnote at the end of the sentence.

Place superscript numbers at the end of a sentence or clause.

How to make footnotes in word continue