Setting footnotes correctly

Fact-checked by Benjamin Lohrer, editor at corrected.eu · Last updated: 9 September 2026

Footnotes like a professional: the rules at a glance

Before or after the full stop? Full note or short note? Hardly anything gives away the care taken over a thesis as quickly as its footnotes. If the marker sits in the wrong place, the note format changes halfway through or side remarks run wild, every examiner notices at a glance. The good news: there are only a handful of rules, and they are all here.

Placement: the position of the marker matters

The footnote marker comes after the closing punctuation if the citation refers to the whole sentence, and directly after the word or phrase if only that expression is referenced. For a direct quotation, the marker follows immediately after the closing quotation mark. (In British usage the marker generally comes after punctuation, but some styles place it before. Follow your style guide and apply it consistently.) Holding to this detail consistently is what separates careful work from hasty work.

Full note and short note: complete first, short afterwards

In the footnote system, the first note for a source gives the full reference with all details. Every later note gives only a short note: surname, short title and page. If the same source follows immediately, "Ibid." can stand in (many current style guides now prefer short notes instead). You can find the overall system in the guide to the German citation style.

Content footnotes: use sparingly, like spice

Besides references, footnotes may hold additional material: clarifications of terms, cross-references, side remarks. But use them sparingly. What is needed to understand the argument belongs in the main text, and what is dispensable is usually best deleted. Examiners raise an eyebrow at theses whose footnotes run longer than the text.

Word in practice: automatic, not manual

Footnotes belong in the document through "References, Insert Footnote", never as superscript numbers typed by hand, otherwise the numbering falls apart with every change. Format the footnote text consistently (usually two points smaller than the body text, single line spacing) and end every footnote with a full stop.

Final check: what professionals look at first

Before you submit: is the marker in the right position? Is the first note full and all later ones short? Are the "Ibid." chains intact? Is every cited source in the bibliography? Checking this system across hundreds of footnotes is tedious, and a professional check of your citations does exactly that, together with the language edit of the text.

Where exactly the footnote number goes

If the footnote refers to the whole sentence, the number comes after the final full stop. If it refers only to a word or phrase, it comes directly behind it, before any punctuation. This distinction is not cosmetic: it tells the reader what the note refers to.

For direct quotations, the number comes after the closing quotation mark. Several footnotes at the same word are not stacked but combined in one footnote.

Short note or full note in the first footnote

Two systems are common. In the first, the first footnote gives the complete reference and later notes give only the short note. In the second, short notes are used throughout, because the bibliography contains everything else.

Both are acceptable, but they must not be mixed. Also check your abbreviations: "Ibid." appears only if the same source was named immediately before, and "cf." belongs before paraphrases, not before direct quotations.

Formatting footnotes: font size and spacing

Footnote text is smaller than body text, usually by two points: 10 pt to 12 pt, or 9 pt for 11 pt body text. Line spacing is single, even if the body text runs at 1.5. The typeface stays the same as in the main text.

Alignment and indentation follow the body text: if you write in justified text, set the footnotes justified too. Every footnote ends with a full stop, even if it consists only of a reference.

Change this through the paragraph style "Footnote Text", not note by note. One style updates all existing and future footnotes, whereas manual formatting falls apart with the next reference you insert. If your examination regulations or department guidelines specify otherwise, those apply.

"Cf." in the footnote: when the comparison marker is used

The abbreviation "cf." stands for "compare" and marks a paraphrase. If you reproduce an idea in your own words, the footnote begins with "cf." followed by the reference: cf. Miller 2024, 17.

For a direct quotation the marker is dropped. There the reference stands without "cf.", because the quotation marks in the text already show that the passage is taken word for word. A "cf." before a direct quotation is therefore a mistake, not a courtesy.

If the footnote points to several places for the same idea, "cf." appears once at the beginning and the sources are separated by semicolons.

Where the footnote sits on the page

The footnote sits at the bottom of the same page on which its number appears in the text, separated by a short line. It does not belong at the top of the page: what is there is the header. The footer is also something different: it carries the page number and chapter title and repeats on every page.

If a long footnote no longer fits on the page, Word splits it and carries the rest onto the next page. This is allowed but looks untidy. It is usually better to shorten the content or move it into the main text.

If all notes are to be collected at the end, they are no longer footnotes but endnotes. Which form is required is set by the style guide of your subject. For more on citation styles, see citation styles.