Why footnotes matter

For guidance on stylistic matters such as use of italics and underlining, it points authors to other guides. History is written by a process of argument. A good argument puts forward a point of view that is well grounded: it has evidence to support it.

Unlike practitioners of other fields such as engineering or the natural sciences, historians pose questions that rarely have definitive answers or solutions. The emphasis in history is on an analysis of past events using a variety of historical evidence.

Because much of the historian's task is interpretative, there are strict requirements regarding the correct citation of sources.

Correspondingly, there are a number of situations where you MUST cite your sources. Human Spaceflight. Space Biology. Footnotes can uncover hidden gems too. For example, unusual expenses bundled into the income statement line items can artificially lower net income.

When these unusual expenses are removed from net income, operating profitability can be much higher than reported results suggest. Figure 2 shows five Attractive-rated stocks that had the most understated net income as compared to NOPAT in as a result of items found only in the footnotes. Stop and visualize the power in what you just learned. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be here dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these honored dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

A block quotation is appropriate only when the quoted material exceeds about sixty words say five lines. In books and journals you will generally find that block quotations are printed in a smaller typeface too.

Of course you should footnote the quotation. Indicate omissions by three periods or omission marks, separated by spaces, thus. Editorial comment within a quotation should be enclosed in brackets, not parentheses. In the case of quotations, you should always cite the actual work you consulted.

If a passage is copied not from the original source but as quoted by some other person, the footnote should follow this form:.

A formal bibliography of all the essential materials you have used comes at the very end of the paper. Note the form of citation in the following:. Clark, Clifford E. The American Family Home, Lary May, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Monson, Jamie. James Giblin and Gregory Maddox, Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, Ottaway, Susannah and Samantha Williams.

Prowe, Diethelm. This is called "style" and there are several common styles in use. Historians generally prefer the style defined by The Chicago Manual of Style , now in its 16th edition. When you write for publication, the publisher or journal editor will tell you which style they want you to use. Why does it matter? Correct style will make things easier for your reader.

And you want the reader to think about your ideas, not the messy punctuation at the bottom of the page. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. These products allow you to store your references in a database, then automatically generate citations and bibliographies.

Zotero see the library's Guide to using Zotero. Search this Guide Search. Footnotes made easy.