Footnotes

Footnotes are details placed at the bottom of the page tied to superscripts (ex. 1 ) in the text. In APA papers, there are two kinds of footnotes: content footnotes and copyright footnotes, with content footnotes being the most common. Content footnotes provide additional context or details on a topic, or direct readers to an alternative source for additional information. Copyright footnotes are used when citing long quotations, images, tables, data, or other commercially published information that is not yours. These works are also cited in the References page. 

Footnotes are added in numerical order of appearance as superscripts. The superscripts are typically placed after all punctuation (periods, commas, etc.) except for dashes and parentheses, where the superscript is placed before it. Below are instructions for adding footnotes in Google Docs and Microsoft Word: 

Google Docs

  1. On the Google Docs toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen, click “Insert.” 
  2. In the dropdown menu, click the “Footnote” option. 
  3. A superscript and footnote at the bottom of the page will appear. 

Microsoft Word

  1. On the Microsoft Word toolbar near the top of the screen, click “References.” 
  2. In the menu below, click “Insert Footnote.”
  3. A superscript and footnote at the bottom of the page will appear.

For additional information on formatting copyright footnotes, visit Purdue OWL’s guide on Footnotes.