Writing Tips: MLA 

MLA Endnotes and Footnotes

Summary: MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

• Because long explanatory notes can be distracting, most academic style guidelines (including MLA and APA, the American Psychological Association) recommend limited use of endnotes/footnotes. Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the very page where the direct reference was made, while endnotes are placed at the end of the essay on a separate page.

• MLA discourages extensive use of explanatory or digressive notes. MLA style does, however, allow you to use endnotes and/or footnotes for bibliographic notes, which refer to other publications your readers may consult. The following are some examples:

  • • See Blackmur, especially chapters 3 and 4, for an insightful analysis of this trend.

    • On the problems related to repressed memory recovery, see Wollens 120-35; for a contrasting view, see Pyle 43; Johnson, Hull, Snyder 21-35; Krieg 78-91.

    • Please note that the MLA Handbook does not specify explicitly how to fully format footnotes. The main difference between Footnotes and Endnotes is that Footnotes are placed numerically at the foot of the very same page where direct references are made, while Endnotes are placed numerically at the end of the essay on a separate page entitled Endnotes or Notes.

      • To make a footnote or endnote you must use place a superscript number after the quote.  

      • For a footnote you must do the same superscript number at the bottom of the page followed by information on your reference. 

--Information borrowed Purdue Online Learning Lab