PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION & ENDNOTES/FOOTNOTES
Helen Temple Cooke Library
Dana Hall School
August 2002

The citation format standard at Dana Hall is the format of the Modern Language Association of America, usually called MLA style.  For more information about MLA style, consult the MLA handbook (Gibaldi, Joseph.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.  New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1999.)  Although the MLA handbook suggests use of parenthetical references, it also includes examples of endnotes/footnotes.  Both types of citations, based on the MLA handbook, are described below.

A.   PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION

Parenthetical references are just what they sound like—references that are in parentheses!  Generally, when you refer to works cited, you should include: Author and page #(s).  You can put the name(s) of the author(s) in either the text or in the parenthetical reference:

Some researchers, like Smith (333), think that the object is a supernova.

or

Some researchers think that the object is a supernova (Smith 333-4).

References are less disruptive to your readers if they are at the end of a sentence or phrase.  You should place them before the punctuation mark (although they should be after a quotation mark, if you are referring to a direct quote):

Sparks argued that “this incredible sight in the sky will never return” (333).

You need not include page numbers if you are citing the entire work or the work is just one page long.  You should include the volume number if you’ve used more than one volume and included all volumes in your works cited list:

Hones maintained that the bright light was artificially created (2: 8-9).

You can use screen or paragraph numbers instead of page numbers for electronic sources or other works that are not paginated (note that for electronic sources such references are approximate, due to variations in screen sizes):

NASA scientists denied the possibility of government activity (Miller, screen 3).

If a work does not have an author, your parenthetical reference should include the full title or a shortened version of the title.  Start the reference with the first word of the title so readers can easily find the reference in the works cited list:

Many researchers were puzzled by the NASA denial (“Supernova” 12).

If you cite two works by the same author, either include the title in the text or add a shortened title to the reference:

Others think that it was a natural phenomenon (Blacker, Super Hoaxes 62).

If you cannot find a source and instead cite a source that refers to the original, include the abbreviation qted. in (quoted in) before the indirect source:

Parker thought that the 1555 meteor shower was brighter than that of 1547 (qted. in Lang 44-7).

If you include more than one work in a reference, separate the citations with a semicolon:

(Blacker, Super Hoaxes 66; Lang 46-7).

B.    ENDNOTES/FOOTNOTES

Endnotes are often called footnotes, but endnotes are really just that—notes on a page at the end of the paper.  Footnotes are notes placed four lines below the text of the page to which they refer.  Both endnotes and footnotes are arranged numerically, using Arabic numerals that correspond to the numbers in the text.  Endnotes are double-spaced, both within and between the notes.  Footnotes should be single-spaced, with two spaces between notes.  If a footnote continues onto the next page, you should insert a solid line across the page two lines below the text and then place the continued note two lines below this solid line (Gibaldi 269).  As you can tell, endnotes are much easier to set up (and modify, as your paper changes) than footnotes, so if a teacher requires notes, ask if you can use endnotes.

Both footnotes and endnotes are identified in the paper with consecutive superscript numbers, which are placed after punctuation marks (except dashes):

        Others think that it was a natural phenomenon.2
  
    
The kind of violence seen on television is not honestly violent3—there lies its harm.

The first endnote and footnote for each source includes basically the same information that is in a bibliographic citation for that type of work, but the format is different and you should indent only the first line of notes.

Subsequent notes for each source usually need only include the names of authors and page #s:

1 Smith 333-4.

If, however, you used two books by the same author, you should also include a shortened version of the titles:

2 Blacker, Super Hoaxes 62.

If your teacher wants you to use footnotes, she or he may not require a list of works cited because entries would be redundant with the information in the first note for each source.  Don’t make this assumption—check with your teacher!  Sometimes teachers require a bibliography of every source that you looked at during your research (sometimes called a list of works consulted) and footnotes or endnotes for the works that you actually referred to in the paper.


For questions or comments, contact
Helen Temple Cooke Library
Dana Hall School
45 Dana Rd.
Wellesley, MA 02482
(781) 235-3010 x2185
library@danahall.org
Last revised 20 October 2002
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