The research paper involves the active use of sources of information (rather than personal research and conclusions of the author). In order to refer to the author and not be accused of plagiarism, you need to correctly make footnotes in the research paper.

In what cases do you need footnotes in the research paper

A study of examples of student work shows that footnotes are not always used in essays. It is necessary to use “bibliographic references”, and their type is at the discretion of the university (or the author). Bibliographic references are:

• In-text, which are placed inside the text of the document.
• Subscripts that are located at the bottom of the page (they are called footnotes).
• Endnotes, which are placed in special callouts.

Often in manuals require the use of in-text links. Footnotes are issued only if your department prefers this option.

The footnotes in the research paper are drawn up not in arbitrary places, but after citation. Quotes can be classified for various reasons:

By appointment:

Quotes with subsequent author interpretation.

Quotations cited as confirmation or as a complement to their own reasoning.

In appearance:

Direct – the author’s words are reproduced verbatim.

Indirect – the thought is paraphrased by the author of the research paper.

After direct quotes, the link is required (and such a quote is enclosed in quotation marks). After indirect – it depends on the depth of processing of the material and the well-known facts.

How to draw up footnotes in the research paper

Footnote registration rules:

• After the quotation, a small number is placed at the top (footnote number), and at the bottom of the page, under the separating line, this number is repeated with a “decryption” (source description).
• The source description is made according to a scheme similar to the description scheme in the list of references, but there are differences. The list of described elements is the same, but not all are allowed in footnotes, omitting part of the information. It is necessary to indicate the author, title, place and year of publication – and information about the publisher, the volume of the document, series, etc. can be omitted. In the footnote, it is necessary to indicate the page in the document from which the information was taken so that the incredulous reader could easily find it (without re-reading the entire book).

A little differently than in the bibliographic list, punctuation marks are located in the description. Surnames of authors are not duplicated, all co-authors are indicated before the title.

Repeated links to the same source may be even more concise. If the primary and secondary links are arranged in succession on the same page, the words “Ibid.” Are written in the repeated instead of a full description. If the source is the same and the page is different, the page number is indicated: “Ibid. S. 190. ”

How to make footnotes in the research paper

MS Word in its composition has tools that solve for the author the problem of how to make footnotes in the research paper. For example, in the 2016 version, on the “Links” tab there is a special button – “Insert footnote”.

Using it is very simple:

1. Set the cursor after the quote – to the place where the footnote should be.
2. Click “Insert Footnote.”
3. A footnote is automatically inserted, the cursor itself moves to the description input field.

If you wish, you can configure whether footnotes will be numbered anew on each page or continue throughout the document (on the first page 1, 2, on the second one, either starting from 1, or starting from 3).

By default, footnotes are made in 10 fonts (the same typeface as the main text). This is a standard requirement, but if necessary, the font size and typeface can be changed.