Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes are supplementary notes that authors use to provide additional information or citations without cluttering the main text. In a printed book, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page where the reference occurs, while endnotes are compiled at the end of a chapter or the entire book and can be used in both print and digital versions of a book.

These notes are commonly used to elaborate on references, offer background details, or provide scholarly citations, enhancing the reader’s understanding without disrupting the flow of the narrative.

Atticus makes it easy to include footnotes or endnotes when formatting your book and this step-by-step tutorial will walk you through the simple process.

Footnotes vs Endnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the same page where the reference or citation appears in the main text. Since eBooks don’t have traditional pages, you cannot set footnotes in the ePub version of your book; it is restricted to the print version.

The numbering of Footnotes will start anew with each chapter.

End of Chapter Notes

End-of-chapter notes are positioned at the end of each individual chapter and can be set this way for either the print or ePub version of your book.

The numbering of end-of-chapter notes will start anew with each chapter.

End-of-Book Notes

End-of-book notes are located in a separate section at the end of the completed book. This is also available for both print and ePub versions.

End-of-book notes allow readers to access a full list of references or explore additional content without cluttering the main text of your book. They’re useful for providing sources for the entire work or summarizing information.

The numbering for end-of-book notes can vary depending on your preferences and settings within the theme of Atticus, which will discuss soon. You will be able to choose continuous numbering for the entire book, or you can set your notes to start numbering anew with each chapter.

Importing a document with Footnotes/Endnotes:

In Atticus you have the option to set your notes as Endnotes, but to import properly from a .docx file, you will need to make sure your notes are set to Word’s default footnotes style.

Fortunately if you have already formatted your manuscript using endnotes in Word, it’s super easy to convert them over to Footnotes.

Convert Endnotes to Footnotes in Word

1. Make a copy of your Word document (if you don’t want to alter the original).
2. Open this file in Word and click the References Tab. Click the expand menu icon in the Footnote/Endnote Section.
3. Click Convert, then select “Convert all endnotes to footnotes” and click OK.

When you upload this version to Atticus, all notes will be recognized and added to the text, you can then select their location on the Formatting Tab.

Formatting Footnotes in Word

Before importing, you must make sure all of your notes are under 1000 characters, and that you don’t have any empty notes. These may cause exporting issues down the line.

If you’re using URLs in your notes, we recommend leaving them as plain text in the Word document and adding the hyperlink from inside Atticus, after it has been imported.

Adding Footnotes and Endnotes in Atticus:

Adding notes within Atticus is easy as well.

1. Locate the spot in your text where you want to add the footnote or endnote. In the top toolbar, you’ll find a button 1 that allows you to insert a footnote or endnote.
2. Clicking the footnote/endnote button will open a pop-up where you can enter the content of your desired footnote or endnote.
3. Once you’ve entered the footnote or endnote content, and added your formatting, you will see it displayed in the main editor of Atticus.

Important Note: In order for your ePub to function correctly, each note is assigned a specific ID when it is added to Atticus, which allows for the internal navigation of the ePub to function. Because of this it’s very important when creating notes to always create a new note using the 1 button in the toolbar, and avoid duplicating notes using copy and paste.

Selecting Note Placement & Text Size

Once your notes are set in the Writing editor, you will use the Formatting editor to control how they appear in your book.

1. With your book open in Atticus, click Formatting from the top center
2. Select your theme and click the green Edit Theme button
3. Scroll down the page until you see the Notes Settings section
4. Select your preferences
5. Save your theme

You will have the following options in the Notes Settings section:

You can also fine-tune your formatting by using the slider to adjust the size of the text in your footnotes or endnotes.

End of Book Notes

If you select End of Book Notes, you’ll see an additional set of options appear.

If you select “Include Chapter Title” this will add a chapter header to your Endnotes page.

You can change the title by opening your Endnotes page in the editor and updating the text in the Custom Endnotes Title field.

If you select “Categorize by title,” the Endnotes page will include each chapter title as a heading to subdivide the notes on the page.

Bibliographies

A bibliography is a list of sources that you have used or consulted when conducting research or creating written work. Creating a bibliography can seem daunting but it’s an essential skill for academic and research writing.

You won’t typically use footnotes or endnotes for Bibliographies, but rather you include a shortened reference in the text of the manuscript itself, and then you include the full reference at the end of the book, in the Bibliography page.

Different academic disciplines and publications may require specific citation styles (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). We strongly encourage you to do your own research to make sure you’re using the appropriate style for your publication, but here are the basic rules for each:

MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
MLA is commonly used in humanities. The in-text citations are parenthetical and include the author’s last name and the page number where the information was found. The citation is placed at the end of the sentence, before the period. If you mention the author’s name in the sentence, you can just include the page number in the parentheses.

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” (Smith 45).

According to Smith, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” (45).

The MLA-style bibliography page references are typically formatted:

Last name, First name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Smith, John. The Art of Writing. Penguin Books, 2010.

APA (American Psychological Association) Style

APA is often used in social sciences. The in-text citation includes the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number, separated by commas. The citation is placed at the end of the sentence, before the period. If you mention the author’s name in the sentence, you can include just the year and page number in the parentheses.

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” (Smith, 2010, p. 45).

According to Smith (2010), “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” (p. 45).

The APA-style bibliography page references are typically formatted:

Last name, First initial. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Smith, J. (2010). The Art of Writing. Penguin Books.

Chicago Style

Chicago style is widely used and offers two styles: Notes-Bibliography and Author-Date. Here, we’ll focus on Notes-Bibliography, which is commonly used in history and some other fields.

In the Chicago Notes-Bibliography style, footnotes or endnotes are used for citations. When you cite a source, you place a superscript number at the end of the sentence. The full citation is then provided in a footnote at the bottom of the page or in an endnote at the end of the paper.

Example in Text: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”¹

The Chicago-style bibliography page references are typically formatted:

1. Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

1. Smith, John. The Art of Writing. New York: Penguin Books, 2010.

Remember, each of these citation styles has specific rules for different types of sources, so it’s important to consult the relevant style guide for more detailed information.

Once you’ve gathered all your references, formatting your bibliography in Atticus is a breeze! Simply follow these steps:

1. Add a new chapter at the end of your book
2. Title it Bibliography, or whatever title suits your needs
3. Upload or create your list in Atticus, ensuring that you’ve applied the correct text formatting and punctuation as per the relevant style guide.
   • Some style guides require all your entries to be organized alphabetically, but others will match the order of appearance in your book. Be sure you’ve organized according to the requirements of your publication.
4. To add a Hanging Indent, highlight the entire text in Atticus and locate the Hanging Indent button in the toolbar.