If your department requires footnotes, or if you otherwise elect to use footnotes as allowed by your style guide, there are several rules which must be followed. It is wise to learn how to format footnotes before attempting to use them in your chapters, so as to avoid troublesome formatting problems in the final typing of the document.

• Use superscript numerals within the text at the point of reference. Footnotes are numbered consecutively by chapter (i.e., each chapter begins with number one).

• Footnotes must at least begin on the page where referenced.

• Footnotes are separated from the text by a short rule, or separator line. When a footnote is continued to the next page, a full length line may be used.

• The one-inch margin is maintained at the bottom of each page except on the last page of the chapter. When the text of the last page does not fill the entire page, the footnotes for that page follow directly beneath the text.

• The footnote number and first line of each footnote is indented the same as the paragraph indention in the text. Within the footnote, the numeral may be typed superscript before the text, as formatted in the automatic Word footnote program, or on the line followed by a period (with a space following the period, before the text).

• Full footnote reference may be repeated or not at the beginning of each chapter, as preferred by the department. It is desirable to repeat the full reference if the dissertation or thesis is lengthy, thereby providing better accessibility to the reader.

• Each footnote is single spaced, with a double space between footnotes.

• Footnotes may be typed in 10- or 12-point font.