Comments on: Footnotes vs. Endnotes

By: Jacob J

Jacob J — Sat, 29 May 2010 04:21:00 +0000

MarcMcN, please be right.

By: MarcMcN

MarcMcN — Sat, 29 May 2010 04:00:31 +0000

Interesting reading this discussion in light of the advances in typesetting technology. Back in ’07, endnotes certainly were cheaper and easier to typeset than footnotes. And cheaper rules every publishing house hands-down, reader-be-damned.

Today, however, InDesign handles footnotes just like MSWord – performs all the typesetting gymnastics automatically, links the reference to the note, and automatically updates note numbers and locations when another note is added in the middle or the pagination changes.

In short, other than misguided inertia (“I learned that endnotes were cheaper when I was first learning, and that’s all I’ll accept as true!”), there’s no technical/economic reason to set endnotes anymore.

By: Kristen J

Kristen J — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:27:09 +0000

Brother, you are preachin’ to the choir!

By: cchrissyy

cchrissyy — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:10:41 +0000

Jacob, I completely agree.

By: Robert C.

Robert C. — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 17:00:14 +0000

I also vote to ban endnotes (happily, most finance and econ journals have, using footnotes for short notes and appendices for comments that are too long to conveniently fit in a bottom margin).

By: Matt W.

Matt W. — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:43:17 +0000

I actually really like the footnote formatting of the scriptures on LDS.org and in many other online contexts. I think it is really powerful there, where the information is just a click away.

That said, reading books online is what turned me off to multiple page footnotes.

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:40:34 +0000

Also there is the growth of the amount of referencing required in a good article. In most the papers and in my thesis, I have sometimes over 20 notes per page. That is awkward for footnotes…but I think that LL has it right on.

Personally, I don’t mind end notes at all.

By: JennyW

JennyW — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:35:10 +0000

Jacob,
The rule as to whether a footnote can start on one page and then continue on to the next if it is too long depends on who’s in charge, and many editors/publishers don’t care. Personally, I think it looks sloppy unless the note is inordinately long. And the people paying me want them on one page, so that’s the way I do it :)

Even with a more lax approach to how footnotes appear on a page, the bottom line is that any way you go about it they are going to take significantly more time and energy than endnotes (I’d say at least four to five times as much, on average). But I like to think that the logic behind page design and typesetting should lie in ease of use for the reader, and as the notes are an important part of academic texts they should be readily accessible (i.e., footnotes). Just my opinion … I never realized I had such strong feelings about this topic before :)

By: Doc

Doc — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:34:46 +0000

Personally I think endnotes are just a cynical plot to keep anyone from checking your sources so you can say anything you want. Bwah-hah-hah-hah

By: Jacob J

Jacob J — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:05:02 +0000

JennyW,

When you describe the problem that way, it seems you must be on to one of the main reasons. Maybe if people would get rid of that house style rule it would be a lot simpler? Of course, Matt W. wouldn’t be happy about that. Do people really care that much about a footnote spanning pages?