footnotes
Page-bottom citations
Footnotes are notes at the bottom of a page, keyed to specific passages in the main text by numbers or symbols.
They provide citations, clarifications, or supplementary information without interrupting the flow of reading: The footnotes run longer than the chapter itself.
Figuratively, a footnote is something minor or incidental: He became a footnote in music history.
List of cited works
- referencesSources cited for verification
- sourcesPoints of origin
- endnotesSupplementary citations after chapters
- citationsAcknowledged source mentions
ibid · supra · infra · parenthetical · Harvard · APA · MLA · Chicago
Notes in page edges
- commentaryExplanatory remarks on events
- glossShine or annotation
- notationSystem of written symbols
- clarificationMaking meaning plain
elucidation · explication · remark · note · observation · addendum · postscript · sidebar
Academic argument requiring defense
- dissertationExtended academic treatise
- manuscriptOriginal text before publication
- journalRecord of daily events
- monographSingle-topic scholarly work
publication · scholarship · research · appendix · index · abstract · methodology · acknowledgments
Petty precise particulars
- particularsIndividual facts or details
- specificsExact details of something
- nuanceSlight shade of difference
- subtextImplicit meaning beneath words
intricacies · trivia · caveats · qualifications · disclaimers · exceptions · technicalities · elaboration
bibliography
List of cited works
- referencesSources cited for verification
- sourcesPoints of origin
- endnotesSupplementary citations after chapters
citations · ibid · supra · infra · parenthetical · Harvard · APA · MLA · Chicago · Vancouver
marginalia
Notes in page edges
- commentaryExplanatory remarks on events
- glossShine or annotation
- notationSystem of written symbols
clarification · elucidation · explication · remark · note · observation · addendum · postscript · sidebar · jotting
thesis
Academic argument requiring defense
- dissertationExtended academic treatise
- manuscriptOriginal text before publication
- journalRecord of daily events
monograph · publication · scholarship · research · appendix · index · abstract · methodology · acknowledgments · preface
minutiae
Petty precise particulars
- particularsIndividual facts or details
- specificsExact details of something
- nuanceSlight shade of difference
subtext · intricacies · trivia · caveats · qualifications · disclaimers · exceptions · technicalities · elaboration · context
- annotated editionannotations, endnotes, commentary, marginalia, glosses
- reference systemsDewey Decimal, library system, filing system, catalog, database
- research papersresearch paper, journal article, scholarly article, dissertation, original research
- text toolsfonts, typography, text editor, spell check, spell checker
- acknowledgmentsacknowledgment, acknowledgement, acknowledgments, acknowledgment, dedications
- Minor workssketches, drafts, fragments, vignettes, miniatures
footnotesheaders
Top-of-page identifiers
headings · titles · headlines · chapter titles · masthead
footnotesbibliographies
Lists of sources used
endnotes · works cited · references · appendices · source material