Even if the information is important, several footnotes in one essay become a distraction. Though footnotes are allowed in all essay types in APA format, try not to depend on them multiple times in one essay, especially with content footnotes. If their contents aren’t entirely necessary to the core of the essay, don’t include them. Content footnotes in APA shouldn’t contain more than a couple of sentences of absolutely crucial information.

They can pull your reader’s attention away from the essay, though, so don’t rely too much on them. APA Style Content FootnotesĬontent footnotes do precisely what they sound like they do-provide a little extra content to strengthen the argument of what lies within the actual text. There are two footnote types in APA: content footnotes and copyright attribution footnotes. However, there will be times when a footnote or two becomes necessary to maintain the integrity of your paper, so let’s take a look at what to do in that situation. In other words, if you can put the footnoted information in the paper’s text instead, that is always the better option.

The current APA style guide discourages the use of footnotes in APA essays-and omits endnotes altogether-so it’s a good idea to resort to footnotes only when it’s absolutely necessary for explaining or citing a piece of information in your paper. Information is taken from the 7th edition Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, latest version, 2020.

Apa footnote format