MLA style recommends that you use bibliographic notes sparingly. Keep in mind, however, that references to a few authors’ names can also be put into a parenthetical citation in the text. You can also use bibliographical notes to make comments on your sources and to identify areas of further research.

In the note you can cite a long string of sources. Use these types of notes when your references are too long and citing all of them would interrupt your text. Bibliographical notesīibliographical notes add additional sources relevant to your thesis. There are two types of footnotes: bibliographical and content. While MLA format does allow for footnotes, writers are encouraged to use footnotes sparingly. Footnotes can also be used if you want to show another line of argument on the topic, or you want to show the differences between your work and others. You may choose to add a footnote when you want to clarify a point or justify a point of view. Writers choose to add a footnote when the information would be distracting if it appeared in the main text. If you are curious about footnotes in APA style, see APA footnotes.) What is a footnote?Ī footnote is additional information that is added at the bottom of the page and indicated with a superscript number. In those cases, you can use footnotes in MLA Style. This additional information also may not work as a parenthetical citation. Sometimes when writing a paper, you have additional information that you want to include, but it won’t work well in the main text of your paper.

Footnote example