Email: library@bvu.edu
Text us: 712-794-4288
Chat online with a BVU Librarian
Schedule an appointment with a BVU librarian
(This can be an electronic meeting or F2F)
Endnotes are located at the end of a paper. Footnotes are located at the bottom of a page.
Because long explanatory notes can be distracting to readers, MLA recommends limited use of endnotes and footnotes; but, sometimes a note is needed to provide commentary or additional information.
MLA style does allow you to use endnotes or footnotes for bibliographic notes. These notes refer to other publications your readers may consult. Some examples are:
1See Johnson, especially chapters 1 and 2, for a particularly insightful analysis of this trend.
2Several other studies point to this same conclusion. See Smith and Hull 112-118, Craig 20-43, and Stevens 78-90.
MLA style also allows you to use content notes. These notes are short pieces of additional information that does necessarily add to the purpose of the main text:
3In a 2008 interview, he stated his position even more clearly: "I am a writer, not a politician!" (Watson 80).