Guide To Formatting Footnotes and Bibliographies

Guide for Footnote and Bibliography Presentation
Accurate, consistent referencing methods in bibliographies and footnotes enable you to:
• acknowledge correctly other people’s ideas and research (if you don’t do this you are
plagiarising);
• demonstrate to the examiners that you have read a broad range of relevant and
appropriate literature;
• present your work in a professional manner, suitable for both academic writing and
various documents produced in other areas of employment.
N.B. Remember that careless layout of referencing systems (missing information, incorrect
use of punctuation, inconsistent formatting, lack of attention to detail) may result in a
lower mark for your coursework.
Footnotes
When do I need to use a footnote?
You MUST provide footnotes indicating the precise source of information whenever:
• You quote directly from someone else’s material;
• You paraphrase the views or ideas of another author (even if you do not directly
quote their words).
As a rule of thumb, footnotes are not needed ONLY when you are citing generally accepted
ideas or facts (for example, the earth orbits around the sun, a sackbut is a type of early
trombone, Sibelius was a Finnish composer, the French Revolution began in 1789), or when
you are expressing your own opinions.
Footnotes can sometimes also be used to expand upon points you are making, if such
discussion would distract the flow of the argument within the main body of the text. These
still count towards the word limit, however, so it is a good idea to keep discursive footnotes
to a minimum.
Where do I insert footnote numbers on the page?

• Footnote numbers in the main text are placed at the end of the passage to which
they refer.
• Put footnote numbers AFTER the punctuation, without an additional space. The
footnote number is in superscript (i.e. raised above the line) and a smaller font.
• If you refer to more than one source in a single sentence, you may still use ONE
footnote number (placed at the end of the sentence) and then list ALL the sources in
the same footnote.
Example: Throughout the nineteenth century, as Susan Rutherford has shown, female
singers were characterised as three, often overlapping, types: ‘demi-mondaine, professional
artist and exalted diva’.1  superscript, smaller font, after the punctuation!
Formatting footnotes
• As in the main text, the footnote numbers are usually formatted in superscript
• Both footnote numbers and text are also usually formatted in a smaller font-size (10
pt) than the main text (12 pt)
• Footnotes are single-spaced

• There should be a space between the footnote number and the first word of the
footnote
• ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’ before page numbers is NOT necessary
• Each footnote entry must end with a full stop
How do I refer to the same source more than once?

• The first reference you make to any book, article, or other source should be a full
citation. That is the citation should include all names, titles, publisher, place of
publication and date.
• The footnote must also provide the page number(s) for the information cited.
• Any subsequent references to the same work can be made in short-title form. All
that is needed for this is the author’s surname and a shortened version of the title,
followed by the page number for the reference. (see examples below).
• Use ‘ibid.’ (an abbreviation of the Latin term ibidem, meaning ‘in the same place’)
when the footnote references the same work cited immediately before.
• When the two footnotes refer to the same page, ‘ibid.’ can be used on its own;
otherwise include any new page(s) for the reference.
Example of standard footnote style, using short-title form and Ibid., and multiple sources
listed in a single footnote:
1 Gundula Kreutzer, Verdi and the Germans: From Unification to the Third Reich (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2010), 96.  first citation to source = full information
2 Ibid.  shows that the reference is to the same source and page as footnote 1
3 Susan Rutherford, The Prima Donna and Opera, 1815-1930 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007),
31.  first citation to source = full information

4 Ibid., 43.  shows that the reference is to the same source as in footnote 3, but to a different page
5 Kreutzer, Verdi and the Germans, 14.  short-title form of source in footnote 1, and to a different page
6 For similar discussions see, Carolyn Abbate, In Search of Opera (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University
Press, 2001); Roger Parker, Remaking the Song: Operatic Visions and Revisions from Handel to Berio (Berkeley
and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006); and David J. Levin, Unsettling Opera: Staging Mozart,
Verdi, Wagner and Zemlinsky (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007).  multiple sources as list
What if the quote I want to use is already quoted from a different source?
Ideally, quotations should be taken directly from the original source. However, sometimes
the original text is not available to you.
• When it is not possible to quote from the original source, it is normally acceptable to
use a secondary source.
• In this case, your footnotes need to refer both to the original text and the source you
have used. E.g.:
6 Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, Les fonctions mentales dans les sociétés inférieures (Paris, 1910), 30, as quoted in Steven
Lukes, Moral Relativism (London: Profile Books, 2008), 7.
Inserting footnotes on a computer or word-processing software

Incorporating footnotes into a word-processor document is very easy because almost all
word-processing programs nowadays include automatic footnoting systems. In both
Microsoft Word and Apple Pages, for example, you can simply choose ‘Insert Footnote’ from
the relevant tab (References, Insert, etc.)
There are advantages to using the software’s built-in referencing functions:

• They automatically number your footnotes sequentially. This means that, if you go
back and add a footnote to your text, the numbers of the other footnotes are
adjusted accordingly
• They automatically ensure that footnotes and footnote numbers are formatted in
superscript and in a smaller font-size than that of the main text
• The computer will automatically place the footnotes in the correct position at the
bottom of the page
Bibliography
A bibliography should usually be included in a finished assignment (unless the assignment
question or your tutors state otherwise).
What should I include in my bibliography?

In the first instance, you should include any sources you have cited in your footnotes. You
may also include other books and articles that have been important sources of information
in the preparation of your coursework (but be aware that your examiners will know from
your essay whether or not you have read them.)
Where do I find the information to put into my bibliography?

• Make notes on all the information needed for the bibliography on each source you
use during your research
• For books and editions of music, note down the title as it occurs on the main title
page inside the book: titles on spines and covers are sometimes abbreviated
Publication details usually occur on this page and on the following page, on which
copyright details are printed (this is also usually the case for e-books)
• Most of the publishing information is also listed for scores on IMSLP as part of the
edition’s entry
• For journal articles, most of the information usually can be found in the
headers/footers or at the beginning/end of the article
• For recordings, see some pointers in the Discography Tutorial posted on Blackboard.
• Library catalogues can also be a useful source for bibliography information
Referencing methods for a bibliography

The Academy uses the method of referencing put out in the Chicago Manual of Style
citation. There is a short reference chart to Chicago citation for most common examples of
sources posted on Blackboard. If you need more specific advice on how to reference a
particular source, consult the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition (available online through
the Academy’s library website), or contact your tutor.
Formatting the layout of your bibliography

• Your bibliography should appear at the end of your essay, ideally beginning at the
top of a new page;
• Entries should be placed in alphabetical order by the surname of the author or
editor, or the first author or editor in the case of books with multiple authorship or
editorship
• There is no need to separate different genres of work (such as books and journals),
but music editions and discographies are usually given in separate sections after the
main bibliography
• Each entry should begin on a new line and end with a full stop
• The usual method of formatting the layout of a bibliography is to use a hanging
indent
Example of a bibliography layout with scores and discography sections:
Bibliography
Abbate, Carolyn. In Search of Opera. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2001.
Kimbell, David. ‘Instrumental Music in Verdi’s Operas’. In The Cambridge Companion to
Verdi, edited by Scott L. Balthazar, 154-68. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2004.
Kreutzer, Gundula. Verdi and the Germans: From Unification to the Third Reich. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Levin, David J. Unsettling Opera: Staging Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Zemlinsky. Chicago:
Chicago University Press, 2007.
Parker, Roger. Leonora’s Last Act: Essays in Verdian Discourse. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1997.
Rutherford, Susan. The Prima Donna and Opera, 1815-1930. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2007.
Senici, Emanuele. ‘Verdi's “Falstaff” at Italy's Fin de Siècle’. The Musical Quarterly 85, no. 2
(2001): 274-310.
Smart, Mary Ann. Waiting for Verdi: Italian Opera and Political Opinion 1815-1848. Oakland,
CA: University of California Press, 2018.
Scores
Verdi, Giuseppe. Falstaff: commedia lirica in tre atti di Arrigo Boito. Milan: Ricordi, 1893.
Discography
Verdi, Giuseppe. Falstaff. Tito Gobi, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Anna Moffo. Philharmonia
Orchestra and Chorus. Herbert von Karajhan. EMI Classics 7243 5 67083 2 7, 1957, digitally
remastered and rereleased 1999, 2 compact discs.

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Guide for Footnote and Bibliography Presentation

Where do I insert footnote numbers on the page?

• Footnotes are single-spaced

How do I refer to the same source more than once?

31.  first citation to source = full information

Inserting footnotes on a computer or word-processing software

There are advantages to using the software’s built-in referencing functions:

What should I include in my bibliography?

Where do I find the information to put into my bibliography?

Referencing methods for a bibliography

Formatting the layout of your bibliography

Example of a bibliography layout with scores and discography sections:

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