How to Create an In-Text Citation With Footnote in Word

Footnote citations are used to let a reader know that certain information or material in a document came from another source. The three citation styles which commonly use footnotes for in-text citations are Chicago, Oxford, and Turabian. This article will show you how to quickly and easily create these footnotes in Microsoft Word.

Supplies

Computer

Microsoft Word 365

Open Word Document Needing Citations

Double click on the file needing citations or open it directly in Word.

Place the Cursor Where the Citation Is Needed

To properly add a footnote, the cursor should be placed immediately after the word needing citation.
The cursor should be placed immediately after the punctuation mark if the citation refers to an entire paragraph or sentence.

For example, in this document a citation is needed for the first sentence. Therefore, the cursor has been placed directly following the period of that sentence.

Click on the "References" Tab at the Top of Word

This will change the top of Word to the References toolbar.

Click on "Insert Footnote"

This will create the reference number in the text as well as the corresponding footnote number.

Enter Citation Information in the Footnote

The specifics of the included information depend on the citation style used for the document.
The font size used in the footnote should be smaller than that of the document text.

Repeat Steps 2-5 for Each Citation

A new number is needed for each citation (even if the reference is the same).
For some citation styles, if a reference is the same as the one in the footnote above it, the word Ibid can be used in place of the entire reference. If the page number is different, that will still need to be specified.

Insert Any Missed Citations

If a citation was originally missed, don't worry. Follow Steps 2-5 for the missed citation, and Word will automatically renumber everything accordingly.