Footnotes vs Endnotes in Turabian

Turabian footnotes vs endnotes comes down to one thing: placement. Both are allowed in Turabian’s notes-bibliography system, and the note itself is worded exactly the same either way. A footnote sits at the bottom of the page; an endnote collects on a “Notes” list at the end of your paper. You can build a Turabian footnote automatically and drop it into either spot without changing a single comma.

This guide uses Turabian 9th edition (2018), which is based on Chicago 17th. If your class uses footnotes and you switch to endnotes later, you’re not re-learning citations. You’re just moving them.

Try it: build a Turabian footnote automatically instead of formatting it by hand, then paste it as a footnote or an endnote.

Footnotes vs endnotes: the quick comparison

The content of the note never changes. Same author order, same italics, same commas, same page number. What changes is where the reader finds it and how you set the page. Here’s the side-by-side.

	Footnotes	Endnotes
Where the note appears	Bottom of the same page as the number	A “Notes” list after the main text
Reading experience	Reader glances down, no page-flipping	Reader jumps to the back to check a source
Best for	Papers where sources matter as you read; history, theology	Clean body text; note-heavy work with long discursive notes
Note wording	Identical to the endnote version	Identical to the footnote version
Number in the text	Superscript, after the punctuation	Superscript, after the punctuation
Instructor preference	Common default for coursework	Often preferred for longer theses and some journals

Most instructors have a preference, and it usually wins over yours. Footnotes are the more common default for class papers because the reader can check a citation without losing their place. Endnotes keep the page uncluttered, which some departments like for book-length theses. When your syllabus is silent, footnotes are the safer pick.

One case tips toward endnotes: notes that carry commentary, not just a citation. If your notes often add a sentence or two of discussion, a column of long footnotes can swallow the bottom of every page. Moving those to a Notes list keeps the reading page clean while the discussion still lives in the paper. If your notes are almost always a bare citation, footnotes read better. Practices vary by field and by instructor, so check your assignment sheet before you commit.

The note text is the same either way

Here’s the proof. This is the full note form for a one-author book, straight from the canonical Turabian pattern. Read it as a footnote, then read it as an endnote. Nothing about the citation moves.

Full note (as a footnote, sitting at the bottom of the page):

1. Eleanor Hart, The Reforming Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 52.

Full note (as an endnote, sitting on the Notes page):

1. Eleanor Hart, The Reforming Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 52.

Same line, twice. The author’s name stays in normal order, the title stays italic, the publication facts stay in parentheses, and the page number stays at the end after a comma. If you learned to format footnotes, you already know how to format Turabian endnotes.

The shortened form behaves the same way. When you cite Hart’s book a second time, the trimmed note is identical in both placements:

Shortened note (footnote or endnote, same text):

2. Hart, Reforming Century, 61.

The number in your text works the same way for both. It’s a superscript numeral placed after the punctuation, one per note, counting up from 1 across the whole paper. So a sentence ending in a source reads: the reform movement reshaped the parish.¹ The number sits after the period. The one exception is a dash, where the superscript goes before it. That number never resets per page or per chapter unless your instructor asks for chapter-by-chapter numbering, which is more common in long theses split into distinct chapters.

For the deeper rules on building these notes, subsequent references, and the matching bibliography, see the complete guide to Turabian footnotes. For trimming a repeat citation down, see how to write a shortened footnote; the short form is identical whether it lives at the foot of the page or on the Notes page.

How to format an endnotes “Notes” page in Turabian

If you go with endnotes, you build one dedicated page. Getting the notes page Turabian setup right is where students lose easy points. Follow these rules.

• Heading: center the word Notes at the top of the page. That’s the standard label; some instructors accept “Endnotes.”
• Where it sits: the Notes page comes after the main text and before the bibliography. Order is body → Notes → bibliography. Putting it after the bibliography is a common and costly error.
• Numbering: notes are numbered in one continuous sequence that matches the superscript numbers in your text. Note 14 in the text is note 14 on the page.
• Note format: start each entry with a full-size number, a period, and a space (1. ), then the citation. The first line is indented like a paragraph (0.5”). This matches footnote formatting exactly.
• Spacing: single-space within each note, and leave a blank line between notes. The list is single-spaced within entries even though your body text is double-spaced.

So a stretch of your Notes page, mixing source types, looks like this:

1. Eleanor Hart, The Reforming Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 52.

2. Susan Blackwood, “Reading the Margins,” Journal of Medieval History 42, no. 3 (2016): 210.

3. Maria Torres, “Preserving Colonial Archives,” National History Center, March 3, 2019, https://www.example.org/colonial-archives.

Notice the bibliography is still a separate thing. The bibliography alphabetizes by last name and uses a hanging indent, like this:

Hart, Eleanor. The Reforming Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Your endnotes and your bibliography are not duplicates you can skip. The Notes list gives sources in the order you cited them, with page numbers for the exact passages you used. The bibliography gives every source once, alphabetized, so a reader can scan your full range of research. Most Turabian papers need both.

How to switch between footnotes and endnotes

This is the part most guides skip, and it’s the thing students actually search for at 1 a.m. You don’t retype anything. Your word processor moves the notes and renumbers them for you.

In Microsoft Word

1. Put your cursor where the number goes, then open the References tab.
2. Click Insert Footnote for a footnote, or Insert Endnote for an endnote. Word adds the superscript and drops you into the note area to type.
3. Word handles numbering automatically. Insert a new note in the middle and everything after it renumbers on its own.

To convert notes you already have, click the small dialog-launcher arrow in the bottom corner of the Footnotes group on the References tab. In the box that opens, choose Convert, then pick “Convert all footnotes to endnotes” (or the reverse), and confirm. Every note moves and renumbers at once. This is the single biggest time-saver in this article.

In Google Docs

Google Docs handles footnotes natively: go to Insert → Footnote (or press Ctrl+Alt+F). The number and the note area appear the same way Word’s do, and Docs renumbers automatically when you add or remove one.

Endnotes are the catch. Google Docs has no built-in endnote button and no one-click convert. Your options are to install a third-party add-on that collects footnotes into an endnotes list, or to build a manual Notes page at the end and type each note yourself. The manual route means you lose automatic renumbering, so save it for a finished draft you won’t reorder. If you know from the start that you need endnotes, drafting in Word is usually less painful. Either way, the citation text you paste is the same.

Slip-ups when placing your notes

Renumbering by hand. Don’t type your own note numbers. Use Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote and let the program count. Manual numbers break the moment you add or delete a note, and graders notice a note 7 that follows a note 9.

Putting the Notes page in the wrong spot. Endnotes go before the bibliography, not after it. Body text, then Notes, then bibliography. Flipping the last two is one of the most frequent formatting deductions.

Mixing both systems in one paper. Pick footnotes or endnotes and commit. A paper with some sources at the foot of the page and others in a back list is confusing and looks like an accident. If you convert, convert all of them.

Assuming endnotes replace the bibliography. They don’t. Unless your instructor says otherwise, keep both the Notes list and the alphabetized bibliography. A note gives the page you cited; the bibliography shows the whole source, so each one does a job the other can’t.

Retyping the citation when you switch. The wording is identical. Convert the notes; don’t rebuild them. For confirmation of the note pattern, the Turabian notes and bibliography quick guide from the University of Chicago shows the same full-note format used above.

Footnote vs endnote questions

Are endnotes allowed in Turabian, or do I have to use footnotes? Both are allowed in the notes-bibliography system. Turabian 9th edition treats footnotes and endnotes as equal options, so use whichever your instructor prefers.

Do footnotes and endnotes use different formatting? No. The note text, punctuation, italics, and page numbers are identical. Only the location changes, plus the heading and spacing rules for the endnotes Notes page.

Where does the Notes page go in Turabian? After the main text and before the bibliography. The order is body, then Notes, then bibliography.

Do I still need a bibliography if I use endnotes? Yes, in most cases. Turabian endnotes and the bibliography do different jobs; keep both unless your instructor tells you to drop one.

How do I convert footnotes to endnotes without retyping? In Word, open the References tab, click the small arrow in the Footnotes group, choose Convert, and confirm. Every note moves and renumbers automatically.

Choosing footnotes or endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes are the same citation in two locations. Learn the note format once, follow your instructor’s placement rule, and let your word processor do the moving and counting. When you need the note itself formatted right the first time, use the Turabian citation generator and paste the result wherever your paper wants it.