How Do I Format Endnotes in Turabian/Chicago Style?

If you cite your sources in your thesis or dissertation (or class paper) using numbered notes, you may have the option of using endnotes rather than footnotes. Endnotes appear at the end of the paper rather than at the foot of the page.

Unless your department specifies, use footnotes, which are easier to read. But if your notes are so long or numerous that they take up too much space on the page, endnotes are usually the better choice. Endnotes are also better at accommodating tables, quoted poetry, or anything else that may require extra space.

Here’s how to format endnotes for a Chicago-style paper following the guidelines in Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.

Put endnotes after the main text and any appendixes but before the bibliography.
Center the title Notes at the top of the first page and add two blank lines after.
For the note numbers, use normal text with a period and space after, or use superscript (to match the corresponding note numbers in the main text) with a space but no period after.
If note numbers restart with 1 in each chapter, add chapter subheads.
Leave the right margin “ragged.”
Indent the first line of each note half an inch like a paragraph in the main text.
Single-space each note, and add a blank line between notes (and two blank lines before chapter subheads).

(Note that if you are using author-date style, your paper will not have endnotes.)

To see what a page of endnotes looks like, consult the sample below. For more details, see chapters 16 and 17 in the Turabian Manual. See also section A.2.3.4 in the Turabian appendix on paper format and submission.

Sample Page of Endnotes

IMPORTANT: Your instructor’s requirements may overrule Chicago’s formatting recommendations!

The T urabian tip sheets illustrate everything you need to know for formatting a student paper in Chicago style. They are fully compatible with The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.). You can print them and download them.