Footnote marks at end of a sentence?

Question

I find it common in my writing to end up a sentence with a footnote reference mark. Should the footnote mark come before the stop or after it? ... this is some text¹. ... this is some text.¹

Answer 1

It depends on the specific style manual/guide that you are following. There are some common styles that lots of places use, such as Chicago, APA, MLA, and AP. Each field tends to have a specific style that is common or required in it. Check the manual for the specific style that you're using. Some styles use in-text citations and some use footnotes, and where the footnote is placed should also be marked in the guide.

Answer 2

The APA, Chicago, and MLA style guides state that superscripts go after the punctuation. This includes when the citation follows a clause rather than the end of a sentence. However, if the punctuation is a dash, the superscript should come before it.