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Q&A

What is the formal way to write a reference in English?

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I am writing my thesis and I need to know the correct way of putting the reference.

For example:

This is a sentence taken from someone [2].

This is a sentence taken from someone[2].

This is a sentence taken from someone. [2]

This is a sentence taken from someone.[2]

As you see in the four sentences above, there are differences in the space placement and the dot placement; which one of these is correct? (or are they all wrong?)

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This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/20554. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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1 answer

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As a typesetter, I would put the number after the period, no space, and then superscript it:

this is a sentence taken from someone.[2]

I feel like this is the most visually pleasing, since the footnote is snugged up to the period, doesn't leave ugly white space under it, and is smaller so it doesn't draw so much attention to itself.

Whether this is correct in terms of various style guides I have no idea.

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