Use your wordprocessor’s footnote function, which will automatically renumber footnotes if you make changes.to let your reader know that you are aware that a particular term or argument is problematic in a specific way, and to give your reasons for employing it anyway.Again, this is material which would disrupt the flow of your argument too much if it was included in the main part of the dissertation. to give an explanation of a term that may be unfamiliar to your reader, or which has an unusual meaning in this context.You should only use a footnote in this manner if the material you are presenting is directly relevant to your argument, however: it should not be used just to list other items you have read on the subject. Here you are demonstrating that you are aware of wider debates, etc., which are pertinent to your work, but it may be distracting to go into such detail in the main body of your dissertation. to point the examiner/reader to other works which explore a certain issue in more depth.More substantive footnotes are useful in the following cases: If the material is an important part of your argument, it should go in the main body of your essay if it isn’t, ask yourself whether it is really essential to include it at all.

You can also use them to give more substantive information, but as a general rule, you should keep footnotes to a minimum.

Footnotes should primarily be used to reference a text or an idea you have cited in your dissertation.

Footnote meaning