Space before footnote reference mark?

Question

Is there supposed to be a space before a footnote reference mark? For example:

This is a sentence. ¹

(let's say 1 is the footnote number) or there isn't supposed to be a space, so,

This is a sentence.¹

Which is the preferred way?

There is no universal standard; such concerns are largely a matter of style. Adhere to the discipline of your editor, publication, or organization, or in the absence of a house style, choose a style manual appropriate to your audience and tastes and be consistent in its application. — choster, Feb 15 '18 at 15:32
What is a footnote reference mark?? Do you just mean a footnote number? Footnotes are generally numbered. — Lambie, Apr 16 '18 at 19:57

Ugh_tC · Answer 1 · 2018-02-15T16:41:40.493

6

It depends on your referencing methods - APA, MLA, Oxford, Harvard, Chicago, etc.

Personally, I would omit the space.¹

EDIT:

Purdue OWL is a good place to find information - and they, as well as Wikipedia, don't have spaces.

1 To get ^Superscript, use html formatting like the following <sup>1</sup>

edited Feb 15 '18 at 16:41

answered Feb 15 '18 at 10:56

Ugh_tC

2

But what do the reference methods suggest? – foobar Feb 15 '18 at 14:18
1

For a superscript 1, use Unicode 00B9 (185): ¹ – Andrew Leach Feb 15 '18 at 16:24
3

I have never seen a style guide that suggests leaving a space before a footnote marker. (There may be some, but in 30 years of editing I haven't come across one...) – Kiloran_speaking Mar 17 '18 at 19:13
@Kiloran_speaking Could you please try to answer this related question? – WilliamKF Sep 29 '20 at 15:37

1 Answers1