The Notes and Bibliography citation style is primarily used in the humanities, such as history, literature studies, and (continental) philosophy. Source citations are shown in footnotes at the bottom of each page or in endnotes at the end of the paper. Each citation has a number that corresponds to a number in the body of the text. There is a bibliography at the end of the paper in which all works are stated again. Each publication type determines how you have to cite the sources used. Citations in footnotes or endnotes look different than references in the bibliography.
Some general rules:
In the first citation of a specific book in the footnotes or endnotes, you provide complete information on the source.
The different components of a citation are separated using commas (with the exception the title and subtitle) and you end the citation with a full stop. In subsequent citations to the same book, you can use an abbreviated version. Below is an example of how a citation should look:
1. First name Surname, Full title in italics: Subtitle (Publisher, year), page number.
2. First name Surname, Full title in italics: Subtitle (Publisher, year), URL or DOI.
3. Surname, Abbr. title in italics, page number.
4. Gert-Jan van der Heiden, Ontology after Ontotheology: Plurality, Event, and Contingency in Contemporary Philosophy (Duquesne University Press, 2015).
5. Van der Heiden, Ontology after Ontotheology, 230.
In the bibliography, you provide the surname and first name of the author or editor, the full title and subtitle in italics and the year of publication (not between brackets in the bibliography). The different components of the citation are distinguished using full stops (not with commas as in the footnotes and endnotes). A book citation appears in the bibliography as follows:
Surname, First name. Full title and subtitle in italics. Publisher, year of publication.
Van der Heiden, Gert-Jan. Ontology after Ontotheology: Plurality, Event, and Contingency in Contemporary Philosophy. Duquesne University Press, 2015.
In the case of one or two authors/editors, se the same order of names as on the title page of the book. The names are separated using commas and the last name is preceded by “and”. If you are referring to editors, place “ed.” (one editor) or "eds." (multiple editors) after the last editor. In the case of more than two authors/editors, only provide the name of the first and follow with 'et al.' (from the Latin et alia: 'and others').
1. First name Surname et al. eds., Full title in italics: Subtitle (Publisher, year), page number.
2. Surname et al., Abbr. title in italics, page number.
3. Chris Hermans et al., eds., Social Constructionism and Theology. (Brill, 2002).
In the bibliography, the surname of the first author comes first, followed by a comma and the first name of the first author. For subsequent authors, the first name comes first and is followed by the surname. In the case of more than six authors/editors, only provide the names of the first three, followed by 'et al.'
Surname, First name, First name Surname, and First name Surname. Full title and subtitle in italics. Publisher, year of publication.
Hermans Chris, Gerrit Immink, Albert de Jong, and Jan van der Lans, eds. Social Constructionism and Theology. Brill, 2002.
In the first citation of a specific book, you provide complete information on the source in the footnotes or endnotes:
1. First name Surname, Full title in italics: Subtitle , trans. First name Surname (Publisher, year), page number.
2. Surname, Abbr. title in italics, page number.
3. Friedrich Schleiermacher, Hermeneutics: the Handwritten Manuscripts, trans. Heinz Kimmerle (Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion, 1977), 44.
4. Schleiermacher, Hermeneutics, 56.
The title is followed by: “Translated by First name Surname” or “Edited by First name Surname”, ended with a full stop and then followed by the publication information.
Surname, First name. Full title and subtitle in italics. Translated by First name Surname. Publisher, year of publication.
Schleiermacher, Friedrich. Hermeneutics: the Handwritten Manuscripts. Translated by Heinz Kimmerle. Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion, 1977.
In the first citation, you provide complete source information:
The different components of a citation are distinguished using commas (with the exception of between the title or subtitle) and you end the citation with a full stop. Please note that the comma after the title of the chapter must be between the quotation marks. In subsequent citations to the same chapter, you can use an abbreviated version. A citation for a chapter from a book with multiple editors appears as follows:
In the bibliography, you provide the first name and surname of the author, the title of the chapter between quotation marks followed by “In” and the full title and subtitle in italics, “Edited by” the name of the editor and the year of publication (not between brackets in the bibliography). The different components of the citation are distinguished using full stops (not with commas as in the footnotes and endnotes). A citation for a chapter from a book by multiple authors appears in the bibliography as follows:
Surname, First name. "Title of the Chapter." In Full title and Subtitle in italics. Edited by First name Surname. Publisher, year of publication.
Schweitzer, Friedrich. "Social Constructionism and Religious Education: Towards a New Dialogue." In Social Constructionism and Theology, edited by Chris Hermans, Gerard Immink, Aad de Jong, and Jan van der Lans. Brill, 2002.
A citation for an article in a journal requires (at least some of) the following information:
A citation in the footnotes or endnotes for an article in a journal appears as follows:
1. First name Surname, "Title of the article between quotation marks," Title of the journal in italics, 1, no. 1 (2016): page numbers.
2. First name Surname, "Title of the article between quotation marks," Title of the journal in italics, 1 (2016): page numbers, URL or DOI.
3. Surname, “Abbr. title of the article between quotation marks,” page numbers.
4. Victor Caston, "Aristotle's Two Intellects: A Modest Proposal," Phronesis 44, no. 3 (1999): 199-227, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4182619.
5. Caston, "Aristotle's Two Intellects," 203.
Surname, First name. "Title of the article between quotation marks," Title of the journal in italics, 1, no. 1 (2016): page numbers.
Page numbers refers here to the range of the entire article.
Surname, First name. "Title of the article between quotation marks," Title of the journal in italics, 1, no. 1 (2016): page numbers. URL or DOI.
Caston, Victor. "Aristotle's Two Intellects: A Modest Proposal." Phronesis 44, no. 3 (1999): 199-227. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4182619.
If you consulted a well-known encyclopaedia (or other reference work), it suffices to cite the reference work in the footnotes or endnotes only. Whether you include the reference in your bibliography as well depends on what kind of encyclopaedia it is. Since rule leaves room for doubt, we recommend that you also include a reference to the encyclopaedia in the bibliography when you are not sure. Please note that there are multiple ways to cite an entry from an encyclopaedia. If it concerns a comprehensive entry that states the author’s name, as in the examples below from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy or Encyclopedia of Christianity Online, the citation is structured differently. See the example below for such a citation.
1. Title of the encyclopaedia, s.v. "Entry," consulted on 03-07-2017, URL or DOI.
2. Title of the encyclopaedia, s.v. "Entry," last modified on 21-12-2016, URL or DOI.
Title of the Encyclopaedia in italics. 1st ed. Publisher, year of publication. URL or DOI.
Title of the Encyclopaedia in italics. Consulted on 03-07-2017. URL or DOI.
Title of the Encyclopaedia in italics. Last modified on 21-12-2016. URL or DOI.
If the encyclopaedia consists of substantial entries of which the author is known, it can also be relevant to specify the author of the article from the encyclopaedia. Examples of these include extensive articles from the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy and the Encyclopaedia of Christianity Online. If the author of the entry is indicated in the citation, it will look like a citation for a contribution to a book with multiple authors.
1. First name, Surname, "Title of entry," in Title of Encyclopaedia (Publisher, year of publication).
2. First name, Surname, "Title of entry," in Title of Encyclopaedia, consulted on 03-07-2017, URL or DOI.
First name, Surname "Title of the entry." In Title of the Encyclopaedia. Encyclopaedia publication information. Article publication information or date consulted. DOI or URL.
It is often sufficient to simply mention a website in the text or include a citation in the footnotes or endnotes only. Since the content of websites changes often, it is recommended that you state the date you accessed it or the date it was last modified.
The following components may appear in the citation:
1. "Title or description of the page," Author, Site owner, date of publication/modification/access, URL.
Owner or author. "Title of the page or a description of the page." Date of publication/modification/access. URL.
Geestelijke verzorging in Nederland. "Wat is geestelijke verzorging." Accessed August 12, 2025. https://geestelijkeverzorging.nl/wat-is-geestelijke-verzorging/
A report, mission statement, pamphlet, folder or related source is treated similar to a book. It is not always possible to map all elements of a book citation, but you should provide as much elements as possible to make sure your source can be identified.
If no authors are listed, you can cite according to the title. In that case, also alphabetize according to title in the bibliography. Sometimes it is more fitting to treat the organisation as author, for example when an organisation publishes a pamphlet without listing the authors.
