The History Research Process

It is rarely if ever necessary to quote—or even to summarize or paraphrase—every single source on a topic. You will quote, paraphrase, or summarize only key sources that are essential to support your point or argument. 

With many other sources, you simply need a way to indicate that:

• there is a body of work available;
• you have done your research and are familiar with the essential components of that body of work;
• you are directing your readers to that body of work if they need more information.

You can do this with a footnote that simply lists multiple citations introduced by “See, for example,” or “See also.”

"See, for example"

For example, you might write something like:

Over the past thirty years, historical scholarship has seen a shift in attitudes on this point.¹

¹ See, for example, John Doe, Book of New Attitudes (New York: Oxford Press, 1995); Jane Doe, New Scholarship (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002); and Michael Michaelson, "Article with New Ideas," Journal of American History 76, no. 2 (April 2012): 999.

It is difficult to tell this from just one sentence, of course, but in this case, the works of John Doe, Jane Doe, and Michael Michaelson are not quoted, paraphrased or summarized in this paper. We are not engaging with any of these individual sources. We are simply identifying them as sample items within a certain body of scholarship that readers could consult for more detail.

"See also"

Alternately, your footnote might comment briefly on one source and then identify other related sources:

Over the past thirty years, historical scholarship has seen a shift in attitudes on this point.¹

¹ John Doe's work in this area is particularly notable, as he debates the assumed significance of the committee on this decision. John Doe, Book of New Attitudes (New York: Oxford Press, 1995). See also Jane Doe, New Scholarship (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002); and Michael Michaelson, "Article with New Ideas," Journal of American History 76, no. 2 (April 2012): 999.

This footnote adds some "sidenote" detail to the sentence from the main narrative and cites a particularly important work from this body of literature. Then we indicate that the reader should "see also" these other two key examples of works in this body.