Footnotes

In general it is best to steer clear of footnotes: they are distracting for readers, they break the flow of writing, and they can cause problems in documents. Use them only to give sources for your facts and quotations in formal reports. In press releases and other short documents for general audiences, it is better to build the source into the text than give it separately. You might say, for example, “According to the European Commission’s 2002 report “The Adequacy and Sustainability of Pensions”, every EU-15 country will have to increase spending …”

However, if you need to use them, the important thing is to be consistent. The Economist uses these clear and natural formats.

Articles in magazines

“Article Title”, by Author, Publication, Month year.
“Optimal Obfuscation: Democracy and Trade Policy Transparency”, by Daniel Kono, American Political Science Review, August 2006.

Articles in journals

“Article Title”, by Author(s), Publication, vol. volume: page numbers, year.
“Sex Differences in the Brain: Implications for Explaining Autism”, by Simon Baron-Cohen et al., Science, vol. 310: 819-822, 2005.

Books and brochures

“Book Title”, by Author(s), Publisher, year.
“The Life-Course Perspective on Work and Retirement”, by J Henretta, Baywood Publishing, 2003.