Google today is pushing out a small update to G Suite apps like Docs, Sheets, and Slides which introduces an easy to insert footnote citation in your work. Whether you use apps like Docs primarily for work or even for school, the ability to add a citation easily and without much hassle will ensure that you’re always citing back to a relevant source that may be needed. Once the update gets pushed to these applications, which Google states will take around one to three business days for this new feature to appear, users will be able to click one single button and add a footnote into their context which contains the source.
Google’s improvement to the Explore feature is certainly one that aims to ensure credits are given where they should be, but also one of efficiency as all or most of their decisions with apps like these tend to be. Docs, Sheets, and Slides are all apps which hinge on providing good services for better productivity, and making it as easy as possible to insert a citation footnote with a single click should display this pretty well.
While this is likely to be of quite a bit of use to many users, it is worth noting that this is only available through Explore via the web right now, and Google does not mention when they may be bringing the feature to the Android apps or other platforms. Alongside adding the new citation feature to Explore, users will have the ability to change the format of their citations to best fit their content, so whether they use MLA, APA, or Chicago styles, each one of the three is available as a selection, and users need only tap on “change citation format” following the add of a citation footnote to use the format that works for them. In addition to the new Explore feature, Google also notes that G Suite for Education customers will soon have access to the Explore feature in Docs as they have put the feature on a scheduled release track, which likely means it should be usable sometime later on this week.