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Citation mechanics

Endnote

A note collected at the end of a chapter, article, or book rather than at the foot of the page, but otherwise identical to a footnote.

Endnotes use the same superscript numbering and the same content as footnotes; only the position changes. Publishers often prefer them because they keep the page clean and make typesetting easier, especially where notes are long.

The trade-off is the reader's. A footnote is read in place; an endnote requires flipping. Where notes are purely bibliographic that cost is low, which is why endnotes are common in trade non-fiction and rarer in scholarship where notes carry argument.

Do not confuse the term with EndNote, the reference manager — a capital N and no space.

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