Q. I am editing a nonfiction trade book for an author who wants to use endnotes that begin with specific words in the text but that have no note numbers in the text. We are in rather strong disagreement about this. First, what do you call this style? Second, is this the new standard in trade publishing?
A. It isn't new; some University of Chicago Press books have used it. We call it “notes keyed to text.” It's especially favored for books meant for a general readership, because it's a little friendlier than those scholarly note numbers.