Q. I am unable to locate, by any means, where the CMS says that note superscripts follow all punctuation except dashes; I had to Google to find an answer. Why should it be so hard to search? I tried searching semicolon, footnote, etc., and no subhead suggested a likely answer.
A. Try our new search engine, introduced along with the 17th edition. Typing “note number punctuation” will return paragraph 14.26 (on the placement of note numbers) as the first hit. You can also try the chapter 14 table of contents, where you’ll see the same paragraph.
The index is another way to find a topic. For instance, under “note numbers” you’ll find “placement of, 14.26, 14.27.” I hope you find our new search engine to be an improvement—and that you’ll keep all three search methods in mind as you navigate CMOS in the future.