Proper citation of sources is necessary to give credit to the authors whose work informed yours, to point readers to the sources you used, and to show the breadth of your research. Though endnotes are less commonly used in student or academic papers than in-line citations or footnotes, they are quite common in books, where they make for a cleaner page. The basics of endnotes are always the same – numbered notes within the text refer to numbered entries in a notes section at the end of the document – but there are minor differences depending on whether you use Chicago or MLA (Modern Language Association) style.
Use endnotes to cite sources. If the information or quote you are referencing in an academic paper or book comes from a source, you will need to give your reader the necessary information to look up the information in that source. This is done for a variety of reasons:[1]
To avoid plagiarism, you must correctly attribute ideas and quotations, which is using someone else's ideas or material without acknowledgement (intentionally or unintentionally). If you are a student, plagiarism may result in disciplinary action. If you are an academic or professional, plagiarism will result in, at best, the rejection of your manuscript, and at worst disciplinary action.[2] People have even their degrees revoked when plagiarism was discovered.[3]
To allow the reader to check your work. Proper citations allow readers to look up the quotes and ideas you used in context, to see if they agree with your interpretation.[4]
To allow interested readers to dig deeper. Endnotes allow readers interested in your topic to easily locate the sources that informed it so that they can read them as well.
To show that you have considered a variety of sources. Endnotes allow you to show the reader that you have considered all of the major arguments regarding your given topic, or if you have not, allows them to easily see which authors you have failed to consider.