So to branch out, what footnote practice have you guys seen in regards to punctuation? I generally put footnotes after punctuation, the idea being the footnote relates to the entire sentence or clause, not just a single word. However, if the footnote were to relate to only a single garg1, which itself is followed by a punctuation mark such as a comma, then I could be motivated to move it inside.
A quick search told me almost all style guides agree that footnotes go after punctuation,2 and in most cases at the end of a sentence unless there is a compelling reason to put it inside. (Footnotes inside parentheses go inside parentheses.3) Has anyone ever seen other styles?
1"garg" means "word". Okay really I just needed to use a footnote to illustrate. But really you could say "why did I need to read this after reading 'garg'? Why not finish the sentence, or clause, and then go to the footnote?". So maybe there's no good reason to do what I did here, and it would be better to say, "if the footnote were to relate to only a single garg,1 which itself..." or even "if the footnote were to relate to only a single garg, which itself is followed by a punctuation mark such as a comma, then I could be motivated to move it inside.1". Can footnotes reference themselves through a footnote? Cue appropriate xkcd comic.
2I.e., like this, not like that dirty 1 above.
3Like this.