In-text references to electronic sources, for example websites and electronic books, are given as above, depending on the source. The references normally include the author’s name and the year of publication. If the source has page numbers, they are marked out as well. The Internet address of the source is included only in the list of references, never in the in-text reference. Page numbers are marked out always when they exist in the source.
In case page numbering is not used in the electronic book, the chapter or paragraph that the reference is based on is mentioned in the in-text reference. Either the chapter number or title can be used when referencing, for example:
If the chapters of the book are numbered:
If the chapters are not numbered, the chapter title is included in the in-text reference:
An in-text reference can be made even more exact by referring to a specific paragraph in the source material. In this case the first words of the source paragraph are included in the in-text reference:
In case the author of an Internet site cannot be identified, and only the organization responsible for the site maintenance is known, this organization is used in the in-text reference as the author.
In case the responsible organization of a site is not identifiable, the in-text reference includes the name of the work/ article or the title of the web page. However, if the responsible person or organization behind a web page cannot be identified, it is worth questioning if that source can be used in a thesis at all.
The title of a web page can be used in the in-text reference also if referring to the web page title is more exact than referring to the organization behind it. The reason can be, for example, the organization having very extensive web pages.
Other examples of cases when references often use the title of the electronic document are texts in social media. The more exact information on availability and form of publication is then provided in the list of references.