Citation questions have often arisen from students who are using web sources that are embedded in "frames." The problem arises when the student has located a useful web source, but notices when recording the URL that the only address available is always the same "top-level" URL of the website itself. The use of 'frames' is increasingly less common nowadays, but one example of how one would encounter such pages is at 'Kaarinan kotisivut'.

This is the result of a "frames"-based website design, so that the individual pages of the site always display within a "frame window," usually to the right side of a "menu window" on the left of the screen. The problem with frames-embedded sources is that there seems no obvious way to get the specific URL of each individual page used as a source, which is necessary for proper citation, as the top-level URL itself is not enough to help viewers determine which individual page(s) from where within a large website were actually consulted.

With some sites the problem is compounded, as some web designers also link to pages from altogether different websites, which still look within the "frame" as if they were part of the "originating" website. Thus a citation of the top-level URL as the source would not be accurate.

However, the solution to this problem is simple, via one of two methods:

1. Method One: In the source page within a framed website, right-click your mouse on the text of the page. An option menu will appear. At the bottom of this menu should appear the word "properties." Left-click on this choice; you will then get a description of the various properties of the page, including its specific URL. Use this URL for your citation; it will go directly to the source page, bypassing the frames menu. (If you want a link to the top-level frames menu, embed that URL in the "publisher" detail of your Works Cited entry.)

2. Method Two: Right-click on the link from the upper-level 'frames' page to your source page. In the resulting menu, one of the choices will be "open frame in new window." If you left-click this option, the source page should open in a separate browser window without the original "framed" information on the left side of the screen (if it doesn't, make sure you have clicked on part of the text and not, for example, an icon or other graphic element in the page). The separate window will show the specific URL of the source page in the address bar of your browser. Again, use this URL for your Works Cited entry.

With method #2, it is generally easier to copy and paste the source page URL from the address bar of the page when opened as a "new window" rather than from the 'properties' listing of method #1, which often breaks longer URLs into two or more lines.

Sometimes, however, a sub-link within a frame cannot be opened in a separate window. See an example of this (plus several other interesting points) in the Works Cited of Johanna Seppälä's paper on Differences in the British and American Versions of Bridget Jones's Diary.

In such a case, the only thing one can do, as Johanna had done, is to use an author note to explain the location and background of the source being cited.