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Screenshot e-Book from Ebook Central

EPUB-e-Books: How to cite without page numbers?

Since the introduction of the European accessibility act, which aims to improve the accessibility of products and services, the EPUB format has been preferred to the PDF format as the standard for the online provision of e-books. Several e-book providers such as Ebook Central (Proquest) point out this change in recent reports, as it has an impact on the use of e-books in their portals.

What is problematic about this?

EPUB files adapt flexibly to screen sizes and fonts. The disadvantage: there are no fixed page numbers in the documents. In science, however, page numbers are required in many citation guidelines in order to make citations retrievable. In this blog article, we explain how to cite from EPUBs despite the lack of page pagination.

Screenshot of a “page view” of an EPUB e-book in Ebook Central. The “page number” at the bottom right can vary.

What alternatives are there to specifying pages?

What to do if the EPUB format does not provide fixed pages? There are various alternatives for referencing citations from EPUB files:

  • Chapter or section numbers (e.g. chapter 3, paragraph 4)
  • shortened versions of chapter or section headings
  • Percentages or positions (e.g. 45%, 1654 loc for Kindle readers)

What do the official handbooks say?

If you look at the relevant manuals, you will find rules on how to cite in continuous text or footnotes and how to create bibliographies. We show some examples here. However, deviations are possible in individual cases, as even the handbooks leave room for interpretation in places.

STYLE REFERENCE LIST | SAMPLE REFERENCE LIST | EXAMPLE In-Text-CITATION | EXAMPLE
APA Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book: Subtitle of book (Edition, if applicable). Publisher. DOI or nondatabase URL (if available) Mankiw, N G. (2025). Macroeconomics (12th ed.). Macmillan. (Mankiw, 2025, Chapter 2-1)
Chicago Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of the Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. DOI or URL (if available) or name of database. e-book reader. with URL from commercial database:

Mankiw, Nicholas Gregory. Macroeconomics. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2025. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/tuchemnitz/detail.action?docID=31813253

with indicating e-book format when used via e-book reader:

Mankiw, Nicholas Gregory. Macroeconomics. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central. EPUB.

 Foot- or Endnotes are used. Example:

“Economists distinguish between two types of quantity variables: stocks and flows. A stock is a quantity measured at a given point in time, whereas a flow is a quantity measured per unit of time.”²

Foot-/Endnote:
2. Nicholas Gregory Mankiw, Macroeconomics (Macmillan Publishers, 2025), chap. 2-1, EPUB.
Harvard

(nach: Cite Them Right 2022)

 Author surname(s), initial(s). (Year Published) Title. Edition.  [e-book reader]. Place of Publication: Publisher. Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: day month year). Mankiw, N. G. (2025) Macroeconomics. 12th edn. [EPUB]. New York, NY: Macmillan. Available at: ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/tuchemnitz/detail.action?docID=31813253&ppg=295 (Accessed: 19 February 2025). (Mankiw, 2025, chapter 2-1).
MLA Last Name, First Name of First Author, et al. Title of Book: Subtitle if Any. Edition if given and is not first edition, e-book ed., Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication. Name of Database, DOI number/URL/Permalink or e-book format. with URL from commercial database:

Mankiw, Nicholas Gregory. Macroeconomics. 12th ed., e-book ed., Macmillan, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/tuchemnitz/detail.action?docID=31813253&ppg=295.

with indicating e-book format when used via e-book reader:

Mankiw, Nicholas Gregory. Macroeconomics. 12th ed., e-book ed., Macmillan, 2025. EPUB.

 (Mankiw, ch. 2-1)
IEEE J. K. Author, “Title of chapter in the book,” in Title of Published Book, xth ed. City of Publisher, State, Country: Abbrev. of Publisher, year, ch. x, sec. x. [Online]. Available: http://www.web.com [1] N. G. Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 12th ed. New York, NY, USA: Macmillan (Inc.), 2025. [Online]. Available: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/tuchemnitz/detail.action?docID=31813253&ppg=295 consecutive numbering of references in text: [1, ch. 2-1]

What else should be considered when referencing e-books?

If possible, a DOI or (nondatabase) URL with access date should always be linked in order to make the source clearly traceable. In general, the DOI is preferable to the URL in the citation context, as it never changes and always refers to the same target object. If there is only one URL and this URL links to a source in a commercial database behind a paywall, it can be replaced by the name of the database (e.g. ProQuest Ebook Central) according to some regulations. However, the APA guidelines explicitly state that the name of a database may be omitted if the sources can also be found elsewhere (e.g. on another platform).

Some citation guidelines recommend specifying the format of the e-book reader used, such as Kindle or EPUB, when citing from e-books that are accessed without a URL on an e-reader, an e-reader app or on a computer with e-reader software.

Where can I find more information?

For all those who want to delve deeper: The most important citation standards provide helpful information – especially on detailed questions regarding the correct citation of e-books without page numbers. The current editions of the regulations can be found in the University Library collection:

In addition, our MIKA e-learning module on Citation & Referencing provides a comprehensive overview of academic citing and referencing in general (it will be availabe in English soon). We are also happy to discuss all questions relating to citation and reference management with Zotero and Citavi in our personal “Book a Librarian” consultations.

 

Service
Screenshot Academic Search

EBSCO databases with a new look!

EBSCOhost has moved to a newly designed graphical user interface. This relates to all EBSCO-databases licensed by the University Library:

  • Academic Search Premier
  • American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection
  • American Bibliography of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ABSEEES)
  • Business Source Complete
  • Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS)
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete
  • Computer Source
  • eBook Collection
  • EconLit with Full Text
  • Education Source
  • Ergonomics Abstracts
  • ERIC
  • GreenFILE
  • Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
  • Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies
  • MLA Directory of Periodicals
  • MLA International Bibliography
  • Political Science Complete
  • APA PsycArticles
  • APA PsycInfo
  • APA PsycTherapy
  • MEDLINE
  • PSYNDEX Literature with PSYNDEX Tests
  • Regional Business News
  • SocINDEX with Full Text
  • The Nation Archive (DFG), The New Republic Archive (DFG)
  • Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text
  • LGBTQ+ Source

In the drop-down menus below the search mask, filters such as publication period, document type or peer review as well as various search modes (e.g. AND/OR operators, “Also search in full text”) can be set before the search is carried out. Depending on the database selected, a list of relevant publications and a subject thesaurus are also available:

Screenshot of the EBSCO-Academic Search: Filter options, search mode settings, publication lists and thesauri can be found – depending on the selected database – in the menu below the search mask.

After the search, a pop-up menu can be opened by selecting “All filters” below the search mask. Here, further filters can be defined:

Screenshot of EBSCO-Academic Search: Filter options after the search

The “Document available?” button can also be used to check directly whether literature without full-text availability in EBSCO is licensed via other university library services:

Screenshot of EBSCO-Academic Search: The “Document available?” button is used to check whether the document searched for is licensed via another service of the library.

Only the indexes previously offered (e.g. index of persons) are no longer available. Instead, name suggestions are made directly when an author’s name is entered in the Author search field:

Screenshot of the EBSCO-Academic Search: suggestions are made when text is entered in the search field.

The functionalities in the dashboard for saved articles and searches as well as for citation have been expanded.

For more information, see the introductory tutorials to the new EBSCOhost or contact the library. All databases can be accessed via DBIS.

 

E-media, Service

New E-Media 2025

A futuristic and stylish library interior with people sitting and interacting with electronic media devices. The scene includes users reading e-books.

AI: DALL-E / AI-Promter: Tino Riedel

Whether in the library, on campus or from home, the e-offers (e-books, e-journals, databases) of the university library are always available to you. We have also revised our offering for the year 2025. We would like to inform you here about innovations and changes in this area.

We have compiled all the information on the expansion of the offer in a structured overview.

We would like to inform you about a new offer in more detail below.

ISO standards in Nautos
In addition to the DIN standards, the Nautos database now also contains a complete edition of the standards of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) with full-text access to the valid ISO standards and drafts. The Nautos standards database is updated monthly. The database can be used in German, English and French. It contains around 2.6 million data records from 28 countries, including standards, technical rules, German legislation with a technical reference, VDI guidelines as well as european (e.g. CEN/CENELEC) and international (e.g. ISO/IEC) rules. Nautos – as the successor product to Perinorm – not only offers research into standards, but also serves as a portal for accessing full texts.

We wish you a lot of pleasure in learning, researching and browsing through our new e-offers.

Open Science

Road2Openness – together in the Open Science Strategy Workshop

Decorative image for the tag Strategiewerkstatt; Policy; Lizenzen; Empfehlung; nachhaltige Organisationsstruckturen

Road2Openness – together in the Open Science Strategy Workshop – AI: Adobe Firefly / AI-Promter: Tino Riedel

Road2Openness – together in the Open Science Strategy Workshop Chemnitz University of Technology is one of five higher education institutions that have successfully applied to take part in the Open Science Strategy Workshop of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e.V. (Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany). As part of the project, the Stifterverband will support them for a year with workshops, consultation hours, exchange and networking.

Chemnitz University of Technology is represented by Professor Strobel, Vice-Rector for Research and University Development, and Ms. Malz, Head of the University Library. The targeted participation of the management level and the practical perspective should lead to synergy effects for Open Science (OS).

The primary task is to develop an OS policy for Chemnitz University of Technology. To this end, existing structures are to be built upon and, if necessary, the existing Open Science initiative of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is to be further developed into a university-wide structure.

Specific objectives are the adoption of an Open Science strategy, including recommendations on open licences, open research data, the sensible use of AI and the creation of an organizational basis for permanent, effective cross-organizational structures and workflows.

Findings from the project strengthen our own expertise on Open Science, which in turn can be incorporated into other projects, for example in the European-funded project “across European Cross-Border University”. There, the task group “Across border R&I projects” deals with the implementation of Open Science in the 10 participating European Universities in order to implement sustainable models for the sharing of knowledge in cross-border regions.

 

 

E-media, Events, Open Science, Science

Open Access: Yes – but not at any cost!

Open Access Week 2024

Open Access Week 2024 – Change my mind!

The panelists agree on the fact that “Open Access is important and the right way” – but not at all costs.

Adherents of Chemnitz University of Technology on the fields of research and teaching, junior scientists and students met the Open Science Team last week within the International Open Access Week

On Monday, Magdalena Lemke from the Open Science Initiative of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences started within an event of the student initiative “Critical Introduction Days” (KRETA) with a sceptic question and a reflected answer: “Science for All? Open Science and capitalist structures”. Within the workshop, not only interesting information about objectives of Open Science, the history of Open Access and current developments were presented – but also critical topics like high publication charges and the re-emerging monopoly position of some publishers were intensively discussed.

The day after, the Open Science Team made the more or less provocative assumption “All research results shall be open to the public. CHANGE MY MIND!”. This statement provoked discussions – some were immediately convinced, others questioned this assumption and talked about barriers and doubts. In that way, a valuable exchange resulted enabling a mutual insight in the publication culture and practice of different subjects on the one hand and in the (Open Science) services of the Library on the other.

On Thursday, the Open Science Team met with invited speakers and interested persons for a controversial discussion. The contributions included criticism towards excessive charges for Open Access articles as well as the partly deficient quality of peer review-procedures applying to Open Access- as well as to Non-Open Access-journals. In particular, the business practices of the Open Access-publisher MDPI was criticized. The mass sending of emails to authors inviting for publication, editorial activities or reviews were judged as especially annoying. However, the publisher also includes recognized journals with high impact and DOAJ-Seal (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) as quality label. For this reason, a particularly comprehensive check of the respective journal is recommendable.

Extremely high article processing charges such as raised by Nature may exclude certain user groups from publication. In this context, the publishers argue with their high editorial expenses. Research results may be made openly accessible currently also without costs on preprintservers. However, in general they are not reviewed. In addition, publishers and/ or Academies of Sciences may offer scientific publications of particularly high quality in the form of special editions or generate added value by abstracts. The particularly challenging publishing conditions for doctoral students were aborded as well. Severe time constraints may force for selection of publishers with short review delays. A comment from the audience addressed also cumulative academic works which have to be published in compliance with legal regulations. In the end, the interesting discussion had to be terminated for the moment due to time restrictions. The event was a successful start for a mutual exchange which has to be continued in any case.

The dedication of awards to Open Access-pioneers at Chemnitz University of Technology was the conclusion and the highlight of the activities within the Open Access Week. Awards in different categories rewarded the engagement on different paths to Open Access: the Green Way (publications in repositories, 2023), the Golden Way (publications in Gold-Open Access-journals, 2023) and the Diamond Way (management of the Open Access-journal “Journal for Semiotics”) being published as print by Stauffenburg Publishing. The editors, Professur Fricke and Dr. Siefkes, were awarded for their successful negotiations for time-shift Open Access-publishing of the editions.

Awarded as well was the first University Library-funded Open Access monograph “Deutsche Jüd_innen in Chile: Bürger:innenwerdung im Kontext von historischen Verflechtungen und Rassismusinformationen“ by Dr. Ana Maria Troncoso. This book will be shortly available at Transcript Publishing with the license CC BY 4.0.

We thank all participants for the interesting conversations, opinions and discussions and are looking forward to jointly further promote and enhance Open Science.

E-media, Service

New design for Database Information System DBIS

The database information system DBIS has been shining in a new design since October 15, 2024!
With the latest version, the layout and user interface have been completely redesigned to give you a more modern and intuitive user experience. It is now not only available in German, but also in English.

DBIS helps you to find the right databases for your research needs.
In DBIS we show you which databases are freely available and provide you with access to our licensed databases.
The new DBIS version was developed in a DFG project 440516279 (funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
The University Library of Regensburg, in broad cooperation with the (inter)national library system, further developed the database information system into a web service closely aligned to the new needs of users. DBIS lists all important information on databases, enables a quick and well-founded selection and allows individual views to be flexibly adapted. Over 370 participating.