Viitteen

Viitteen is the genitive singular form of the Finnish noun viite, meaning a reference or citation. In Finnish writing, a viite points to a source that supports a claim, provides data, or offers further reading. Viitteet appear in two main formats: in-text citations (sisäinen viite) and full bibliographic entries listed in a references section (lähdeluettelo or viiteluettelo). Finnish academic styles use parentheses such as (Author, Year) or, in some disciplines, numbered notes; web sources are cited with verkkoviite, the digital form of a reference.

The genitive form viitteen is used to express possession or relation, for example "viitteen tiedot" (the details of the reference) or "viitteen loppuosa" (the latter part of the citation). The plural viitteet designates multiple references and is the usual term for the list of sources at the end of a work. Related terms include viittaus (a citation or cross-reference within the text), lähde (source), and lähdeluettelo (the bibliography). The distinction between viite and verkkoviite is that verkkoviite denotes a web link, whereas viite can refer to any source format, including books, articles, or reports.

In practice, a well-constructed viite helps readers verify information and locate source material efficiently, while a poorly formatted viite can obscure provenance. The concept is central to academic integrity and scholarly communication in Finnish-language texts.