When using an online library, tool, framework or something similar, what is the proper way to reference it in an article?
(I work in Computer Science). For example, I want to say that many popular implementations of the method presented in [article reference] use a slightly modified version of the main formula. I mention some examples for the implementation (e.g. OpenCV, VLFeat).
When thinking of a way to reference this, I have several dilemmas:
- I could put a small explanation in a footnote or add it to the list of references
- I could use the link to the main webpage or to an online manual
- do I reference it at all?
This question about how to reference Python is somewhat similar. The difference is that the tools I want to reference are fairly well known in my community (unlike Python for biologists). In short, I am looking for a good way to acknowledge tools, frameworks or libraries not associated to any article in my writing.