How to Cite a Database in MLA

Citing a database in MLA does not mean citing the database itself — it means citing the work you found inside it and then naming the database as the place you found it. The article keeps its journal, magazine, or newspaper as container one, with all of its original publication details; the database follows as container two, italicized, carrying the DOI or a stable URL. Get that order right and the entry is already correct.

Everything before the database name is exactly what you would write for the print version of the same article. The database adds a second layer of location, not a second citation.

What "Database" Means in MLA

The word covers three different things in practice, and the difference changes what you write:

• A specific database — Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, Project MUSE, NewsBank. This is the most precise answer and the one to use when you know it.
• A platform hosting several databases — EBSCOhost and ProQuest are search platforms, not databases. If the record does not tell you which database you searched, naming the platform is acceptable: it is what you can actually observe.
• A service that is also a website — JSTOR, Google Scholar, and publisher sites present themselves as web pages. Cite what you used, in the same container order.

MLA's own guidance is to document the facts you observe. If a search filter or record header shows the database name, use it. If only the platform is visible, use the platform. An advanced reader who works out the underlying database would not be wrong to name it instead — but you are not expected to dig past what the record shows you.

The Two-Container Structure

MLA's core elements list can repeat: once for each container the source sits inside. A database-hosted journal article sits inside two.

• Container one holds the original publication facts: journal name, volume, issue, date, and page range. These never move.
• Container two holds the access route: database name, then DOI or stable URL.

Notice the punctuation shift: container one's elements are separated by commas, and container two opens after a period. That period signals the start of a new container rather than a continuation of the first.

Journal Article From a Database

This is the standard case — a scholarly article retrieved through a library database, with print pagination preserved:

The page range belongs to container one, and it is the same page range you cite in text — even though you read the article on a screen. Database versions of print journals reproduce the original pagination precisely so your citations stay stable across formats.

For an article published only online, with no print original, the journal is still container one; you simply omit elements the journal does not use:

Magazine and Newspaper Articles From a Database

Periodicals usually have no volume or issue, but they keep their date and page range. The container order does not change:

Both entries could equally have been written from the magazine's or newspaper's own website, in which case the database container disappears. The full set of periodical rules is covered in citing an online article.

When to Name the Database — and When Not To

Name container two when it tells your reader something about where you found the source. That means:

• Include it when the record came from a subscription database or aggregator you accessed through a library.
• Include it when the database provides its own stable link or record number that a reader would need.
• Leave it out when you found the article on the journal's or publisher's own website — the URL already identifies the location, and the database was not part of your path.
• Leave it out when the "database" is merely a search engine that redirects you to the publisher's page.

That entry is complete without a database name, because the article was read on the journal's own site. Adding a database you happened to search first would send your reader somewhere you did not actually consult the source.

DOI Versus URL: Which Location to Use

MLA prefers a DOI when one exists, because a DOI is permanent and a database URL often is not. Two formatting rules follow:

• Write the DOI in full as a link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ucl.2024.102345. Do not use the bare doi: prefix form.
• If there is no DOI, use the stable URL or permalink for the record. Database session URLs that expire after you log out are useless to a reader — look for a "permalink," "share," or "cite" link.

If neither exists, fall back to the article's own webpage. MLA dropped the Retrieved from prefix that earlier editions used, so the location element simply ends with the address.

Records With Missing Elements

Database records are frequently incomplete: an article reprinted without its original date, a scan with no byline, a conference paper with partial pagination. The same rules apply as anywhere else — omit the element rather than filling it.

• No author — start with the article title; see citing sources with no author.
• No date — skip the Publication Date element and add an access date if the record is unstable; see citing sources with no date.
• No page numbers — leave the page range out of container one and cite without a locator in text; see citing sources without page numbers.
• A date only in square brackets — some records supply information the original lacked. If you take a fact from the record, it is fine to reproduce it as the record shows it.

In-Text Citations for Database Sources

Database sources almost always give you a locator, so your parenthetical usually carries an author and a page number — exactly like a print citation:

No locator appears when the source genuinely has none, and you should never number paragraphs in a database viewer to manufacture one. The database name itself never appears in a parenthetical citation — it identifies the container, not the source.

Common Mistakes

• Citing the database instead of the journal — the periodical is container one and comes first.
• Writing Retrieved from before a URL, or Available from — neither is used in MLA 9.
• Using a bare doi: prefix rather than the full https://doi.org/ link.
• Putting a live session URL with a long string of tracking parameters into the entry.
• Adding the database name to an article you read on the publisher's website.
• Italics on the database name being forgotten — it is a container, so it takes italics.
• Moving the page range after the database name — pagination belongs to container one.
• Writing "Web" or "Online" after the container — MLA 9 no longer records the medium.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to include the database name in an MLA citation?

Only when it tells your reader where you found the source. If you used a library database or aggregator, include it as the second container. If you found the article on the journal's own website, the URL is enough and the database should be left out.

Is a DOI or a URL better in MLA?

A DOI is preferred when one is available, because it does not break when a site changes. Write it in full as https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx. Without a DOI, use a stable permalink for the database record or the article's own URL.

How do I cite an article from JSTOR or Google Scholar?

The same way you cite any database source: periodical as container one, then JSTOR or Google Scholar as container two with the stable link. Google Scholar is a search tool, so if it simply forwards you to the publisher's page, cite the publisher's URL instead.

Do I use the database page numbers or the journal's?

The journal's. Container one keeps the original print pagination, and that is the page range you cite in text as well. Database record numbers, accession IDs, and viewer page counts are not page numbers and never go in the citation.