Database Articles: MLA Style (7th ed.)

The following examples apply to articles found in any of these databases:

Academic Search Complete
Business Source Complete
CINAHL with Full Text
Health Source: Consumer Edition
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
MasterFILE Complete

Where appropriate, substitute the information for your particular article, the name of your database, and your actual access date. For more on how to use this guide and what to include in your citations, go to the MLA 7th edition main page.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Use this format if the article was originally published in a journal and now appears in any of the above databases:

Helpful Tip #1:
The 138.3 that follows the journal title indicates volume 138, issue 3. Look for what is given in your source information and list volume and issue in this way for all journal articles.

Helpful Tip #2:
In some databases, only the starting page of the original journal article is listed in the source information, along with the total number of pages on which the article appears (e.g. “p253, 12p”). In this case, you may assume that the pages are consecutive, so, for a twelve-page article, your range would be written as 253-64 (remember to count the first page). If you see a PDF (page image) version of the article in the database, you can look at this to verify your page range, as this is an exact copy of the article as it originally appears in the print journal. If no page numbers are listed or otherwise available, write n. pag. (meaning “no pagination given”) where the page numbers would go, as in this example:

MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Use this format if the article was originally published in a magazine and now appears in any of the above databases:

Helpful Tip #3:
Some magazine articles appear on more than one page in a printed magazine, but not necessarily on consecutive pages. Often, more than one page is indicated in the source information (e.g. “p136, 6p”) but you cannot determine which exact pages are meant (from this information, you only know that the article begins on page 136 and is 6 total pages in length). In this case, use a plus sign (+) after the starting page (e.g. 136+), unless you see the PDF (page image) version in the database, in which case you can check to see if there is a consecutive page range. If you verify that pages are not consecutive, you should still list only the starting page and use a plus sign as noted, instead of listing each individual page number.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Use this format if the article was originally published in a newspaper and now appears in any of the above databases:

Helpful Tip #4:
Newspaper page numbers often contain letters to indicate the section in which the article appears. List these letters either before or after the starting page number, in the order listed on your source material (e.g. 4E or C13). Use the beginning page number and a plus sign (+) as described in Helpful Tip #3 for those newspaper articles that continue onto another page that is not consecutive with the starting page.

Go back to the MLA 7th edition main page.