MLA 9th edition
How to cite a dataset in MLA 9th edition
Datasets have versions. Citing one without its version number or DOI makes your analysis impossible for anyone else to reproduce.
THE FORMAT
A dataset in MLA, at a glance
Creator Last, First, and First Last. Title of the Dataset. Version x.x, Repository Name, Year, https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx.
Farrow, Kim, and Tunde Adeyemi. Multilingual Student Revision Corpus. Version 2.1, Zenodo, 2022, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7654321.
(Farrow and Adeyemi)
In prose: Farrow and Adeyemi released the corpus with a revision timestamp on every draft.
Farrow, Kim. “Campus Writing Center Intake Log.” Northfield State University Dataverse, 2023, dataverse.northfield.edu/intake-log. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
In text: (Farrow)
Copyeditor formats APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE automatically — cite a source once and the works cited builds itself. See how citations work .
BEFORE YOU FORMAT
What MLA needs from a dataset
Elements to collect
- Creator or creators of the dataset
- Year the version you used was published
- Title of the dataset
- Version number
- Repository that hosts it
- DOI or persistent identifier
- Description of the format, when the style asks for one
Rules specific to this entry
- MLA 9 has a version slot built into the template, which is where the dataset version belongs: Version 2.1, spelled out rather than abbreviated.
- A dataset is a standalone work, so its title is italicized and the repository takes the publisher slot. If it is one file inside a larger published collection, italicize the collection as the container and quote the file’s name.
- MLA uses no bracketed format label. When the entry would not otherwise read as data, add a short description at the end — Dataset. — as a supplementary element.
- The DOI keeps its full https://doi.org/ prefix and closes the entry. Since a dataset has no pages, the parenthetical is the creators’ surnames alone.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element MLA needs for a dataset: Creator or creators of the dataset; Year the version you used was published; Title of the dataset; Version number.
Build the works cited entry
Arrange those details in the MLA order: Creator Last, First, and First Last. Title of the Dataset. Version x.x, Repository Name, Year, https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx.
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as (Farrow and Adeyemi) — or work the same reference into your sentence as Farrow and Adeyemi released the corpus with a revision timestamp on every draft..
Check it against the exceptions
MLA 9 has a version slot built into the template, which is where the dataset version belongs: Version 2.1, spelled out rather than abbreviated.
MLA RULES
The conventions behind every MLA entry
MLA Handbook (9th ed.) is the authority. Where a journal or department publishes its own house rules, those win — check your submission guidelines before the works cited is final.
The rules that apply across every source — author order, capitalization, how the works cited is sorted, and where MLA entries most often go wrong — are collected on the MLA 9th edition guide.
The same dataset in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about MLA and datasets
What if the dataset has no author?
Move the title into the author position and alphabetize by the first significant word of that title — ignoring an initial “A”, “An” or “The”. In the text, use a shortened form of the title where the author name would go.
What do I need before I can cite a dataset?
Creator or creators of the dataset, Year the version you used was published, Title of the dataset, and the rest of the elements listed above. Datasets have versions. Citing one without its version number or DOI makes your analysis impossible for anyone else to reproduce.
Is there anything unusual about a dataset in MLA?
MLA 9 has a version slot built into the template, which is where the dataset version belongs: Version 2.1, spelled out rather than abbreviated.
What else catches people out here?
A dataset is a standalone work, so its title is italicized and the repository takes the publisher slot. If it is one file inside a larger published collection, italicize the collection as the container and quote the file’s name.
Can I reformat this dataset in another style later?
By hand, you would retype the entry — the element order, punctuation and italics all differ between styles. In Copyeditor, sources are stored as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole reference list at once.
Cite it once
and never reformat it again
Copyeditor keeps sources as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole works cited at once.
