PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Assessment tool or scale

How to Cite an Assessment Scale in MLA 9

To cite an assessment scale like the Braden Scale, the PHQ-9, or the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale in MLA 9, cite the published source the scale comes from, which is usually the journal article that introduced it: the first author's name inverted, et al. for three or more authors, the article title in quotation marks, the journal in italics, vol., no., the date, pp. and the pages, and the DOI. The in-text citation is the first author's last name, et al., and the page, with no comma: (Bergstrom et al. 207). Name the scale itself in your sentence.

The format

Last Name, First Name, et al. "Title of the Article That Introduced the Scale." Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, Month Year, pp. #–#. https://doi.org/xxxx.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the DOI or PubMed ID of the article that introduced the scale into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA finds the article, fills in the authors, the title, the journal, the volume, the issue, the date, the pages, and the DOI, and puts the finished entry on your Works Cited page. Check two things before you add it: the page range should read like 205–210, with no stray characters, and the date should match the issue the article ran in, season or months and all.

Adding one by hand? Choose Journal, then Journal article and A single published article. Add every author, then fill in the Article Title, the journal, the volume, the issue, the Publication Year with the month or season if the issue has one, the pages, and the DOI. PERRLA handles the title case, the quotation marks, the italics, and et al.

Citing the scale's manual instead? Choose Tests, Scales, & Inventories, then Manual for a test, scale, or inventory.

Look up
Paste a DOI, get the reference

10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x

Bergstrom, Nancy, et al. "The Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk." Nursing Research, vol. 36, no. 4, July-Aug. 1987, pp. 205–10, https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-198707000-00002.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Which source you cite

A scale isn't usually cited on its own. Cite the published source it comes from: the journal article where the developers introduced and tested it, or the scale's manual if it has one. That's the source your reader can find.

The Braden Scale: Bergstrom, Braden, Laguzza, and Holman's 1987 article in Nursing Research.

A copy on your clinical unit, in the electronic health record, or on a hospital website is not the source. Trace it back to the article.

2. Author

The authors are the scale's developers. Start with the first author's last name, a comma, and their first name as the article prints it, with any middle initial. With three or more authors, add a comma and et al.

Bergstrom, Nancy, et al.

The scale's name isn't always the first author's name. The Braden Scale is named for Barbara Braden, but Nancy Bergstrom is the first author of the article, so the entry starts with Bergstrom, not Braden.

3. Article title

Put the article title in quotation marks and title case: capitalize the first word, the last word, and every main word, even when the journal uses sentence case. The period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

"Assessment of Older People: Self-Maintaining and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living."

Keep the article's own wording. Lawton and Brody's title never says IADL Scale, the name nurses use for it today, and the title stays that way.

4. Journal, volume, and issue

The journal is the container, so its name goes in italics, followed by a comma. Then write vol. and the volume number, and no. and the issue number, each followed by a comma.

Nursing Research, vol. 36, no. 4,

An issue printed in parts keeps its part with the number: The Gerontologist, vol. 9, no. 3, part 1,

5. Date

Give the issue's date as fully as the journal gives it: a month, two months, or a season, and the year. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.). MLA writes seasons in lowercase.

Sept. 2001,

The Braden article ran in the July–August 1987 issue, so its date is July-Aug. 1987, and the Lawton and Brody article ran in the autumn 1969 issue: autumn 1969,

6. Pages and DOI

Write pp. and the page range. Past 99, the second number keeps only its last two digits. Then give the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link, followed by a period.

pp. 205–10, https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-198707000-00002.

Older nursing articles often have DOIs added later by the publisher, so check the article page even for a 1980s scale. No DOI, and you read it in a database like CINAHL? Put the database name in italics and the article's stable link after the pages.

Examples

The Braden Scale: cite the 1987 article

The Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk was introduced in the July–August 1987 issue of Nursing Research. Four authors, so the entry and the citation use the first author and et al.

  • In-text citation(Bergstrom et al. 207)
  • Narrative citationBergstrom et al. developed the Braden Scale to … (207).

The PHQ-9: cite the validation article

The PHQ-9 depression measure, validated by Kroenke, Spitzer, and Williams in the September 2001 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. This is the source most nursing and medical papers cite for the PHQ-9.

  • In-text citation(Kroenke et al. 608)
  • Narrative citationKroenke et al. found that the PHQ-9 … (608).

The Lawton IADL Scale: cite the 1969 article

M. Powell Lawton and Elaine M. Brody introduced their scale of instrumental activities of daily living, like using the telephone, shopping, and managing medications and money, in the autumn 1969 issue of The Gerontologist. Two authors, so both names go in the entry and the citation. The issue is dated by season, and it was printed in two parts, so the number gives the part too. The citation here points to the article as a whole, so it has no page.

  • In-text citation(Lawton and Brody)
  • Narrative citationLawton and Brody designed their scale to measure …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a scale names the first author of the source you cited, plus the page, the same as any article. Name the scale in your sentence so the reader knows which tool you mean.

  • Parenthetical: Pressure injury risk was scored with the Braden Scale (Bergstrom et al. 207).
  • Name in your sentence: give the page alone at the end: Bergstrom et al. developed the Braden Scale to … (207).
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.: (Kroenke et al. 608)
  • Two authors: both last names joined by and: (Lawton and Brody)
  • The article as a whole: when you name the scale's source without pointing to a page, the name alone is enough: (Lawton and Brody)
  • With an abbreviation: spell out the scale's name the first time, with the abbreviation in parentheses, and use the abbreviation after that: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).

No comma and no p. between the name and the page.

Common mistakes

  • Braden Scale. www.bradenscale.com.Bergstrom, Nancy, et al. "The Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk." Nursing Research, …A copy of the scale on a website or in your unit's charting system isn't the source. Cite the article that published it, so your reader can find the scale and the evidence behind it.
  • (Braden 207)(Bergstrom et al. 207)Cite the article's first author, not the person the scale is named for. Barbara Braden is the second of four authors on the 1987 article.
  • (Bergstrom et al., 1987)(Bergstrom et al. 207)That's APA. MLA citations give the page, not the year, with no comma before it.
  • Bergstrom, N., Braden, B. J., Laguzza, A., & Holman, V.Bergstrom, Nancy, et al.MLA spells out the first author's first name and uses et al. for three or more authors. Initials and the full list of authors are APA.
  • vol. 9, no. 3, part 1, Autumn 1969,vol. 9, no. 3, part 1, autumn 1969,MLA 9 writes seasons in lowercase in the Works Cited entry, even when the journal capitalizes them, just as you would in a sentence.

Quick checklist

  • The article or manual the scale comes from, not a website or charting-system copy
  • The article's first author, even if the scale has someone else's name
  • Three or more authors: first author, et al.
  • Article title in quotation marks and title case
  • Journal in italics, vol., no., and the issue's month or season
  • pp. and the pages, then the DOI as a https://doi.org/ link
  • Scale named in your sentence, page in the citation

Questions students ask

Do I cite the Braden Scale or the article?

The article. The Braden Scale was published in Bergstrom, Braden, Laguzza, and Holman's 1987 article in Nursing Research, so that article goes on your Works Cited page, and you name the scale in your sentence. The same goes for the PHQ-9 and the Lawton IADL Scale.

What date do I use for the PHQ-9?

The date of the source you cite. The validation article ran in the September 2001 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, so the entry says Sept. 2001. The date only appears in the Works Cited entry, because MLA in-text citations don't take a year.

I found the scale in my nursing textbook. What do I cite?

If you only read about the scale in the textbook, cite the textbook. You can still name the scale and its developers in your sentence. MLA lets you show a source you only know through another by putting qtd. in before the textbook's author and page in your citation. Better still, find the original article, which is usually one DOI away, and cite it directly.

What if the scale has a manual?

Cite the manual if that's what you used. A manual is a standalone work, so its title goes in italics, followed by the publisher and the year, like a book.

Can I put a copy of the scale in my paper?

Most published scales are copyrighted. If you reproduce one in a figure, table, or appendix, credit the source, and check whether the copyright holder requires permission. Describing the scale's items in your own words with a citation needs no permission.

How do I cite a version of a scale, like a pediatric or translated one?

Cite the source for the version you used. A pediatric adaptation or a translation is usually published in its own article, with its own authors and date. Name the version in your sentence so the reader knows which one you used.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (authors, titles, the journal as container, volume, issue, dates, pages, and DOIs) and chapter 6 (in-text citations and indirect sources), and the MLA Style Center post "In the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook, why are names of seasons styled lowercase in works-cited-list entries?" Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page. The details MLA adds were checked Oct 27: full first names on Crossref for the Braden and PHQ-9 articles and issue dates on PubMed (Braden, PMID 3299278: 1987 Jul–Aug; PHQ-9, PMID 11556941: 2001 Sep). The Lawton and Brody article was checked Oct 30 on its Oxford Academic page (M. Powell Lawton and Elaine M. Brody; The Gerontologist, vol. 9, issue 3, part 1, Autumn 1969, pp. 179–186), PubMed (PMID 5349366: 1969 Autumn), and Crossref (issue 3 Part 1).

PERRLA builds the scale's source article from its DOI, with the authors, the issue date, and the pages in MLA form.

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