PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/DSM-5-TR

How to Cite the DSM-5-TR in MLA 9

In MLA 9, the DSM-5-TR's Works Cited entry starts with the title, because the American Psychiatric Association both wrote and published it. Give the title in italics, the edition, the association as publisher, the year, and the DOI if you used it online:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2022.

In text, cite a short form of the title and the page: (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 112).

The format

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Edition, American Psychiatric Association, Year, https://doi.org/xxxx.

PERRLA MLA Experts ยท Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Type DSM-5-TR into PERRLA's reference search, or paste the DOI. PERRLA recognizes the manual and fills in the American Psychiatric Association as the group author, 2022, the full title, the 5th ed., text rev. edition, and the DOI. Type just DSM and PERRLA offers the DSM-5-TR, the DSM-5, and the DSM-IV-TR so you can pick the edition you used.

For MLA, add one thing before you save it: type American Psychiatric Association in the publisher's Name box (click Add publisher if there's no box yet), spelled exactly like the author. PERRLA sees that the author and the publisher match and starts the entry with the title, the way MLA wants it. Used the print copy? Delete the DOI.

Adding it by hand? Choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then All or part of a book. Set the contributor's role to Group Author (Organization), type the edition as 5th ed., text rev., and type the same name as the publisher.

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

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Title

The entry starts with the full title, in italics and title case, followed by a period. The nickname DSM-5-TR is not the title, so it doesn't go here.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Why no author? The American Psychiatric Association wrote the manual and published it too. When an organization is both, MLA skips the author and names the organization once, as the publisher.

2. Edition

Right after the title, give the edition, followed by a comma. The text revision gets its own short note after the edition number.

5th ed., text rev.,

The DSM-5 is just 5th ed., and the DSM-IV-TR is 4th ed., text rev., Use the numeral, 5th, not the word Fifth.

3. Publisher

Name the American Psychiatric Association as the publisher, followed by a comma. The DSM-5-TR's publisher is listed as American Psychiatric Association Publishing, the association's own press, so the association is both author and publisher. MLA lets you drop a word like Publishing from a publisher's name, as long as you do it the same way throughout.

American Psychiatric Association,

4. Year

Give the year of the edition you used. The DSM-5-TR is 2022. The DSM-5 is 2013. In print, the entry ends here with a period.

2022.

Mixing these up is the most common DSM error. If the cover says DSM-5-TR, the year is 2022. If it says DSM-5 with no TR, the year is 2013.

5. DOI

If you used the online edition, add the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link after the year, then a period. If you used the print copy from your library, leave the DOI out.

2022, https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.

Examples

The DSM-5-TR in print

The current edition, released in 2022, read as a print copy. The entry starts with the title and ends with the year. The in-text citation uses a short form of the title and the page.

  • In-text citation(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 112)
  • Narrative citationAccording to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, … (112).

The DSM-5-TR online, with the DOI

The same edition, read online through your library. The DOI goes at the end. With no page number to point to, the in-text citation is the short title alone.

  • In-text citation(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)
  • Narrative citationThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders describes …

The DSM-5 (2013)

The 2013 edition, still cited in many journal articles and older course materials. Only cite it if you actually used it. If your course uses the text revision, cite the DSM-5-TR instead.

  • In-text citation(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)
  • Narrative citationThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2013) describes …

The DSM-IV-TR (2000)

The edition before the DSM-5, for a paper that traces how a diagnosis changed over time. Older editions keep their Roman numerals in the nickname, but the entry uses the same pattern.

  • In-text citation(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)
  • Narrative citationThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2000) describes …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation always starts with whatever starts the Works Cited entry. For the DSM, that's the title, so the citation is a short form of the title in italics, plus the page when you quote a criterion or point to one passage.

  • With a page: (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 112)
  • No page, like the online edition: (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)
  • Title in your sentence: give the page alone at the end: According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, … (112).

To shorten the title, keep the first noun and the words before it: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Don't cut it to Diagnostic, which isn't a noun. And don't cite the association, (American Psychiatric Association 112), because the Works Cited entry doesn't start with its name.

Citing two editions in one paper? Their entries start with the same title, so say in your sentence which edition you mean, like the 2013 edition or the text revision.

Common mistakes

  • American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2022.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2022.When an organization is both author and publisher, MLA starts with the title and names the organization once, as the publisher.
  • (APA 112)(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 112)The in-text citation has to match the first words of the Works Cited entry, and the entry starts with the title. APA is also easy to confuse with the American Psychological Association.
  • DSM-5-TR. American Psychiatric Association, 2022.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2022.The Works Cited entry uses the full title and the edition, not the nickname.
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2013.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2022.The text revision came out in 2022. The year, the edition, and the DOI all have to belong to the same edition.
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth Edition, Text Revision, American Psychiatric Association, 2022.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., text rev., American Psychiatric Association, 2022.MLA writes the edition as a numeral and abbreviates edition and revision.

Quick checklist

  • Starts with the full title in italics, not the association
  • Edition after the title: 5th ed., text rev.,
  • American Psychiatric Association as the publisher
  • The year of the edition you used: 2022 for the DSM-5-TR
  • The DOI only if you used it online
  • In-text: the short title, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, and the page

Questions students ask

Why doesn't the DSM-5-TR entry start with the American Psychiatric Association?

Because the association also published it. MLA names an organization only once: when it is both author and publisher, the entry starts with the title and the organization goes in the publisher spot.

Can I write (APA 112) or (American Psychiatric Association 112)?

No. An MLA in-text citation has to point to the first words of the Works Cited entry, and the DSM's entry starts with the title. Use (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 112), or name the manual in your sentence and put just the page in parentheses.

Do I include the DOI if I used a print copy?

No. In MLA, the DOI tells the reader where you read the manual online. If you used the print copy, end the entry with the year.

How do I cite the DSM-5 instead of the DSM-5-TR?

Change the edition to 5th ed. and the year to 2013, and use the DSM-5's DOI if you read it online: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596. Cite the edition you actually used, because criteria and codes changed between the two.

Can I call it the DSM-5-TR in my paper?

Yes, in your own sentences, once you've given the full title. The citation in parentheses still uses the short title from the Works Cited entry.

Is it DSM-V or DSM-5?

DSM-5. Starting with the fifth edition, the American Psychiatric Association switched from Roman numerals to an Arabic 5, so the current edition is the DSM-5-TR. Older editions keep their Roman numerals: DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, including an organization as author and publisher) and chapter 6 (in-text citations, sections 6.3–6.30), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing the MLA Handbook, sources with no author, organizations as authors, and shortening titles. Example sources verified against each edition's DOI at Crossref and doi.org and the editions' records at Open Library.

Type DSM-5-TR into PERRLA, add the publisher, and the whole entry is built for you.

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