You tracked down the perfect sea surface temperature dataset. It covers the exact time period you need, it has a high QA score, and it's open access. Now you need to cite it in your paper, and your journal requires APA. Or maybe Chicago. Or MLA. And the dataset doesn't come with a ready-made citation.

This happens constantly. Dataset citation is genuinely confusing because the major style guides were designed for books and papers, not for digital scientific data. This guide walks through exactly how to cite a climate dataset in each of the three major formats, with real examples you can adapt.

The golden rule: always cite the dataset itself, not the paper that describes it. If a DOI exists, use it. If an ORCID is available for the creator, include it where the style permits.

What Information You Need First Before formatting anything, gather these fields from the dataset's landing page:

Creator(s): Full name(s) of the individual researchers or organisation that produced the data. Include ORCID if shown. Title: The exact title of the dataset as listed in the repository. Year: Year the dataset was published or last updated (use the version you cited). Repository/Publisher: The name of the platform hosting the data (e.g. Panthaion, Zenodo, UK Met Office). Version: If the dataset is versioned, note which version you used. DOI or URL: Always prefer a DOI over a plain URL. A DOI is permanent; a URL may break. Access date: Some styles require this for online sources; worth noting regardless.

APA (7th Edition) APA 7th edition has explicit guidance for datasets. The basic format is:

APA Format Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of dataset [Data set]. Repository Name. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Key rules for APA dataset citations:

List authors by surname, then initials. Up to 20 authors can be listed before using an ellipsis. Add [Data set] in square brackets after the title to signal the resource type. Use the DOI as a URL (https://doi.org/...). If no DOI exists, use the direct URL. If the dataset has a version number, include it in parentheses after the title: Title of dataset (Version 2.1) [Data set]. If the creator is an organisation, list the organisation name in the author position.

APA Example APA — Individual Researcher Sverdrup, H. (2023). Ireland National Fisheries Survey 2019 to 2023 [Data set]. Panthaion. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/panthaion.ireland-fisheries-2023

APA — Organisation as Author European Environment Agency. (2025). EU State by State Emissions Data 1990 to 2023 and projected through 2050 [Data set]. Panthaion. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/eea.eu-emissions-2025

Chicago (17th Edition) — Notes-Bibliography Style Chicago is common in humanities and some social sciences. It has two systems, Notes-Bibliography (NB) and Author-Date. Most climate science journals that use Chicago prefer Author-Date, but we cover both.

Notes-Bibliography (Footnote/Endnote) Chicago NB Format Firstname Lastname, "Title of Dataset," version X.X, Repository Name, Year, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Author-Date (In-Text + Reference List) In-text: (Sverdrup 2023)

Chicago Author-Date Format Sverdrup, Harald. 2023. "Ireland National Fisheries Survey 2019 to 2023." Version 1.0. Panthaion. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/panthaion.ireland-fisheries-2023.

Key rules for Chicago dataset citations:

Put the dataset title in quotation marks (unlike book titles, which are italicised). Include the version number after the title if available. The DOI or URL comes at the end, with no 'Accessed' date required unless no DOI is present. If an organisation is the creator, use the organisation name in the author position, no inversion needed.

MLA (9th Edition) MLA is less common in climate science but appears in interdisciplinary and policy-oriented publications. MLA 9 introduced a flexible 'container' system that handles datasets well.

MLA Format Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Dataset." Repository Name, Year, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

MLA Example MLA — Individual Researcher Sinclair, Matthew. "U.S. Climate Division Monthly Indicators (CLIMDIV)." Panthaion, 2024, https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/panthaion.climdiv-2024.

MLA — Organisation UK Department of Energy and Net Zero. "UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement by Source Final Results 1990 to 2024." Panthaion, 2025, https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/ukeea.ghg-1990-2024.

Key rules for MLA dataset citations:

Use standard MLA name inversion for individual authors (Lastname, Firstname). Put the dataset title in quotation marks. The repository name acts as the 'container', list it after the title, followed by a comma. Include an 'Accessed' date at the end if citing a source without a DOI: Accessed 9 Apr. 2026. Version numbers can be added after the title in parentheses if relevant.

Quick Comparison Table Here's how the same dataset looks across all three styles:

Dataset Creator: Sverdrup, Harald | Title: Ireland National Fisheries Survey 2019 to 2023 | Year: 2023 | Repository: Panthaion | DOI: https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/example

APA 7th Sverdrup, H. (2023). Ireland National Fisheries Survey 2019 to 2023 [Data set]. Panthaion. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/example

Chicago 17th (Author-Date) Sverdrup, Harald. 2023. "Ireland National Fisheries Survey 2019 to 2023." Panthaion. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/example.

MLA 9th Sverdrup, Harald. "Ireland National Fisheries Survey 2019 to 2023." Panthaion, 2023, https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/example.

What If There's No DOI? If the dataset lacks a DOI, use the direct URL, but note the access date, as URLs can change. This is a good reminder of why DOIs matter: a dataset hosted on Panthaion with a properly registered DOI will remain citable even if URLs change.

If there's no individual creator listed (common for government or institutional datasets), use the organisation name in the author position. If there's no date, use 'n.d.' (APA/Chicago) or 'n.d.' / omit (MLA).

When citing a dataset from Panthaion, the dataset's landing page lists the creator, title, year, QA score, and any associated DOI, all the fields you need to build a citation in any style.

Explore verified climate datasets at https://panthaion.org.