How to Cite Micromedex in APA, MLA, and Chicago Style

How to cite Micromedex depends on which style guide you’re using, but the core approach stays the same: treat the source as an online reference tool with no individual author, not a single authored book. In APA, list the entry title, the source name, the publisher, and your retrieval date. In MLA, list the entry title, the italicized source name, and your access date. In Chicago, add the publisher’s location, Greenwood Village, Colorado. This guide walks through all three formats with a full worked example, plus the detail most guides skip: which segment of the platform you viewed, such as DRUGDEX or CareNotes, and why that segment matters for an accurate reference.

What Is Micromedex and Why Citing It Correctly Matters

Micromedex is a clinical drug reference tool published by Merative (formerly IBM Watson Health, and before that Truven Health Analytics). Pharmacy students, nursing students, and clinicians use it to look up drug interactions, dosing, and toxicology data. Unlike a journal article or a book, it has no single author and no fixed publication date. Its entries update continuously as new drug data becomes available, so the same rules for websites and other online reference sources apply, with one twist: you must specify which part of the platform you consulted.

According to Purdue OWL’s guidance on electronic sources, when a work has no individual author, the organization or publisher takes the author position in the citation. That rule is exactly how Micromedex should be handled in APA, MLA, and Chicago style.

How to Cite Micromedex in APA Style

APA 7th edition treats Micromedex as an entry in an online reference source with no listed individual author. The publisher, Merative, stands in for the author.

APA In-Text Citation

Use the first few words of the entry title in quotation marks, followed by “n.d.” for no date, since the content is updated continuously.

APA Reference List Entry

Replace “Ibuprofen” with the exact entry you viewed, and update the retrieval date to the day you accessed it. If your institution requires a login for full access, some instructors accept the platform’s public landing page link instead of the restricted session link, so check your library’s reference guide or your course style sheet first.

How to Cite Micromedex in MLA Style

MLA 9th edition also cites Micromedex as a source entry. Per the MLA Style Center’s guidance on citing online works, you build the entry from the title of the specific item, the container (the source), the publisher, and the date you accessed it.

MLA In-Text Citation

MLA Works Cited Entry

MLA does not require “n.d.” the way APA does. Instead, the access date does the work of showing when you viewed a source that changes over time. Keep the entry title in quotation marks and the source name in italics, exactly as you would for any other web source.

How to Cite Micromedex in Chicago Style

Chicago style splits into two systems, notes-bibliography and author-date. Both treat Micromedex as a source publication located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Merative’s headquarters.

Chicago Notes-Bibliography

Chicago Author-Date

If your program uses AMA style instead, which is common in pharmacy and nursing coursework, the format looks different again. Check with your instructor or your library’s subject guide, since AMA is not one of the three styles covered in depth here.

Accessing Micromedex Through Your Institution

Most students and clinicians reach Micromedex through a university or hospital library subscription rather than a public link, since www.micromedexsolutions.com sits behind a login wall for most accounts. If your access runs through your school’s .edu library portal, check the top of the library’s database list or reference guide there for the correct entry title and the retrieval or access date policy your program expects. Many of the same institutional subscriptions also bundle Lexidrug (formerly Lexicomp), Merative’s companion drug-information product, among their other clinical resources, so confirm you are citing the Micromedex entry and not a Lexidrug one. Librarians who maintain these library resources can also confirm whether your assignment wants a case report, a clinical rotation writeup, or a research paper reference, and whether the entry was updated recently enough to still be current.

For a step-by-step walkthrough, use our APA citation generator to build a formatted reference automatically once you have the exact entry title and access date.

Common Micromedex Citation Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Why It’s a Problem
Citing just “Micromedex” without the entry title	A reader cannot verify a vague reference that skips the specific monograph or segment you used.
Leaving out the access or retrieval date	Because the platform updates continuously, the date is what tells a reader which version of the entry you saw.
Inventing a publication year	Use “n.d.” in APA and Chicago author-date, and rely on the access date in MLA, instead of treating the entry like a dated journal article.

Quick Reference Table: Micromedex Citation Formats

Style	In-Text Format	Full Entry Format
APA 7	(“Entry,” n.d.)	Entry. (n.d.). In IBM Micromedex (electronic version). Merative. Retrieved [date], from micromedexsolutions.com.
MLA 9	(“Entry”)	“Entry.” Micromedex, Merative, [access date], micromedexsolutions.com.
Chicago Notes-Bib	Numbered footnote	“Entry.” Micromedex. Greenwood Village, CO: Merative. Accessed [date]. micromedexsolutions.com.
Chicago Author-Date	(“Entry,” n.d.)	“Entry.” N.d. In Micromedex. Greenwood Village, CO: Merative. Accessed [date]. micromedexsolutions.com.

Citing Other Clinical Databases

Micromedex is one of several point-of-care sources students and clinicians cite, alongside UpToDate, Lexicomp, and Clinical Pharmacology, all commonly listed together on a library’s clinical database resources page. The same core rule applies across all of them: identify the specific entry, credit the source as the container, credit the publisher, and record your access date. For a broader walkthrough of citing databases in general, see our guide on how to cite a database. If your assignment instead points you to a standard webpage rather than a subscription source, use our how to cite a website guide, and for government health sources like the CDC, see how to cite the CDC website.

Need a different reference style entirely? Our National Library of Medicine citation generator formats entries for NLM style, which some pharmacy and public health programs require instead of APA, MLA, or Chicago.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to cite Micromedex if my professor gave me the drug information verbally?

No. Only cite Micromedex when you looked up the information in the source yourself. If your instructor relayed the information verbally, that is a personal communication, not a Micromedex citation.

What if Micromedex does not show an author or publication date?

That is normal. Use “n.d.” in place of the date in APA and Chicago author-date, and let the publisher, Merative, take the author position, exactly as you would for any reference work with no listed individual author.

Can I use the login-restricted URL in my citation?

Generally no, since a reader without institutional access cannot follow it. Use the platform’s public landing page link when available, found near the top of the entry page, or check your course style sheet for the preferred approach.

Is Micromedex cited the same way in every citation style?

No. Each style, including APA, MLA, and Chicago, uses a different order and punctuation for the same core elements: entry title, source name, publisher, and access date. Always confirm which style your assignment requires before citing.