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ICPSR

This guide provides information about ICPSR, the Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research.

Citing Data

Cite data for the same reasons you cite other sources of information, such as articles or books. Data citation helps by:

  • supporting researchers in identifying and locating referenced data sources
  • enabling easy reuse and verification of data by other researchers
  • allowing the impact of data to be tracked (by funding agencies such as the NIH or NSF, for example)
  • creating a scholarly structure that recognizes and rewards data producers

 

Sources:  Why Cite Data? from DataCite, Data Citations from ICPSR, Quick Guide to Data Citation from the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST), Why and How Should I Cite Data? from ICPSR.

Citing data isn't very complicated. Each citation should include the basic elements that allow research data to be discovered:

  • Author:  the name(s) of each individual or organizational entity responsible for the creation of the dataset
  • Title:  the complete title of the dataset, including the edition or version if that is applicable
  • Date:  the year the dataset was published or disseminated
  • Version:  Look for the version or edition number
  • Persistent identifier:  This is a unique identifier, such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). A DOI is a unique persistent identifier for a digital object, such as an article of a study, that provides a permanent link to that particular article. For example, if you publish an article using ICSPR data and you include the DOI in the citation, you make it easier for other researchers to find the original data.

Some dataset sources, such as ICPSR, will provide you with a citation for a dataset. Others may give you more general information, such as where to find the elements needed for a citation.

Arrange the basic elements using the order and punctuation specified by the style guide you have been asked to use. Be sure to include as many elements as needed to precisely identify the dataset you have used. It is always better to provide more information rather than less.

 

Sources:  Why Cite Data? from DataCite, Data Citations from ICPSR, Quick Guide to Data Citation from the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST), Why and How Should I Cite Data? from ICPSR

ICPSR datasets have citations available in the "At a Glance" section of the project description. These citations are dynamically generated from other metadata fields and follow this format: Principal Investigator(s). Title. Place-of-Distribution and Distributor, Date-of-Distribution. DOI.

Some examples of ICPSR data citations include:

American National Election Studies, University of Michigan, and Stanford University. ANES 2016 Time Series Study. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2017-09-19. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36824.v2

Elliot, Patrick. Three Generations Combined, 1965-1997. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-03-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04532.v1

ABC News. ABC News Discovery Space Poll, July 1997. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-06-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02500.v1

 

Sources:  Why Cite Data? from DataCite, Data Citations from ICPSR, Quick Guide to Data Citation from the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST), Why and How Should I Cite Data? from ICPSR