Manage Your Research Data: Citing Data

This guide provides a primer on the fundamentals of data management.

How to Cite Data

Citation varies between disciplines and style-guides, but they will all require the following information:

  • Author or creator of the data.
  • Title of the dataset.
  • Version or edition of the dataset.
  • Publication data.
  • Archive or publisher of data (ex. repository, data center, or database).
  • Digital Identifier (ex. URL, PURL, or DOI). 

Please note that many data depositories will also include a template for how they want their data cited.

Examples

Brown, Anne and Benjamin Y. Clark. Data From: What Makes Cents? How Uber Shapes Municipal On-Street Parking Revenue. NITC-2016-UO-15. Portland, OR: Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), 2020. https://doi.org/10.15760/TREC_datasets.08 

Kachorsky, Dani, Reid, Stephanie F., and Chapman, Kathryn. Education through TIME:  Representations of United States Education on TIME Magazine Covers. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-08-31. https://doi.org/10.3886/E120906V1  

Citing in APA, MLA, Chicago

APA Style 6th 
Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of data set (Version number) [Description of form]. Location: Name of producer.
or
Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of data set [Description of form].  Retrieved from http://xxx
Example:
Jolin, A., Fountain, R., Feyerherm, W., & Friedman, S. (2002). Portland [Oregon] Domestic Violence Experiment, 1996-1997 [Data set]. ICPSR - Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03353.V2

MLA 7th 
Author. "Title of entry." Title of book. Edition. Ed. Editor's name(s). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Page range. Medium of publication. Date of access.  <URL>
Example:
Jolin, Annette, et al. "Portland [Oregon] Domestic Violence Experiment, 1996-1997." ICPSR - Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, 2002. Web. Accessed 4 Jan 2021. <https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03353.V2>

Chicago
Chicago does not currently provide specific citation guidelines for datasets, so it is suggested they are cited like other web resources:
Author. "Title." Source. date. Access Date. URL.
Example:
Jolin, Annette, Robert Fountain, William Feyerherm, and Sharon Friedman. “Portland [Oregon] Domestic Violence Experiment, 1996-1997.” ICPSR - Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, 2002. Accessed 4 Jan 2021. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03353.V2.