Data requires citations for the same reasons journal articles and other types of publications require citations: to acknowledge the original author/producer and to help other researchers find the resource.
A dataset citation includes all of the same components as any other citation:
Who is the creator of the data set? This can be an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization.
What name is the data set called, or what is the name of the study?
Is there a version or edition number associated with the data set?
What year was the data set published? When was the data set posted online?
Is there a person or team responsible for compiling or editing the data set?
What entity is responsible for producing and/or distributing the data set? Also, is there a physical location associated with the publisher?
In some cases, the publisher of a data set is different than how we think of the publisher of a book. A data set can have both a producer and a distributor.
The producer is the organization that sponsored the author’s research and/or the organization that made the creation of the data set possible, such as codifying and digitizing the data.
The distributor is the organization that makes the data set available for downloading and use.
You may need to distinguish the producer and the distributor in a citation by adding explanatory brackets, e.g., [producer] and [distributor].
What type of file is the data set? Is it on CD-ROM or online?
This may or may not be a required field depending on the style manual. Often this information is added in explanatory brackets, e.g. [computer file] or [dataset].
What web address is the data set available at? Is there a persistent identifier available? If a DOI or other persistent identifier is associated with the data set it should be used in place of the URL.
Milberger, S. (2002). Evaluation of violence against women with physical disabilities in Michigan, 2000-2001 (ICPSR version) [data file and codebook]. Detroit: Wayne State University [producer]. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03414
Milberger, Sharon. Evaluation of Violence Against Women With Physical Disabilities in Michigan, 2000-2001. ICPSR version. Detroit: Wayne State U [producer]. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002. Web. 19 May 2011. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03414
Bibliography style (based on documentation for books):
Milberger, Sharon. Evaluation of Violence Against Women With Physical Disabilities in Michigan, 2000-2001. ICPSR version. Detroit: Wayne State University, 2002. Distributed by Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, 2002. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03414.
Author-Date style:
Milberger, Sharon. 2002. Evaluation of Violence Against Women With Physical Disabilities in Michigan, 2000-2001. ICPSR version. Detroit: Wayne State University. Distributed by Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03414.
Content on this page is adapted from the University of Michigan Libraries Citing Data & Statistics page: under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.