Most people know they should cite journal articles and books, but did you know you can – and should – cite data?
Citing data is a way to provide credit to the original data creators and help other researchers locate a specific dataset. Similar to a book or journal citation, a data citation should include:
- Author/creator
- Title of dataset
- Date published
- Publisher or distributor (government agency, data repository, etc.)
- Unique identifier (URL or persistent identifier)
The Library’s guide to how to cite data has a variety of examples of data cited in different formats (APA, MLA, Chicago) as well as samples for citing content like statistical tables from government websites or reports. Often, datasets will include a preferred citation in their documentation, so you don’t need to guess. Plus, you can always ask a librarian if you have questions about proper data citation.
Image Credit: Martin Grandjean, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Network_Analysis_Visualization.png)