Data Citation Standards and Practices

Overview

In addition to the general guidelines provided in this guide, various style manuals and organizations offer recommendations.  Below are examples from several style guides, research data organizations and data repositories:

Style Guides

  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Modern Language Association (MLA)
  • Chicago Manual of Style

Research Data Organizations

  • DataCite
  • Federation of Earth Science Information Partners
  • Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

Data Repositories (sample citations)

  • LoboVault
  • Figshare
  • Zenodo

Specific Data Citation Styles, Recommendations and Examples

Chicago Manual of Style - 16th Edition

The Chicago Manual of Style recommends the following when citing scientific databases:

  • Name of the source database
  • A locator or marker referencing the part of the database being cited
  • Access date
  • Identifier or URI

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010. Internet resource http://libproxy.unm.edu/login?url=http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/contents.html (UNM Only).

Example

(Footnote) H. E. M. Cool and Mark Bell, Excavations at St Peter's Church, Barton-upon-Humber (accessed May 1, 2011), doi:10.5284/1000389.

(Bibliography) Cool, H. E. M., and Mark Bell. Excavations at St Peter's Church, Barton-upon-Humber (accessed May 1, 2011). doi:10.5284/1000389.

Source: Alex Ball and Monica Duke. "How to Cite Datasets and Link to Publications". Digital Curation Center. 10/18/2011 (updated 7/30/2015). Web. Accessed 10/18/2015. http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/cite-datasets

Modern Language Association (MLA) - 7th Edition

When citing electronic sources, including online databases, MLA recommendations include:

  • Author
  • Title
  • Version number if applicable
  • Publisher
  • Date of access
  • URL

Source: "MLA Formatting and Style Guide: MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)." OWL: Purdue University Online Writing Lab. The Writing Lab and the OWL at Purdue, Purdue University, 2014. Web. 12 September 2014. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/

Examples:

US Census Bureau. Median Age by Geographical Mobility in the Past Year for Current Residence in the United States. 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. US Census Bureau [distributor]. Web. 18 Sept. 2014. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_B07002&prodType=table

Hesse, Bradford, and Richard Moser. Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), 2007 . ICPSR25262-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2009-06-23. Web. 18 Sept. 2014. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR25262.v1

The American Psychological Association (APA) - 6th Edition

The American Psychological Association provides different recommendations depending on the format of the data.

Raw Data

  • Author
  • Year
  • Title
  • URL (Use 'Retrieved from' to point to specific data sets, 'Available from' to point to the host website.)

Graphic Data

  • Author or contributing organization
  • Year
  • A brief description of the type and format of the data.
  • Title
  • URL

Source: "APA Formatting and Style Guide: Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)." OWL: Purdue University Online Writing Lab. The Writing Lab and the OWL at Purdue, Purdue University, 2014. Web. 12 September 2014. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Examples:

Raw Data

US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). American Time Use Survey [Data file]. Available from http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/american-time-use-survey-54e68

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2014). Agency Data on User Facilities [Data file]. Available from http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/agency-data-on-user-facilities

Graphic Data

National Park Service (2014). [Web map showing estimated annual average air pollutant deposition, 2008-2012]. Air Altas - Estimated Atmospheric Deposition. Available from http://nature.nps.gov/air/maps/airatlas/deposition.cfm

US Geological Survey. (2014). [Web map of daily earthquakes]. Latest Earthquakes - 1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide. Available from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/.

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

Similar to the general guidelines provided, ICPSR recommends the following:

  • Title
  • Author
  • Date
  • Version
  • Persistent Identifier

Examples from the ICPSR Website

Deschenes, Elizabeth Piper, Susan Turner, and Joan Petersilia. Intensive Community Supervision in Minnesota, 1990-1992: A Dual Experiment in Prison Diversion and Enhanced Supervised Release. ICPSR06849-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000. doi:10.3886/ICPSR06849

Esther Duflo; Rohini Pande, 2006, "Dams, Poverty, Public Goods and Malaria Incidence in India", http://hdl.handle.net/1902.1/IOJHHXOOLZ UNF:5:obNHHq1gtV400a4T+Xrp9g== Murray Research Archive [Distributor] V2 [Version]

Sidlauskas B (2007) Data from: Testing for unequal rates of morphological diversification in the absence of a detailed phylogeny: a case study From characiform fishes. Dryad Digital Repository. doi:10.5061/dryad.20

Source: "Citing Data." ICPSR Data Management and Curation. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, n.d. Web. 12 September 2014. http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/datamanagement/citations.html

DataCite

DataCite recommends the inclusion of the following elements in data citations:

  • Creator
  • Publication Year
  • Title
  • Publisher
  • Identifier
  • Version (optional)
  • Resource Type (optional)

in the following combinations:

  • Creator (Publication Year): Title. Publisher. Identifier
  • Creator (Publication Year): Title. Version Publisher. Resource Type. Identifier

Examples:

Irino, T; Tada, R (2009): Chemical and mineral compositions of sediments from ODP Site 127‐797. Geological Institute, University of Tokyo. http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.726855

Geofon operator (2009): GEFON event gfz2009kciu (NW Balkan Region). GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ). http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/GFZ.GEOFON.gfz2009kciu

Denhard, Michael (2009): dphase_mpeps: MicroPEPS LAF‐Ensemble run by DWD for the MAP D‐PHASE project. World Data Center for Climate. http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/WDCC/dphase_mpeps

Source: "Cite your data". DataCite. n.d. Web 10/18/2015. https://www.datacite.org/services/cite-your-data.html

Federation of Earth Science Information Partners

The Preservation and Stewardship Committee of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners has identified the following required elements in their data citation guidelines:

  • Author
  • Release Date
  • Title
  • Archive and/or Distributor
  • Version
  • Locator, Identifier, or Distribution Medium
  • Access Date and Time

with the following suggested elements as appropriate for a given dataset:

  • Subset used
  • Editor, Compiler, or other important role
  • Archive or Distributor Place
  • Distributor, Associate Archive, or other Institutional Role
  • Data Within a Larger Network

Exmaple:

Cline, D., R. Armstrong, R. Davis, K. Elder, and G. Liston. 2002, Updated 2003. CLPX-Ground: ISA snow depth transects and related measurements ver. 2.0. Edited by M. Parsons and M. J. Brodzik. National Snow and Ice Data Center. Data set accessed 2008-05-14 at http://dx.doi.org/10.5060/D4MW2F23z

Doe, J. and R. Roe. 2001. The FOO Data Set. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011

The FOO Working Group. 2001. The FOO Data Set. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. (compiler) 2001. The FOO Collection. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. and R. Roe. 2001, updated 2005. The FOO Occasionally Updated Data Set. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. and R. Roe. 2001, updated daily. The FOO Time Series Data Set. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. and R. Roe. 2001, updated daily. The FOO Time Series Data Set. Version 3.2. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. and R. Roe. 2001, updated daily. The FOO Gridded Time Series Data Set. Version 3.2. Oct. 2007- Sep. 2008, 84°N, 75°W; 44°N, 10°W. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. and R. Roe. 2001. The FOO Data Set. Version 2.0 shapefiles. The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Doe, J. 2001. The FOO Data Set. Version 2.0 R. Roe (ed.) The FOO Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/notfoo.547983. Accessed 1 May 2011.

Bockheim, J. 2003. "University of Wisconsin Antarctic Soils Database". In International Permafrost Association Standing Committee on Data Information and Communication (comp.). 2003. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System, Version 2.0. Edited by M. Parsons and T. Zhang. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. CD-ROM.

Stein, Ruediger, Bettina Boucsein, and Hanno Meyer. 2006. "Anoxia and high primary production in the Paleogene central Arctic Ocean: first detailed records from Lomonosov Ridge." Geophysical Research Letters, 33:L18606. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006GL026776

Source: "Interagency Data Stewardship/Citations/provider guidelines". ESIP Federation Wiki. Federation of Earth Science Information Partners. Modification Date: 9/19/2012. Web Accessed 10/18/2015. http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Interagency_Data_Stewardship/Citations/provider_guidelines

Many data repositories provide sample citations to their holdings to streamline proper citation of data assets that are published through their systems. These citations provide useful illustrations of the various data citation methods that may be encountered in publications and used in the development of reports and papers. 

LoboVault - UNM's Institutional Repository. 

Thibault, Jim; Dahm, Clifford (2015): Groundwater Well Data from the Middle Rio Grande Valley Riparian Zone, New Mexico (ongoing since 1999). Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f67460c7393c0f69a0a919117b56679c

Muldavin, Esteban (2015): Core Site Grid Quadrat Data for the Net Primary Production Study at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2013- ). Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/c45883a738e04a8d5350100eb95e8568

McGraw, John; Zimmer, Peter (1989): Legacy Data from Astronomical Observations. University of New Mexico. http://hdl.handle.net/1928/22890

Conrad, Cyler (2015). Faunal Data for Pleistocene-Holocene Archaeological Sites in Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia [dataset]. University of New Mexico. http://hdl.handle.net/1928/25699

Figshare

Evans, Tim (2015): Information on Les Miserables network used in Evans and Lambiotte 2010.. figshare. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1573032 Retrieved 20:29, Oct 18, 2015 (GMT)

Zhou, Jiansong (2015): rs-fMRI dataset of healthy controls. figshare. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1577683 Retrieved 20:31, Oct 18, 2015 (GMT)

Kong, Wen; Niu, Xun; Zeng, Tianshu; Lu, Meixia; Chen, Lulu (2015): Impact of Treatment with Metformin on Adipocytokines in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis S1_Table.doc. PLOS ONE. 10.1371/journal.pone.0140565.s001.

Ketcherside, Rob (2015): Georgetown Seattle Streets Renamed. figshare. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1562285
Retrieved 20:36, Oct 18, 2015 (GMT)

Zenodo

Ivey, Alexander. (2015). Wyoming Oil and Gas Development Spatial Datasets. Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.31526

Steve Baskauf. (2015). Bioimages: Bioimages Release 2015-09-19. Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.31194

Crymble, Adam et al.. (2015). Vagrant Lives: 14,789 Vagrants Processed by Middlesex County, 1777-1786 (version 1.1). Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.31026

Selden Jr., Robert Z.. (2015). 41MX65_O NAGPRA 2012.1.511. Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.22692

 

Subjects: Data