Data requires citations for the same reasons as journal articles and other types of publications: to acknowledge the original author/producer and to help other researchers find the resource.
Although data citation practices are still emerging, citing data you use (or create) in your References section will allow others to locate it, and ensures that its use is captured correctly to become part of the scholarly record:
A dataset citation includes all of the same components as any other citation:
Unfortunately, standards for the citation of data are not uniformly agreed upon. However, many data providers and distributors and some style manuals do provide guidelines. Some of these instructions are listed on this guide.
Some style manuals do provide instructions for the citation of data, and selected examples are listed below. If the style manual you are using does not address data citations, you can follow these general rules.
Usually a style manual will lay out basic rules for the order of citation elements, regardless of the type of work. This is what you will need to pay close attention to in order to format your citation correctly. If you can’t find a generic list of rules, then look at how the citation for a book is formatted.
These are the citation elements you need to consider when building a data 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].
Some citation styles (e.g., APA) do not require listing the publisher if an electronic retrieval location is available. However, you may consider including the most complete citation information possible and retaining publisher information even in the case of electronic resources.
What type of file is the data set? Is it on CD 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].
What web address is the data set available at? Is there a persistent identifier (such as a DOI) available? If a DOI or other persistent identifier is associated with the data set, it should be used in place of the URL.
Minimum requirements based on instructions and example for dataset reference:
O’Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks (ICPSR 36966; Version V1) [Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1
The MLA Handbook does not specifically reference Datasets. Use this format: Author. Title of dataset. Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Publisher name, Date of publication (format DD Month YYYY), location. doi/url of data
Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 2020 National Census of Ferry Operators. United States Department of Transportation, 01 March, 2022, Washington DC. https://www.bts.gov/NCFO
The Chicago Manual of Style does not specifically reference Datasets.
Bibliography style (based on documentation for books):
Author, Title of dataset (Place: Publisher, Year), URL/DOI.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2020 National Census of Ferry Operators (Washington DC: United States Department of Transportation, 2022), https://www.bts.gov/NCFO.
Author-Date style:
Author. Title of dataset. Place: Publisher, Year. URL/DOI.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 2020 National Census of Ferry Operators. Washington DC: United States Department of Transportation, 2022. https://www.bts.gov/NCFO.
When you make a table in data.census.gov you can click on "More Tools" in the upper right corner and then select Cite
Basic Format for APA 7th edition
U.S. Census Bureau (year data was published). Name of data or report. Retrieved from [URL].
Chicago Style 16th ed.
United States Census Bureau. Name of Table. Data.Census.Gov <URL> (The date the Table was generated)