Cite Data

Cite Your Own Data

Are you publishing a paper referencing your research data? Include a reference to your data in the text of the paper with a data availability statement, and add a data citation to your references section.

This will ensure that the data citation becomes part of the scholarly record and provides pathways for others to find your work. Research funders also want you to share data and a citation is proof of your data being shared.

If you are depositing data with the UI, we can reserve a DOI for your dataset, so you can include it in the article submission. We can also assist with sharing and publishing data. More here

Cite Other’s Data

Give credit to other data sources when you use them, just as you do when using published literature. Whether for a paper or a presentation, it’s important to cite the data files used.

Citation Elements

A data citation should include at least the following elements. The specific information will depend on established practices in your research field, as well as the type of data, the repository you use, and the citation style of the publication.

  • Responsible party (i.e., investigator, sample collector, creator)
  • Title of dataset
  • Date of publication of the dataset
  • Version, when appropriate
  • Name of data center, repository, and/or publication
  • Analysis software, if required
  • Date accessed
  • Identifier (e.g., DOI or other persistent link)

Tip: If you have a DOI, you can use the CrossCite DOI data citation formatter or the DataCite Citation Formatter to create citations corresponding to a variety of citation styles.

Most data repositories will provide a suggested citation for their datasets. Some will also request citation of related publication(s) along with the data. Follow the most appropriate format while meeting the requirements of the data suppliers.

Guidelines and Examples

Style guides/manuals are beginning to include data as a resource type. However, the Citation Formatters (above) will provide the information in a style that approximates style requirements.

Here are some examples of guidelines: