Bibliographic citation of research data and study related documents

The use and analysis of research data and resulting publications requires credit attribution and location/retrieval information. Corresponding to bibliographic citation of publications the GESIS Data Archive for the Social Sciences recommends a minimal standard for the scholarly citation of archive based data sets, in the following referred to as "data file" or "research data".

1. Minimal standard recommended for the citation of research data (vers. 1.3 as of 07.03.2012) - PDF

Required citation details can be retrieved from the GESIS Data Catalogue (DC)

Author(s) of the Study
 Primary investigator, research group and/or institution (+ location) according to bibliographic citation format
(Year of publication):
[new since 7.3.2012]
 Year, when the study was published by the Archive. Since implementing Version IDs (13.04.2010) generally identical with the year a version was published.
Study title
 In accordance with the DC
Survey period.
 Year or fieldwork period (survey data) rsp. report period (historical data) if not part of the title
Origin / distributor
 "GESIS Data Archive, Cologne"
Study Identifier
 "ZA" + "four-digit study number", e.g. "ZA4863"
& Object type
 "Data file"
& Version-ID
 "Version" + "version number", e. g. "Version 2.0.0" of the data file.
&  DOI
 Digital Object Identifier, e.g. "doi:10.4232/1.10059" of the data file - What is a DOI

Example: Data file of a German study:

  • Berger, Manfred; Jung, Matthias; Roth, Dieter (2010): Politbarometer West 2008 (Cumulated Data Set, incl. Flash). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5201 Data file Version 1.0.0, doi:10.4232/1.5201

Example: Data file of an international study:

  • ISSP Research Group (2009): International Social Survey Programme: Leisure Time and Sports - ISSP 2007. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA4850 Data file Version 2.0.0, doi:10.4232/1.10079

2. Bibliographic citation of study related documents and documentations of research data

In addition to data files a study may comprise further data depositor’s original documents and materials processed by the Data Archive: for example code sheets, codebook, data handbook, questionnaires or reports. It is recommended to acknowledge respective documents from the archive holdings in publications by means of bibliographic citations including the Study ID.

3. Links: Citation of research data from study series or study collections

  • Example - ALLBUS - German General Social Survey
  • Example - ISSP - International Social Survey Programme
  • Example - Eurobarometer Survey Series
  • Example - EVS - European Values Study
  • Example - German federal elections / Bundestagswahlen
  • Example - German ferderal state elections / Landtagswahlen - DVD "Landtagswahlen 1960 bis 2004“
  • Example - GDR - New federal states
  • Special Data Collections - Example DJI Family Survey
  • Special Data Collections -  Example Childhood, adolescence and becoming an adult  1991-1997
  • Example - Historical Studies