Metadata Documentation

The ICPSR Metadata Documentation Portal is the official source of information for ICPSR metadata. Consult the portal to learn more about how our metadata standards and guidelines, including human-readable descriptions of supported data elements, usage notes, examples, and a machine-actionable JSON Schema version.

Whenever possible, ICPSR uses existing metadata standards to describe our collections. ICPSR’s core study-level metadata are based on the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI), a widely adopted metadata standard for the social and behavioral sciences, which ICPSR helped establish and now leads.

Accessing Metadata Records

ICPSR offers multiple ways to access metadata records for its data collections.

Batch Exports with the ICPSR Metadata API

The Metadata Export Application Programming Interface (API) lets researchers and data users:

  • Search ICPSR data collections by specific metadata fields such as study identifier, subject terms, geographic coverage area, original release date — and even run more advanced queries.
  • Export metadata records about those collections in widely used formats such as DCAT-US, MARCXML, and Dublin Core, making it easier to share and integrate with other systems.

To learn more about the ICPSR Metadata Export API, visit the Metadata Documentation Portal.

Individual Records

ICPSR study-level metadata records are available on individual study home pages in a variety of formats, including Dublin Core and DDI-Codebook. To download a metadata file, scroll to the bottom of any study home page and look for the export links.

Conditions of Use

ICPSR shares its metadata records to promote wider awareness and use of ICPSR’s social science data resources. In particular, we encourage integration of the metadata records into local online public access catalogs (OPACs).

ICPSR metadata records are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

ICPSR also encourages users to ensure good use of the metadata records:

  • When incorporating the records into a local catalog or website, the records must contain links back to the ICPSR site to ensure proper branding and to familiarize users with ICPSR. Please note that all ICPSR metadata records contain the URL for the resource.
  • The catalog or site must contain the date of download of the records from ICPSR so that users can determine how recent the information is. Every effort should be taken to keep the records up to date.
  • When downloading the records for research purposes, the conditions specified in the ICPSR Bylaws and the study-specific ICPSR terms of use apply to the research. These conditions include appropriate attribution and citation.

Support

If you have any technical questions about ICPSR’s metadata, please contact icpsr-help@umich.edu.