Data-related Publications
Search tips:
- Data-related Publications are pulled from the database of linked citations known as the ICPSR Bibliography of Data-related Literature, also referred to as “the ICPSR Bibliography” or “the Bibliography.” The Bibliography database contains citations, not the full text of publications. Only the citation elements (title, author, journal name, etc.) of the citations are indexed, not the full text. Therefore, this is not a full-text search.
- While this search yields fewer results, the results are relevant. If a word is important enough to appear in the citation, e.g., in an article’s title, then it is likely the publication will have significant content using that word or concept.
- Instead of entering a research question, use only one or two search words, and use the filters to narrow your results.
- Use quotes for phrase searches; use the minus sign to remove items from results:
"drug abuse" -adolescent - A Boolean “and” is invoked with multiple search terms.
- Stemming is automatic; do not use an asterisk.
- Search is not case-sensitive.
One of the results tabs that you see when you conduct a search on an ICPSR website is a set of Data-related Publications. All the citations you see in those search results are pulled directly from the database known as the ICPSR Bibliography of Data-related Literature. It is a treasure trove of publications and other sources that use data in the ICPSR catalog. Searching the Bibliography is like searching a library database, but here you will not only find publications on the topic that interests you (with links to full text where available), you’ll also find citations linked to the data used in the work. It’s two for one! This allows you to easily build upon the previous work, discover new data in your area of interest, or just see how other researchers use data.
Who Uses the Bibliography?
The Bibliography facilitates data discovery and literature searches by social scientists, students, librarians, journalists, policymakers, and funding agencies.
Why Use the Bibliography?
Discover Data
Search for published and unpublished works on specific topics to find relevant research.
Cross-disciplinary Insights
Explore how researchers have used data in a variety of disciplines.
Use in Publications
Locate reports and statistics useful for articles, grants, or other publications.
Easily Access Data
Each citation directly links to the corresponding dataset(s) in ICPSR’s collection.
Methodological Learning
Learn about different research methods or analytic techniques for which the data are especially well-suited.
Educational Resource
Utilize the Bibliography in teaching settings, guiding students in research and data exploration.
Avoid Duplication
Review existing research to avoid repeating analyses that have already been done.
Demonstrate Impact
Show how your data are making a difference. Highlight the number of citations and topical coverage of the publications associated with your study.
Examine Intellectual output
The Bibliography allows investigators to do the following:
- Study how their data resources have been used.
- Conduct citations analyses.
- Investigate the life cycle of data.
How to Use the ICPSR Bibliography
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Search:
The Bibliography can be searched using the search box on this page or on the ICPSR home page. You are searching the elements of the citations, e.g., the abstract, title, author(s), journal, etc. Your search results appear in the results tab called Data-related Publications.
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Sort & Filter:
Search results can be sorted and filtered by publication date, publication type, journal title, author, and study.
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Export:
Citations can be exported in three formats: RIS, EndNote, and CSV.
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Add citations:
New citations can be added to the Bibliography by emailing bibliography@icpsr.umich.edu.
Learn About the Bibliography
The ICPSR Bibliography is a searchable database of known published and unpublished works resulting from analyses of data distributed in ICPSR studies. Freely-available and continually updated, the database currently contains 115,498 citations.
The Bibliography offers a snapshot of ICPSR data use but may not capture all contributions. Some authors haven’t cited their data or informed ICPSR of their publications. Read more about the limits below.
The ICPSR Bibliography team collects publications that analyze or discuss ICPSR study data extensively. Users can filter results by twelve reference types, including books, articles, reports, and more.
For a more detailed description of the types of publications collected in the ICPSR Bibliography, as well as a short explanation of the methodology we currently use to find publications that analyze data, see Bibliography Reference Types & Short Explanation of Search Methodology.
The ICPSR Bibliography includes citations of works that analyze, critique, or discuss ICPSR-archived data, its collection process, or methodology. Publications that are related to a study but don’t directly analyze its data aren’t included. Note that authors may have originally obtained the data from a source other than ICPSR.
For a full description of how we determine if a publication should be included in the ICPSR Bibliography, read the Collection Criteria.
Keep the following in mind when using the ICPSR Bibliography:
- Not all publications in this collection use the most recent version of the data. Oftentimes the version is not provided in a publication, or else the version changed after the publication was added.
- Citations are based on data in ICPSR’s holdings, but the researcher may have obtained them from another source. Please note, if the data were obtained elsewhere, the terms governing their use may differ from ICPSR’s terms of use upon downloading data, which states that :”You agree to reference the recommended bibliographic citation in any publication that employs resources provided by ICPSR. Authors of publications based on ICPSR data are required to send citations of their published works to ICPSR for inclusion in a database of related publications (icpsrbibliography@umich.edu).
Originally developed with support from the National Science Foundation (SES-9977984) in 2000, the Bibliography is now funded by the ICPSR membership and its topical archive sponsors. For more on how and why the Bibliography was created, read the interview with the former associate director, Mary Vardigan.
Bibliography-related Resources
Current Events in the Bib
are weekly posts containing a summary of one publication that makes use of data available at ICPSR to investigate a current issue in the news or a topic trending in the social or behavioral health sciences.
Research Spotlights
show how scholars are using data available from ICPSR in their primary and secondary analyses. These short reports synthesize the findings about one or several related topics of interest.
2024 ICPSR Data Fair Presentation
shows how the Bibliography is meant to be used to discover and evaluate data via the literature, and to find out more about the Bibliography’s addition of preprints to its collection.
2020 ICPSR Data Fair Presentation
demonstrates the functionality and potential uses of the Bibliography, as well as a discussion of how to cite ICPSR studies, and the types of informal data citation currently used by authors publishing in the social science literature. This was in celebration of the Bibliography’s 20th anniversary.
Bibliography-related FAQs
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How do you determine what to include in the Bibliography?
Collection Criteria: ICPSR Bibliography of Data-related Literature
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Why isn’t my submitted publication included in the Bibliography?
There may be instances in which a PI submits a publication for inclusion in the Bibliography, and we find that the article did not analyze study data, but is instead about a topic that is related to the study, or informed the principal investigators while they designed the study. Such publications are not data-related for the purposes of the Bibliography and would not be entered.
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What types of publications are collected in the Bibliography?
For a more detailed description of the types of publications collected in the ICPSR Bibliography, as well as a short explanation of the methodology we currently use to find publications that analyze data, see the document, Bibliography Reference Types & Short Explanation of Search Methodology.