Help & User Guide

• Search for Data
• Share Data
• Teach with Data
• What is ICPSR data used for? (Bibliography of Data-related Literature)
  • How do I use the Bibliography of Data-related Literature?
  • More about Bibliography reference types and an explanation of ICPSR’s search methodology
• Become a Member
  • How can my organization become a member of ICPSR?
  • Can I have a trial ICPSR membership for my institution? What about a personal membership?
  • How do I know if I am an ICPSR member?
  • How does ICPSR handle access to its data and members-only content?

• How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?
• How does ICPSR handle access to its data and members-only content?
• Accessing Data
  • Restricted-use Data
    • The dataset I wish to analyze is restricted. What do I have to do to get the data?
    • Questions about access to restricted data
    • How can I get the non-restricted version of a restricted dataset?
  • Questions about Logging In
    • What do I do if I’m having trouble logging in?
    • What is a proxy server? Why am I getting an odd message about proxy servers when I log in?
  • Other Data Access Questions
    • How do I decompress the files I download from your site?
    • The files I’m attempting to download are so large that my download never finishes. What can I do?
    • I’m trying to download data, but I’m not getting any data files. Why can’t I download data?
    • Why and how should I cite data?
    • What is a persistent URL? What is a DOI?
    • I’m interested in replicating research that was conducted with an earlier version of an ICPSR study. Is it possible to get those data?
• Help with Collections at ICPSR
  • What are Thematic Collections? Why is this important?
  • Child and Family Data Archive (CFData) FAQs
  • Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) FAQs
  • Health and Medical Care Archive (HMCA) FAQs
  • National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program (NAHDAP) FAQs
  • National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA) FAQs 
  • National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) FAQs
  • Resource Center for Minority Data (RCMD) FAQs
  • Social Media Archive at ICPSR FAQs

• What kind of data formats do you distribute? Do you have SPSS Portable files? SAS transport? Stata?
• What are setup files? How do I use them?
• There are no setup files available for my dataset. How do I create a setup file?
• Can I use Excel to analyze the data?
• What is R? How do I use it?
• How can I use your data with GIS software, such as ArcView or MapInfo?
• What is a Codebook?
• Using ICPSR EPub Files FAQ
• How do I convert all variable names to lowercase in Stata?

Overview & FAQs

• Register your proposed study with ICPSR
• Overview of sharing data with ICPSR – what does it mean to share data, why should I do it, and how much does it cost? (pdf)
• Frequently asked questions about sharing data at ICPSR
• Step-by-step instructions: How to Use ICPSR’s Online Deposit System
• Depositor’s Checklist
• Where at ICPSR should I share my data?
• Why would I want ICPSR to curate my data?
• Request a professional curation cost estimate
• What is a codebook?
• Using ICPSR EPub Files FAQ
• What happens when someone shares data with ICPSR? (pdf)
• How to report your research findings
• What kind of data does ICPSR look for?
• Can I deposit qualitative data?
• Does ICPSR offer self-deposit options? What is openICPSR?

Preparing Data

• What to include when you share data at ICPSR
• How to get your data ready to share: the Guide to Social Science Data Preparation and Archiving
• What form fields (aka “data deposit form fields”) should I include when I share my data? 

NIH Data

• Listing of all Health-related data at ICPSR
• Suggest data to archive
• News & Publications
• Interpreting SPSS Output (pdf)
• A Brief Intro to Computer-aided Text Analysis (CATA) (pdf)
• ICPSR Policies
  • What if I encounter language on ICPSR study home pages that is harmful or offensive? Please see the ICPSR Policy on Harmful Language.

• Accessibility at ICPSR
• Glossary of Social Science Terms
• Index of Frequently Used Acronyms
• Social Sciences Research and Instructional Glossary