The Data Citation Guide supports social science researchers and other key stakeholders in properly citing data, ensuring transparency, reproducibility, and recognition. Just like publications, datasets should be acknowledged to give credit to data creators and promote data discovery, access, and reuse.
In the guide, you will learn why data citation matters, what a citation should include, and how best practices can be applied across the research landscape. It offers practical recommendations tailored to key stakeholders:
- Data repositories – Ensuring accessibility and proper citation formats
- Authors (e.g., researchers, students, journalists) – Applying citations of data sources in publications
- Academic journals and publishers – Promoting data citation as part of publishing standards
- Research performing organisations (RPOs) – Supporting institutional policies on data citation
- Policy, strategy, and funding entities – Integrating data citation into research frameworks
- Ethics committees – Reinforcing ethical considerations for data use and attribution
The guide has been developed by the CESSDA Data Citation Working Group, with contributions from experts at FORS (WG leader), ADP, CSDA, FSD, Sikt, and SND.