Research Guides: General Social Survey (GSS): Cite Data

GSS Data citation

Data providers may recommend how to cite their data. However, the suggested format may not be the format required by the APA, MLA or other style guides. The provider's example may provide useful information about the provider and details to put in parentheses.

Datafile and codebook citation

GSS provides the following example, if you used the datafile and the codebook:

Smith, Tom W., Davern, Michael, Freese, Jeremy, and Morgan, Stephen L., General Social Surveys, 1972-2018 [machine-readable data file] /Principal Investigator, Smith, Tom W.; Co-Principal Investigators, Michael Davern, Jeremy Freese and Stephen L. Morgan; Sponsored by National Science Foundation. --NORC ed.-- Chicago: NORC, 2019.

1 data file (64,814 logical records) + 1 codebook (3,758 pp.). -- (National Data Program for the Social Sciences, no. 25).

Codebook only citation

If you used only the codebook, use this example:

Smith, Tom W., Davern, Michael, Freese, Jeremy, and Stephen L. Morgan. General Social Surveys, 1972-2018: Cumulative Codebook / Principal Investigator, Tom W. Smith; Co-Principal Investigators, Michael Davern, Jeremy Freese and Stephen L. Morgan. -- Chicago: NORC, 2019. 3,758 pp., 28cm. -- (National Data Program for the Social Sciences Series, no. 25).

Data Citation Essential Elements

Whatever citation style is used, the essential elements of a data citation are:

Title
Author (person who collected the data)
Date (Year)
Publisher/Distributor
Version
Persistent identifier (such as the Digital Object Identifier, Uniform Resource Name URN, or Handle System)

Read ICPSR's guide to proper research data citation for more resources on this topic.

Roper Center instructions on how to cite their datasets

Amercan FactFinder answer to "How do I cite tables and maps in American FactFinder?"

Cite APA Style and Citation Managers

Cite APA Style and Manage Sources
APA Data Set References
Example: O’Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks (ICPSR 21600; Version V1) [Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1
Parenthetical citation: (O’Donohue, 2017)
Narrative citation: O’Donohue (2017)

Citing GSS, using the APA example

Author Last name, First Name initial. (Year). Name (ICPSR 21600; Version V1) [Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1

Parenthetical citation: (O’Donohue, 2017)
Narrative citation: O’Donohue (2017)

Smith, T.W., Marsden, P.V., & Hout, M. (2011). General social survey, 1972-2010 cumulative file (ICPSR31521-v1) [data file and codebook]. Chicago, IL: National Opinion Research Center [producer]. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]. doi: 10.3886/ICPSR31521.v1

Year = year of publication for the version of the data used.
Italicize the title of the data .
Include any numerical identifier and version number for the data in parentheses without italics, separated by a semicolon.
The bracketed description is flexible (e.g., “[Data set],” “[Data set and code book]”).
Provide the publisher

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