Finding and Reusing Data for Secondary Analysis
There are a number of barriers to finding and reusing existing data for secondary analysis - from discovery and access to cost and reuse restrictions. The objective of funder and publisher policies on sharing data and public access to data is to minimize these barriers.
For resources or assistance finding data, visit the library's research guide or contact your librarian.
The library provides access to data through its Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) membership and has some flexibility to purchase datasets for university-wide use to support the curriculum. The library does not purchase datasets for individual use.
Citing Data
When you use existing data for secondary analysis, you will need to cite the data. Citing datasets is important for the same reasons you cite other scholarly materials – it gives credit to the creator of data and makes connections between research based on the same data, measures the impact of data, and supports the reproducibility of research. While data citation standards are still emerging, you can find guidance in disciplinary style manuals, professional organizations, or journals and repositories.
