All data used for class projects, theses, disseratations, and publications should be cited in reference or bibliographies. Many of the codebooks accompanying data files contain an example pages of the proper bibliographic citation of the verso of the title page of the codebook. This is especially true for many of the codebooks produced the the ICPSR and for files distributed by a number of governement agencies. Below are some details on the format used for citation. The Archive urges all users to employ these guidelines in thier work.

Format for Bibliographic Citations

The format for a bibliographic citation is as follow:

Last name of principal investigator, First name, and Other names in direct order. Title of study (computer file). Edition. Place of production: Producer, Date of production. Place of distribution: Distributor, Date of distribution.

Here is an example of one of two principal investigators:

Jackson, James S. and Gerald Gurin. NATIONAL SURVEY OF BLACK AMERICANS, 1979-1980 (Computer file). 1st ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI.: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Reserach (producer), 1987.

Research Assistants should be cited as well. For example:

Davis, James Allan. GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEYS, 1972-1978: CUMULATIVE DATA (Computer file). Principal investigator, James A. Davis; Associate Study Director, Tom W. Smith; Research Assistant, C. Bruce Stephenson. Chicago: National Roper Centrer for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut (producer), 1991. Sotrrs, CT.: The Connecticut (distributor), 1991.

When there are more than three principal investigators, cite only the first name:

Boothe, Alan, et al. MARTIAL INSTABILITY OVER THE LIFE COURSE (UNITED STATES): A THREE WAVE PANEL STUDY, 1980-1988 (Computer file). Lincoln, NE.: University of Nebraska, Dept, of Sociology (producer), 1991. Ann Arbor, MI.: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Reserach (distributor), 1992.

Corporate bodies are cited ass follows:

CBS News/NEW YORK TIMES. CBS NEWS/NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SURVEYS, 1983 (Computer file). 2nd ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI.: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, (distributor), 1985.