What are metadata?

Metadata (i.e., information about our data collections that help others discover, understand, and use them) are essential for maximizing the usefulness of data. Because it is often impossible for secondary researchers to ask questions of the original data producers, metadata are the de facto form of communication between them. Comprehensive metadata standardizes how the data are described, enables a deeper comprehension of a dataset, facilitates data searches by variables, and offers a variety of display options on the Web.

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) creates metadata primarily from information supplied by data depositors. Metadata creation, enhancement, and quality review is a team effort and involves staff from across all of ICPSR. All metadata records are reviewed and approved by Metadata & Preservation unit archivists, who check for adherence to standards and advise on all metadata-related activities during the data curation lifecycle. 

Please review the ICPSR Metadata Documentation Portal to learn more about the study-level metadata to include with data deposits.