How will people find my data?

Users can find data by using our search page. ICPSR indexes the full documentation for datasets, including descriptions of the variables. Users can search for multiple keywords and use quotes to search for an exact match. All studies utilize terms from the ICPSR Subject Thesaurus for description; these terms will appear as "Subject" filters on the left side of the results page. Similar filtering can be applied to geographic coverage, time period, funding agencies, collection modes, and other metadata fields. Depositors can increase the search tool’s effectiveness by extensively filling out the metadata form during the initial deposit process.

Many users find data at ICPSR via a Google search that they conducted. ICPSR also uses the schema.org standard to make structured metadata available on study web pages so that they are indexed by Google and discoverable via its dedicated search engine for datasets, Dataset Search. In addition, ICPSR makes metadata records available via the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), which allows academic libraries and vendors to include them in online public access catalogs.

Additionally, each study is assigned a DOI (digital object identifier), which is a persistent link to the study that can be used in citations and elsewhere. The DOI ensures that the study can be easily linked over time. As part of the DOI registration process, ICPSR shares the study metadata with our DOI registrar, Datacite, who then ingests the information into their catalog, Datacite Commons.