Find and access research data

If you re-use data in your research, make sure you cite them appropriately.

Define what you look for in terms of

  • Who or what you would like to study
  • Which period do you want to study
  • Which geographic location you will analyse

Not every topic can be covered with available data, as these data might not have been collected or are hidden behind a paywall.

Where to find datasets

  • Data repositories: re3data.org provides you a list of almost 2000 databases that provide data. You can filter according to subject, content type, countries or access restrictions.
  • Data Citation Index: A database part of the Web of Knowledge that indexes several millions of datasets.
  • Most of the datasets available through the Data Citation Index can also be found through DataCite. DataCite’s search is available for free.
  • Google currently provides a free dataset search as a beta service.

If you could not find a suitable dataset through one of the databases mentioned above, identify an organisation that might collect and publish the data you are interested in. Government and non-government agencies increasingly make their datasets openly available. Furthermore, datasets might be linked from publications, so try searching relevant literature for relevant references.

Colleges

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