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Research Data Management (RDM): Citing Data

Unisa and Research Data Management - note to users of this guide

Welcome to the Unisa Research Data Management LibGuide. This Guide will provide information on processes, procedures and policy with regards to research data management (RDM), as well as access to resources and tools that can support researchers in managing their data.

It will also serve as a space to pilot platforms for archiving the research data

Please send any suggestions and comments to the compiler of this guide. 

Reasons for Citing Data

Data requires citations for the same reasons journal articles and other types of publications require citations: to acknowledge the original author/producer and to help other researchers find the resource.

Citing data is important because it:

  • Acknowledges and provides credit to the originator of the data
  • Allows verification of data and results, facilitating their re-use in further research
  • Enables data citation metrics (the impact of data) to be tracked.
Data citation has benefits for researchers as it:
  • Makes data publications more acceptable for CVs and journals
  • Facilitates discovery of grey literature.

The flow chart below from the Australian National Data Service illustrates the benefits of data citation. 

Citing Data

A dataset citation includes all of the same components as any other citation:

  • author,
  • title,
  • year of publication,
  • publisher (for data this is often the archive where it is housed),
  • edition or version, and
  • access information (a URL or other persistent identifier such as a doi or handle).

It is important to cite / reference data correctly and consistently. 

The following provide useful guidelines on how to do this:

Citation Software

Citation software helps you to:

  • import citations from your favorite databases and websites.
  • build and organize bibliographies.
  • format citations for papers.
  • take notes on articles and save them in your collection of citations.
  • save and organize PDFs, screenshots, graphs, images, and other files for your research.

Examples include: