Common data sources

Due to the proliferation of digital data and the increase in data sharing mandates, vast amounts of research data is now available online. In most cases, you can find data in a data repository and re-use it for your own research. 

Common data repositories

All disciplines

• figshare 
• Dataverse
• Zenodo
• Data.gov - "Home of the U.S. government's open data"

Humanities

• UK Data Archive - "UK's largest collection of digital research data in the social sciences and humanities" 

Social Sciences

• ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) - Political and social science research, 1960s to present, OU Libraries provides access to the full repository for current faculty, students and staff
• Roper iPoll*- US public opinion poll data
• American FactFinder - Demographic data about the US, Puerto Rico, and island territories from censuses and other surveys
• Pew Research Center - Nonpartisan fact tank that provides public opinion polls and demographic data
• Statistical Abstracts of the US* - Social, political and economic data, 1878-1969

* Access to these data repositories is purchased by the OU Libraries and is limited to current OU faculty, students and staff.

Business

• DemographicsNow*: Interactive demographic maps and reports for any level of geography in the US.
• IBISWorld*: Detailed market research and analysis on over 700 U.S. industries as well as Global Industry Reports, China Industry Reports and Business Environment Reports.
• MarketLine*: Includes company and industry reports, country profiles, as well as market data and country statistics.
• Mergent Online*: Financial data on US and international publicly traded firms; includes annual reports, SEC filings, news, and other information. Limited to 7 users at a time. Log off after using!

* Access to these databases is purchased by the OU Libraries and is limited to current OU faculty, students and staff.

Sciences

• GitHub - Computer code 
• Dryad - Biological Sciences

Find additional data repostiories

• Registry of Research Data Repositoies (re3): over 1,500 research data repositories
• Simmons College List of Data Repositories (listed by discipline)
• PLOS Recommended Repositories (sciences and social sciences)

How to find data used in a specific article

• Look on the journal's website. The data may be available as a supplmentary file
• Contact the corresponding author to request that they share the article's data with you
• Contact Jim Van Loon, Research Data Librarian (jevanloon@oakland.edu@oakland.edu). Librarians are experts at finding things!