Guide to Citing Geospatial Data
Recommended Citation Elements
The BTAA Geospatial Data Project recommends creating citations using elements identified by the International Association for Social Science Information Services & technology (IASSIST) Quick Guide to Data Citation. How you style or punctuate these elements will depend on your chosen citation style (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago, etc).
Here is a general layout that includes all of the elements:
Creator (Date). Title. Publisher. Identifier
Example: Dane County Land Information Office. (2019). Buildings Dane County, WI 2018. University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://gisdata.wisc.edu/public/Dane_Buildings_2018.zip
The Elements
Creator
Name(s) of each individual or organizational entity responsible for the creation of the dataset. This is also called “Author.”
Date
Year the dataset was published or issued.
Title
Complete title of the dataset, including the edition or version number, if applicable.
Publisher
Organization that makes the dataset available by archiving, producing, publishing, and/or distributing the dataset. If the Publisher is not clear, look for an organization described in the metadata as the Distributor.
Identifier
Electronic location, web address, or unique, persistent, global identifier used to locate the dataset (such as a DOI). Append the date retrieved if the title and locator are not specific to the exact instance of the data you used.
Suggestions on where to find information for citation elements
Within the BTAA Geoportal, each item view page should contain sufficient metadata to construct a citation. However, some of the displayed records may not offer enough information for a complete citation.
Look for a “View Metadata” option under the Links toolbar. If present, supplemental metadata will display in the geoportal.
Download the dataset. There may be detailed metadata embedded within the file itself or attached as a separate document.
Click the “View Source” button to visit the data provider’s website, which may include the needed metadata.
Email the data provider. The original data provider will have a contact listed on their website.