Data at Harvard
Harvard Library provides access to a large selection of statistics and datasets in a variety of social science collections.
The Data and Government Information unit in Lamont Library is the central reference and referral point for government information and data from the United States government, 160 foreign governments and many international organizations. You may reach them at (617) 495-2106 or govdocs@fas.harvard.edu.
Where to Start
If you are relatively new to working with data in an academic research capacity, we recommend the Beginner's Guide to Locating and Using Numeric Data, courtesy of Lamont Library.
- HOLLIS Library CatalogHOLLIS is the catalog to all library materials, including data available in print, CD-ROM, online through Harvard Geospatial Library, and resources citing data. Try different methods: (1) add "statistics OR data" to your keywords; (2) in advanced search enter statistics or data as a subject or as form/genre; (3) add topic as title or keyword and filter by form/genre. For crime statistics for a state, select subject and enter a search string with the state name. For example: "Crime -- Massachusetts -- Periodicals " or "criminal statistics -- Massachusetts -- Periodicals"
- ProQuest Statistical Insight (Harvard Login)Indexes and abstracts the statistical content of selected United States government publications (ASI, 1973--), state government publications, business and association publications (SRI, 1980-), and intergovernmental publications. The abstracts may also contain a link to the full text of the table and/or a link to the agency's web site where the full text of the publication may be viewed and downloaded.
- Statista (Harvard Login)Statistics portal that integrates over 60,000 diverse topics of data and facts from over 10,000 sources. Categorized into 20+ market sectors, Statista provides quantitative facts on agriculture, finance, politics, and additional areas of interest. Sources of information include market researchers, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases. The source of the data can help find similar data.
- Web of Science Data Citation Index (Harvard Login)Within Web of Science, set "Search in" to Data Citation Index. The interface searches over 380 data repositories worldwide and gives a description of the study or experiment, links to data and software and other studies citing the data.
Web of Science Help I Getting Started with Data Citation Index Overview (The interface has been updated since the 2018 video, so some features have been changed. For example, in advanced search, instead of "select from thesaurus" select the "subject descriptor" link to bring up the same feature. The subject descriptor appears to have a small number of biological and medical terms).
- Statistics Sources - Gale (Harvard Login)Statistics Sources Guide to current sources of factual quantitative information on more than 20,000 specific subjects, incorporating almost 135,000 citations and more than 1,600 sources. Provides wide range of print and nonprint, published and unpublished, and electronic and other forms of U.S. and international statistical data on industrial, business, social, educational, financial and other topics.
- Google Dataset SearchDataset Search is a search engine for datasets. Using a simple keyword search, users can discover datasets hosted in thousands of repositories across the Web as well as some subscription-based databases. It is similar to Web of Science Data Citation Index, but is not human indexed, has many duplicates, less refined search filters, and lacks studies citing the data,
Major US and International Data Sources
Select US Data Sources:
- data.census.gov Data portal for the U.S. Census Bureau, offering access to data from the decennial census, American Community Survey, Economic Census, and other sources.
- Data.gov U.S. government’s open data site. Reaches across 172 federal agencies to bring data to innovators, developers, analysts and citizens across the nation. Raw data, geospatial data, and interactive datasets are available.
- Department of Commerce Data Hub Access more than 40,000 publicly available data sets via a newly redesigned section of the DOC's website.
- FedStats Provides access to the full range of official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without having to know in advance which Federal agency produces which particular statistic. Links to more than 100 agencies that provide data and trend information on such topics as economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more.
- FRASER - Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research Provides access to current and historical economic data through a variety of tools and formats. Currently includes over 251,000 US and international time series from 79 sources. Click on "Data Tools" to access their growing number of free products for exploring and visualizing data.
- FRED - Federal Reserve Economic Data Over 384,000 economic time series from 80 sources, including consumer price index, gross domestic product, unemployment, personal consumption expenditures, etc. Download data in spreadsheets or text.
- ALFRED - Archival FRED Versions of economic data that were available on specific dates in the past. Categories available include Money, Banking, & Finance; Population, Employment, & Labor Markets; Prices; International Data, and more.
- GeoFRED Maps of data contained in FRED®. Create customized maps and download data.
- General Social Survey (GSS) "For more than four decades, the General Social Survey (GSS) has studied the growing complexity of American society. It is the only full-probability, personal-interview survey designed to monitor changes in both social characteristics and attitudes currently being conducted in the United States."
- PolicyMap (Harvard Login) Generate reports, create tables and maps. Note that all materials are saved to one My PolicyMap account for all of Harvard University. Click on "My PolicyMap" at top right of the screen to access saved materials. Includes demographics, home sale statistics, health data, mortgage trends, school performance scores and labor data like unemployment, crime statistics and city crime rates.
- SimplyAnalytics (Harvard Login) Create maps and tables that incorporate data such as population, age, race, income, employment, and education. Harvard subscribes to premium content including Experian Simmons Local for market research data and D&B for business demographics.
- Social Explorer (Harvard Login) Create maps and tables of data from the decennial Census and the American Community Survey from 1790-2010+. Also includes religion surveys from 1980-2010.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States (Harvard Login) The Statistical Abstract of the United States was the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the US published by the US Census Bureau from 1878-2012. In 2013, when its publication was ceased due to cuts in funding, ProQuest launched this replacement edition as an annual publication. Physical copies are also available in the HKS Library Reference Collection at HA202 .S73.
- U.S. Dept. of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics Data on the US economy and society, including: Inflation & Prices, Employment, Unemployment, Pay & Benefits, Spending & Time Use, Productivity, Workplace Injuries, International, and Regional Resources.
Select International Data Sources:
- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Provides country profiles and data including descriptions of political, economic, risk, regulation, and business environment.
- Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Database Global database describing bilateral trade patterns, production, consumption and intermediate use of commodities and services.
- IMF Data (Harvard Login) Direct access to the IMF’s periodicals, books, working papers and studies, and data and statistical tools. Includes the popular datasets: International Financial Statistics, Balance of Payments Series and Government Finance Series.
- IPUMS International IPUMS is a project dedicated to collecting and distributing census data from around the world. Create an account and provide a short description of your research as part of a data request form.
- MacroData Guide Source for global environmental data related to collective behaviors.
- OECD iLibrary Statistics (Harvard Login) Covers a broad range of themes: Agriculture & Fisheries, Demography, Development, Education & Training, Energy, Environment, Finance, Globalisation, Health, Industry & Services, Information & Communication Technology, International Trade, Labour, National Accounts, Public Governance & Regional Development, Public Sector & Taxation, Purchasing Power Parities & Prices, Science, Technology & Patents, Short-term Statistics, Social & Welfare, and Transport.
- Passport This integrated on-line information system covers over 350 markets in 207 countries. Information is accessible in four modules: statistics (quantitative data and forecasts on consumer lifestyles, retailing, countries, consumer markets), analysis (in-depth market analysis report format), companies (profiles of leading FMCG companies along with financial data, market share and brand information) and sources (lists data providers by specific subject area.)
- Statista (Harvard Login) Statistics portal that integrates over 60,000 diverse topics of data and facts from over 10,000 sources. Categorized into 20+ market sectors, Statista provides quantitative facts on agriculture, finance, politics, and additional areas of interest. Sources of information include market researchers, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.
- UN Comtrade Commodity Trade Statistics Database provides the latest trade data for over 130 countries. Includes indicators that measure the value of trade (and quantity when available) for a wide variety of international commodities. Harvard Library does have a login for WITS, a free resource which only requires a special login when exceeding data limits. This must be used at Lamont Library. Please email GovDocs@fas.harvard.edu if you would like to set up a time to use WITS at Lamont.
- UN Data From the UN Statistics Division of the Dept of Economic & Social Affairs, provides access to major UN statistical databases and those of several international organizations. 60 million+ data points cover a wide range of subjects: agriculture, crime, education, employment, energy, environment, health, HIV/AIDS, human development, industry, information and communication technology, national accounts, population, refugees, tourism, trade, as well as the Millennium Development Goals indicators.
- World Bank DataBank Analysis and vizualisation tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics. Create your own queries; generate tables, charts, and maps; and easily save, embed, and share them.
Select Data Catalogs and Repositories:
- Harvard Dataverse Network (Harvard Login) World's largest collection of social science research data from government entities, universities, and individual researchers. Data can be downloaded in multiple formats, if permissions allow, and in some cases subset for analysis. Dataverse contains the holdings of ICPSR.
- ICPSR (Harvard Login) One of the world’s oldest and largest social science data archives; based at the University of Michigan. Create an ICPSR account from a campus computer to download data sets.
- re3data Global registry of research data repositories covering a wide variety of academic subjects in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities
- Open Access Directory of Data Repositories Lists of open access data repositories for a wide range of subject areas.
- HOLLIS Search the Harvard Library catalog for data available in print and CD-ROM formats as well as data available online through the Harvard Geospatial Library. Limit your search to the resource type "Computer file/Data."
- Zenodo Zenodo is a CERN-funded repository for all kinds of research data from any discipline. Zenodo accepts data in all stages of the research data lifecycle, and files may be deposited with various levels of access.
Data by Research Topic
These guides curated by HKS and other Harvard librarians provide access to free and subscription resources by topic. Find the most up-to-date list at all of Harvard Library's data- and statistics-related guides. Also check our data-related FAQs.