Welcome to the subject guide for Public Administration (PA). To make an appointment for a research consultation, or if you want to recommend a purchase, please contact the information specialists mentioned above.
Most important databases
Open research data
Instead of collecting new data, it is possible and sometimes recommended to make use of existing, open research data. The table below presents recommended sources of open research data. The sources can directly (e.g. direct download) or indirectly (e.g. after registration) grant access to data. In any case, it is important to revise and comply with the terms of use of each source.
The table is periodically updated but already incorporates information from the UT (Digital) Library’s Databases A-Z list, the UT Research Support page, and the BMS DataLab. For support, questions, or feedback contact the information specialists of the faculty of BMS listed above.
Recommended sources of open research data
Highly-recommended
Start searching for open data here, note that search capabilities and access to data might vary per source.
- OpenAire
A comprehensive and open dataset of research information covering 3m publications, 500k research data, 100 research software items, from 48data sources, linked to 3K grants and 900 organizations. - CBS Data (Statistics Netherlands)
Access to CBS StatLine database, CBS StatLine Open Data, and CBS Microdata. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has made its complete database (a total of 3400 datasets) available as open data. The statistical data is now easily available and reusable. - DANS-EASY (Data Archiving and Networked Services)
EASY is an electronic archiving system for research data that offers access to thousands of datasets in the humanities, social and behavioural sciences, geospatial sciences and oral history. Mostly Open Access but registration is required. - 4TU Research Data
The depository of the 4TU Research Data hosts datasets originating from technical and scientific research in the Netherlands.
Recommended
Access to data is more restricted in these sources but it is possible through registration or institutional access.
- CentERdata
The CentERdata database contains CentERpanel data, LISS panel data, DHS data and SHARE data. See 'Related databases' at the bottom of their webpage. Registration required to request access to data. - CESSDA (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives)
CESSDA provides large-scale, integrated and sustainable data services to the social sciences. It brings together social science data archives across Europe, promoting the results of social science research and supporting national and cooperation. - ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. Registration required to request access to data. - ODISSEI (Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations)
Through ODISSEI, researchers have access to large-scale, longitudinal data collections as well as innovative/new forms of data. ODISSEI offers several benefits to UT researchers, including discount for CBS Microdata and free access to the LISS panel. - UK Data Service
Trusted access and training to use the UK's largest collection of economic, social and population data for research and teaching.
Focused search
If you haven’t found what you need above, these open data sources are worth exploring.
- Dryad
Research data linked to publications. Dryad is an open source, community driven project that takes a unique approach to data publication and digital preservation. - Eurostat
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. It provides high quality statistics and data on Europe. - Figshare
Research data shared by individual researchers. - OECD Statistics
OECD publishes its recommendations, analysis and data on OECD iLibrary to help inform policy makers, researchers and analysts to implement the best possible responses in their countries. - ORBIS
Contains comprehensive information on companies worldwide covering companies around the world. - Statista
Data platform for popular topics in COM and Marketing - UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division)
Users can search and download a variety of statistical resources compiled by the United Nations (UN) statistical system and other international agencies. For example, UNData. - World Bank Open Data
Includes data from the World Bank's microdata, finances and energy data platforms, as well as datasets from the open data catalog. - Data.gov (US Government)
U.S. Government’s open data. - European Union Open Data Portal
Open data from EU institutions, agencies and other bodies (like Eurostat). - Zenodo
Research data from EU funded projects. Linked to OpenAIRE. - ArcGIS Open Data
Open data available from ArcGIS community. - Overheid.nl (Dutch National Data Portal)
Dutch government’s data (like CBS-data).
General search
Data is not typically provided by these sources, but their search capabilities or catalogues can be useful.
- ‘Awesome Public Datasets' (GitHub repository)
This GitHub repository lists public data sources. They are collected and tidied from blogs, answers, and user responses. Most of the data sets listed below are free, however, some are not. - Google Public Data Explorer - Public Data sets
Public data search engine. - Open Access Directory
List of repositories and databases for open data. - Overheid.nl
Data register of the Dutch government. - Open Data Network
Commercial services linking to U.S. Government’s open data resources. Linked to Socrata. - Registry of Research Data Repositories
Overview of research data repositories. - Data Portals
A comprehensive list of open data portals from around the world. - B2Find
Metadata search facility for research data. B2FIND is an interdisciplinary discovery portal for research output that allows free term search, results may be narrowed down using several facets, including spatial and temporal search options. - DataCite Search
Metadata search facility for research data. DataCite is a leading global non-profit organisation that provides persistent identifiers (DOIs) for research data and other research outputs.
Books about systematic searching for literature
Information from public organizations
- EUR-Lex
- Statline
- Eurostat
- European Union
- European Commission
- United Nations
- The World Bank
- Wettenbank Overheid.nl
- NexisUni database [newspapers]
- Websites of National Parliaments:
- OECD Statistics
- Microdata of CBS [Statistics Netherlands]
Available journals at the UT
Journals and articles can be found in FindUT. For advice on using this discovery tool, please consult FindUT Tips & Tricks.
Use for example Scopus to find relevant research. If you need help to start searching, see Scopus’ Search Tips. Download the Scopus Quick Reference Guide here.
Tip: Set up an alert to stay updated about your field of interest. Scopus offers three types of alerts:
- search alerts on a specified subject
- author citation alerts, when a specified author is cited
- document citation alerts, when a specific document is cited