History

60 Years and Counting

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) was founded in 1962 by political scientist Warren E. Miller to share scientific data. Before this, scientific data from all disciplines were closely held by their developers and creators. Since then, ICPSR has expanded the impact of social and behavioral research, acting as a global leader in data stewardship and providing rich data resources and responsive educational opportunities for the research data community.

Discover Our Past

Growth Over the Years

Revenue, Members, Staff, and Archives Timeline
YearRevenueMember InstitutionsStaffArchive Established
1962-63$64,30025N/ASurvey Data Archive
1966-67N/AN/AN/AHistorical Archive
1967-68$606,40312764N/A
1968-69N/AN/AN/AInternational Relations Archive
1972-73$900,30014846N/A
1976-77N/AN/AN/ANational Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA)
1977-78$1,398,67622462N/A
1978-79N/AN/AN/ANational Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)
1982-83$2,044,06127062N/A
1987-88$2,561,49732555N/A
1992-93$4,319,21737880N/A
1995-96N/AN/AN/ASubstance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA)
1997-98$5,758,02336991N/A
1998-99N/AN/AN/AHealth and Medical Care Archive (HMCA)
2002-03$9,883,979373112N/A
2003-04N/AN/AN/AChild Care and Early Education Research Connections (CCEERC)
2004-05N/AN/AN/AData Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR)
2005-06N/AN/AN/AProject on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN)
2006 – 07N/AN/AN/AResource Center for Minority Data (RCMD)
2007-08$16,265,086657106
  • International Data Resource Center (IDRC)
  • Terrorism Preparedness Data Resource Center (TPDRC)
2008-09N/AN/AN/AIntegrated Fertility Survey Series (IFSS)
2009-10$19,148,425700118
  • National Addiction & HIV/AIDS Digital Archive Program (NAHDAP)
  • NCAA Student-Athlete Experiences Data Archive
  • China Multi-Generational Panel Dataset – Liaoning
  • Teaching With Data
2010-11N/AN/AN/AThe Center for Population Research in LGBT Health’s Population Research in Sexual Minority Health (PRISM) Data Archive
2012-13$18,826,424740115
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Multiple Chronic Conditions (AHRQ MCC) Research Network
  • Education Research Data Sharing Initiative (AERA-ICPSR partnership)
  • Measures of Effective Teaching Longitudinal Database (MET LDB)
2013-14$18,214,116750108
  • Seek, Test, Treat, & Retain (STTR) Data Harmonization Initiative
  • HIV Open Data Project
2014-15$17,165,381759110Archive of Data on Disability to Enable Policy and research (ADDEP)
2015-16$18,220,374765108National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture (NADAC)
2016-17$18,837,261759106
  • Civic Learning, Engagement, & Action Data Sharing (CivicLEADS)
  • Open Data Flint
2017-18$18,423,431778106DataLumos
2018-19$17,300,00078596US Census Data Repository
2019-20$16,400,000791123Child and Family Data Archive
2020-21$12.0 million792146
  • Data Archive for Interdisciplinary Research on Learning (DAIRL)
  • Patient-Centered Outcomes Data Repository (PCODR)
2021-22$20.5 million783146COVID-19 Data Repository
2022-23$26.5 million825164The Social Media Archive (SOMAR)
2023-24$27.4 million823162N/A

Size of ICPSR’s Holdings

Numbers of Studies, Datasets, and Files
TypesOn-demand total*On-demand members*On-demand public*Restricted total**Restricted members**Restricted public**
Studies8,8805,3963,4842,5683122,256
Datasets72,54832,12240,42614,5851,06913,516
Files236,92694,427142,499143,38610,755132,631
ASCII data files41,70623,92517,78111,47982310,656
SAS setup and transport files43,26716,38726,88027,2252,08025,145
SPSS setup, portable, and system files34,62713,83020,79721,1291,59619,533
Stata setup, system, and dictionary files51,06517,97433,09135,3282,58832,740
Documentation files (public, by definition)24,559N/A24,55929,619N/A29,619

*On-Demand: every file in each of these studies is downloadable
**Restricted: each study has at least one file that is not downloadable

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