The citation changes at each release to reflect the addition of the data from the new wave:
Please visit https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/documentation/citation for the citation for the latest version of the data. Please cite each dataset that you use.
If you use Understanding Society data you must acknowledge this. All works which use or refer to these materials should acknowledge these sources by means of bibliographic citation. To ensure that such source attributions are captured for bibliographic indexes, citations must appear in footnotes or in the reference section of publications.
Citing this User Guide
When citing this User Guide you can use the citation of this particular version quoted below. Alternatively, you can cite a previous version if required by replacing the date with that on the front of the User Guide you wish to cite. Note that the version available on the Understanding Society website is always the most up to date.
Institute for Social and Economic Research (2025). Understanding Society – The UK Household Longitudinal Study, Innovation Panel, Waves 1-17, User Guide, August 2025, Colchester: University of Essex
Why cite data?
Experts from across the University of Essex, the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Understanding Society and the UK Data Archive come together to explain the importance of data citation. #CiteTheData
