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APA (7th ed.) Citation Guide for Health Sciences

Statistics vs. Datasets

Many people use the terms data and statistics interchangeably.  Strictly speaking, however, "data is the raw information from which statistics are created.  Put in the reverse, statistics provide an interpretation and summary of data" in a digestible format, such as a chart, table, or graph (MSU Libraries. What is the difference between Data and Statistics?).

APA & Statistics

APA provides guidance on how to cite common data visualization formats such as tables and figures, but not statistical tables. FYI, Statistics Canada auto-generates a suggested citation for all of its tables, which does not conform to APA style.  So you will need to amend the formatting to align with APA's general formatting rules.

 

In the absence of specific guidance for statistical tables, please note that the following may differ from examples provided in other schools' APA guides.  For reference these are offered as examples of "following the spirit of APA" - with a decision to adhere as much as possible to the guidance provided by APA for citing datasets.

 

Author. (Date). Title of table. (Table number/identifier/code if provided) [Format note if needed for clarification]. Website name. DOI or URL.

 

Statistics Canada. (2017). Measured adult body mass index (BMI) (World Health Organization classification), by age group and sex, Canada and provinces, Canadian Community Health Survey - Nutrition. (Table 13-10-0794-01). https://doi.org/10.25318/1310079401-eng


 

Note: the above suggestion does not include a format note, e.g., [Table] as it's clear from the other elements in the citation that it is a table and the website name was omitted to avoid duplication with the author name.

 

In text:
 

Parenthetical citations: (Statistics Canada, 2017)

Narrative citations: Statistics Canada (2017)

Datasets

Popp, Z. (2025). Extracted Data From: Open FEMA Data Disaster Information (UNF:6:qIWpUet3w6Na+1V7h+J3sQ== [fileUNF]; Version 1) [Data set]. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/V2K80T

 

In text:

 

Parenthetical citations: (Popp, 2025)

Narrative citations: Popp (2025)

 

Notes adapted from the APA Style Blog: Data Set References
 

  • Provide citations for data sets when you have either conducted secondary analyses of publicly archived data or archived your own data being presented for the first time in the current work.
     
  • If you are citing existing data or statistics, cite the publication in which the data were published (e.g., a journal article, report, or webpage) rather than the data set itself.
     
  • The date in the reference is the year of publication for the version of the data used.
     
  • Provide the title of the data set in italics. Then provide any numerical identifier and version number for the data in parentheses without italics, separated by a semicolon.
     
  • The bracketed description is flexible - provide the level of detail necessary for the reader to understand the nature of the resource (e.g., “[Data set],” “[Data set and code book]”).
     
  • Provide the publisher of the data set in the source element. In the context of datasets this is usually the name of the data repository where you found your data.