ACS Data Users Group

Hi, I'm looking for guidance on how to properly cite the ACS, specifically PUMS micro data. Considering there are so many ways to access and slice and dice the data, there are probably many ways to cite it as well.

I found this recommended citation for ACS tables accessed via American FactFinder:

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table GCT0101; generated by John Smith; using American FactFinder; ; (7 January 2012).

(post found here: )

I then tried to modify it for PUMS data like so:

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey (ACS), Three-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), 2010-2012; generated by John Smith; accessed via ftp; ; (7 January 2012).

Does this look correct? Does Census provide citation guidelines about this? I could not find examples specifically for PUMS .

I asked census this question and here's the reply. If anyone has a different opinion, I'd like to hear it. Thanks!

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Email reply from askcensus@subscriptions.census.gov
Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 3:42 PM

Thank you for contacting the American Community Survey Office.

We do not have any specific guidance for citing ACS PUMS uses, but I think that your example looks good. We have heard from data users that this type of guidance might be useful, so it is something that we are looking into.
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American Community Survey Office

U.S. Census Bureau