General Information
Governments, NGOs, academic institutions and private companies all collect data. Many datasets are available for re-use in your research. However, it is not always straightforward to find these datasets.
Note that when re-using research data, you must comply with the rules and regulations governing data copyright, intellectual property rights, and laws governing sensitive or personal information. SURF has compiled a report on the legal status of raw data, including information on the types of consent required for the re-use of data.
Data Search online module
The data search module provides general information on how and where to search for datasets. Should your data search question not be solved by the module or the FAQ, please contact the library via Ask Your Librarian. We can assist you in optimising your data search strategy and/or contact a data supplier on your behalf.
Data sources per discipline
Overview of databases and repositories related to your need for data. Select a database and use ‘more info & support’ to find (if available) manuals.
Company & Industry Data
CCM: CRSP/Compustat Merged (via Wharton)
The CRSP/Compustat Merged database (CCM) provides CRSP and Compustat subscribers with a convenient way to link CRSP market and corporate action data with Compustat fundamental data.
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Compustat Capital IQ Transcripts (via Wharton)
Compustat Capital IQ Transcripts provides a convenient way to analyse historical transcript data and trends on 10,600 companies.
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Compustat Global (via Wharton)
Compustat Global provides authoritative financial and market data covering publicly traded companies in more than 80 countries, representing over 90% of the world’s market capitalisation.
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Compustat North America (via Wharton)
Compustat North America is a database of U.S. and Canadian fundamental and market information on active and inactive publicly held companies.
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CRSP (Mutual Funds & US Stocks & Indices) (via Wharton)
The Center for Research in Security Prices, LLC (CRSP) maintains the most comprehensive collection of security price, return, and volume data for the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ stock markets. Additional CRSP files provide stock indices, beta-based and cap-based portfolios, treasury bond and risk-free rates, and real estate data.
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ExecuComp (via Wharton)
Data on executive compensation, coverage of each company’s top five executive officers and company financial performance taken from the Compustat database.
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FactSet (incl. MSCI and ESG Hub)
FactSet amongst others contains real-time market data as well as company analytics.
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Orbis
Orbis contains comprehensive worldwide information (including financial as well as ownership) on companies from small to very large. Select companies based on regions, industry, size and much more to create your research sample and add additional (financial) variables later on.
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Country Statistics
Eurostat
Eurostat provides access to a range of statistical information (data and publications) you can consult online or download for free.
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ILOSTAT
This database, owned by the International Labour Organization, offers time series on labour indicators.
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IMF – International Monetary Fund
IMF provides free access to the data and publications of the International Monetary Fund.
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OECD iLibrary
OECD iLibrary is the online library of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
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StatLine (CBS)
Statline is the electronic database of the CBS (Dutch Central Statistics Office).
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UN-iLibrary
The UN-iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations.
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World dataBank
World dataBank offers access to variables from the World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance, Gender Statistics, Education Statistics, Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, Africa Development Indicators, Global Economic Monitor (GEM) and the Millennium Development Goals.
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Merger and Acquisition & Joint Venture Data
FactSet (incl. MSCI and ESG Hub)
FactSet amongst others contains real-time market data as well as company analytics.
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Orbis M&A
Orbis M&A contains information on mergers and acquisitions, IPO, private equity, and venture capital deals and rumors.
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Social & Lifestyle Data
Eurostat
Eurostat provides access to a range of statistical information (data and publications) you can consult online or download for free.
Go to the database
ICPSR – Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
ICPSR offers a large archive of numeric social science data.
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ILOSTAT
This database, owned by the International Labour Organization, offers time series on labour indicators.
Go to the database
OECD iLibrary
OECD iLibrary is the online library of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Go to the database
StatLine (CBS)
Statline is the electronic database of the CBS (Dutch Central Statistics Office).
Go to the database
UN-iLibrary
The UN-iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations.
Go to the database
World dataBank
World dataBank offers access to variables from the World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance, Gender Statistics, Education Statistics, Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, Africa Development Indicators, Global Economic Monitor (GEM) and the Millennium Development Goals.
Go to the database
Eurobarometer
Eurobarometer contains primary data and related documentation (questionnaires, codebooks, etc.) of surveys that are conducted on behalf of the European Commission to monitor the public opinion in the European Union member and candidate countries.
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Open Access Directory Social Science
Open Access Directory Social Science provides an overview of open access databases containing relevant data for Social Sciences research.
Go to the database
Health Data
Gezondheidsstatistieken
The main producers of Dutch and some European health statistics are included in Gezondheidsstatisstieken.
Go to the database
UN-iLibrary
The UN-iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations.
Go to the database
WHO Library – World Health Organization Publications
The WHO Library is the world’s leading library on public health. It provides access to knowledge from WHO as well as to other sources of scientific literature produced around the world.
Go to the database
Open Access Directory Medicine
Open Access Directory Social Science provides an overview of open access databases containing relevant data for Medicine.
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Data Repository Guidance Health Sciences
Dataset of appropriate public data repositories in the field of Health Sciences.
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Science Data
CSD – Cambridge Structural Database
The CSD is the world’s largest database for small-molecule organic and metal-organic crystal structures, with more than 1 million curated entries from x-ray and neutron diffraction analyses.
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ICSD – Inorganic Crystal Structure Database
The ICSD is the world’s largest database of fully determined inorganic crystal structures. Each record includes crystallographic data, chemical and physical property data, and bibliographic information for any journal article referencing the structure.
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Reaxys
Reaxys is an online chemical search engine designed for searching for (parts of) chemical structures, substance properties (e.g. spectra), and reaction and synthesis information.
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SciFinder-n
SciFinder-n is a research tool for chemistry and related sciences with access to the largest collection of substances, reactions, and references (from both journals and patents).
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Open Access Directory overview
For an overview of open access databases in this field, visit the Open Access Directory.
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Patents & Trademarks Data
A lot of patent data is freely available on the internet. A selection of commonly used patent databases are listed in this section.
Espacenet
Espacenet is the European Patent Office’s (EPO) database. It is a worldwide database including full text published patent documents from 80+ countries.
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Orbis Intellectual Property
Orbis Intellectual Property combines company and patent information for intellectual property research and strategy such as publication information, ownership, industry and patent classifications, oppositions, and patent value. Data on M&A deals and corporate structures are included in Orbis IP as well.
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Patentscope
Patentscope is the World Intellectual Property Offices (WIPO) database. It contains all published patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and patent documents for all national and regional patent offices participating in the PCT (including all major offices).
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SureChEMBL
SureChEMBL is an open science chemistry patent database maintained by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). The collections of all major patent offices (US, EPO, Japan, WIPO) and many smaller ones are covered.
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The Lens
The Lens is a patent search system aiming to provide an integrated, worldwide, open resource for patent and non-patent literature.
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Google Patents
Google Patents is Google’s search engine for patents. It offers an easy-to-use option for a quick, broad search of the patenting literature.
Go to the database
FAQs – Check before you contact the support team
Can alumni access company data and statistics?
Due to license restrictions, alumni cannot access databases that require UM registration such as FactSet, MSCI/ESG, Truvalue Labs & Wharton (WRDS).
Can I get assistance in analysing data?
Unfortunately, we cannot offer specific data analysis support. For questions about data analysis, your best option is to contact a statistics professor or tutor from your own faculty. In addition, there is always the possibility to use a free online course or instruction videos on YouTube.
How can I combine data sets?
There is nothing more efficient than being able to use the output of one database as the direct input for the second database.
The moment you retrieve company data from your first database, please make sure you collect as many identifiers (tickers, CUSIP, SEDOL etc.) for these companies as possible. This will save you a tremendous amount of work the moment you need additional data form a second database.
What type of data is available in what database?
There are far too many databases to give an exhaustive overview here.
You will need to look at the information (e.g. online manuals) provided for the individual databases. Alternatively, research papers related to your topic should help you identify databases that may contain the type of data you need.
Can I get a trial subscription for a database?
Unfortunately, it is not possible to obtain a trial subscription for any databases. For each year, the faculties and the library set a budget and carefully select which database licenses this budget is spend on. Although you could contact your faculty library committee to suggest trialing a particular database, this process is lengthy and not likely to lead to database access within the time period of a bachelor or master project.
The data I need is nowhere to be found in the university databases. What now?
It is strongly advised to check the availability of data before you start your research and writing process.
If the data is not available in our databases, it may be available from a repository. Repository data can be found by searching the repository or by using a dedicated data search engine, such as Mendeley Data Search or Google Dataset Search, to search across a variety of repositories. Re3data is a global registry of research data repositories and can be used to identify potentially relevant repositories. For more information on how to search for datasets, see the data search module.
Alternatively, you could try to source the data you need through your network. Personal or department subscriptions to databases are not uncommon. Your supervisor or colleagues may be able to help you out.
Can I use Google Dataset Search?
Google Dataset Search can help you find datasets wherever they are hosted online, whether it is a publisher’s site, a digital library, or an author’s personal web page. It works like other Google tools, such as Google Scholar, which means it has the same pros and cons. Alternative tools, such as Mendeley Data Search and Re3data offer more options for systematic dataset searching.
I need help with my searching/writing process. Who can help me?
Depending on the type of help you need, there are two options: PeerPoint or Ask Your Librarian (AYL).
- AYL is our general helpdesk and is particularly useful if you have a specific question regarding a database.
- Peerpoint is a free peer-to-peer service and offers more extensive support. Specialised master students working for Peerpoint can aid you with your research process, your search skills, and your academic writing. Please visit the PeerPoint-page to get in contact with them.
Can I use Yahoo Finance?
Yahoo! Finance is a news and media website that is part of the Yahoo! network. It provides financial news, data, and commentary including (free) stock quotes, press releases, financial reports, and original content by its own team of journalists. It also offers some online tools for personal finance management (source Wikipedia). For more information on the features of Yahoo Finance see: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/finance-for-web.
Important – Yahoo Finance provides all information as is. You must not redistribute information displayed on or provided by Yahoo Finance. All data provided on Yahoo Finance is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended for trading or investing purposes.
The data sources per discipline (as mentioned above) are selected by UM staff and meet the academic standards that are needed for research purposes at Maastricht University. When using Yahoo Finance make sure to check for the quality of the data(sources).
Check in advance whether you are allowed to use the data and discuss the use of Yahoo Finance with your supervisor beforehand.
