With each data release, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey collaboration has published a Data Release paper, which describes the data, the data acquisition process, and other details of the project.
The most current public data release of the SDSS-V is Data Release 18 (DR18), which was released in January 2023. Details of DR18 are described in the Data Release 18 paper (Almeida et al. 2023).
This page gives links to the published paper for each data release, which serves as the official academic record for that release. When publishing research with data from one or more of our data releases, please reference the appropriate paper from the list below, along with any technical publications necessary for the reader to understand how the data were collected. Please see our guide on how to cite SDSS. Thank you, and we hope you find our data useful!
Data Release 18
Publicly Available: 19 January 2023
Almeida et al., The Eighteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Targeting and First Spectra from SDSS-V (Almeida et al. 2023 ApJS 267, 44)
- ADS abstract: 2023ApJS..267…44A
- Journal publication: doi:10.3847/1538-4365/acda98
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:2301.07688
Data Release 17
Publicly Available: 6 December 2021
Abdurro’uf et al., The Seventeenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Complete Release of MaNGA, MaStar and APOGEE-2 DATA (Abdurro’uf et al. 2022 ApJS 259, 35)
- ADS abstract: 2022ApJS..259….35A
- Journal publication: doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ac4414
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:2112.02026
Data Release 16
Publicly Available: 9 December 2019
Ahumada et al., The 16th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: First Release from the APOGEE-2 Southern Survey and Full Release of eBOSS Spectra (Ahumada et al. 2020 ApJS 249, 3)
- ADS abstract: 2020ApJS..249….3A
- Journal publication: doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ab929e
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1912.02905
Data Release 15
Publicly Available: 10 December 2018
Aguado et al., The Fifteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: First Release of MaNGA-derived Quantities, Data Visualization Tools, and Stellar Library (Aguado et al. 2019 ApJS 240(2), 23)
- ADS abstract: 2019ApJS..240…23A
- Journal publication: doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aaf651
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1812.02759
Data Release 14
Publicly Available: 31 July 2017
Abdolfathi et al., The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the Second Phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (Abdolfathi et al. 2018 ApJS 235(2), 42)
- ADS abstract: 2018ApJS..235…42A
- Journal publication: doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aa9e8a
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:2112.02026
Data Release 13
Publicly Available: 31 July 2016
Albareti et al., The 13th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (Albareti et al. 2017 ApJS 233(2), 25)
- ADS abstract: 2017ApJS..233…25A
- Journal publication: doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aa8992
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1608.02013
Data Release 12
Publicly Available: 6 January 2015
Alam et al., The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III (Alam et al. 2015 ApJS 219(1), 12)
- ADS abstract: 2015ApJS..219…12A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/219/1/12
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1501.00963
Data Release 11
Publicly Available: 6 January 2015
Alam et al., The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III (Alam et al. 2015 ApJS 219(1), 12)
- ADS abstract: 2015ApJS..219…12A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/219/1/12
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1501.00963
SDSS-III Data Releases
Data Release 10
Publicly Available: 30 July 2013
Ahn et al., The Tenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (Ahn et al. 2014 ApJS 211(2), 17)
- ADS abstract: 2014ApJS..211…17A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/211/2/17
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1307.7735
Data Release 9
Publicly Available: 31 July 2012
Ahn et al., The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (Ahn et al. 2022 ApJS 203(2), 21)
- ADS abstract: 2012ApJS..203…21A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/203/2/21
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1207.7137
Data Release 8
Publicly Available: 11 January 2011
Aihara et al., The Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Data from SDSS-III (Aihara et al. 2011 ApJS 193(2), 29)
- ADS abstract: 2011ApJS..193…29A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/193/2/29
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:1101.1559
SDSS-I/-II Data Releases
Data Release 7
Publicly Available: 31 October 2008
Abazajian et al., The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Abazajian et al. 2009 ApJS 182(2), 543)
- ADS abstract: 2009ApJS..182..543A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/182/2/543
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:0812.0649
Data Release 6
Publicly Available: 30 June 2007
Adelman-McCarthy et al., The Sixth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Adelman-McCarthy et al. 2008 ApJS 175(2), 297)
- ADS abstract: 2008ApJS..175..297A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/524984
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:0707.3413
Data Release 5
Publicly Available: 30 June 2006
Adelman-McCarthy et al., The Fifth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Adelman-McCarthy et al. 2007 ApJS 172(2), 634)
- ADS abstract: 2007ApJS..172..634A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/518864
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:0707.3380
Data Release 4
Publicly Available: 30 June 2005
Adelman-McCarthy et al., The Fourth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Adelman-McCarthy et al. 2006 ApJS 162(1), 38)
- ADS abstract: 2006ApJS..162…38A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/497917
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:astro-ph/0507711
Data Release 3
Publicly Available: 27 September 2004
Abazajian et al., The Third Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Abazajian et al. 2005 ApJS 129(3), 1755)
- ADS abstract: 2005AJ….129.1755A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/427544
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:astro-ph/0410239
Data Release 2
Publicly Available: 15 March 2004
Abazajian et al., The Second Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (Abazajian et al. 2004 ApJS 128(1), 502)
- ADS abstract: 2004AJ….128..502A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/421365
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:astro-ph/0403325
Data Release 1
Publicly Available: 15 April 2003
Abazajian et al., The First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Abazajian et al. 2003 ApJS 126(4), 2081)
- ADS abstract: 2003AJ….126.2081A
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/378165
- arXiv preprint: arXiv:astro-ph/0305492
Early Data Release
Publicly Available: 5 June 2001
Stoughton et al., Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Early Data Release (Stoughton et al. 2002 AJ 123(1), 485)
- ADS abstract: 2002AJ….123..485S
- Journal publication: doi:10.1086/324741