Global Terrorism Database

The GTD describes itself as the "most comprehensive unclassified data base on terrorist events in the world" and includes over 200,000 terrorist attacks in its 2021 version. The entire database (about 80 MB Excel file and 9 MB geodatabase file) is available for download via the website.{{cite web|url = http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/contact/|title = Download GTD|accessdate = June 12, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150712220715/http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/contact/|archive-date = July 12, 2015|url-status = dead}} The GTD includes more than 95,000 bombings. It also includes more than 20,000 assassinations and more than 15,000 kidnappings.{{Cite web|url=http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/about/|title=Overview of the GTD|website=Global Terrorism Database}}

The manner in which the data is encoded is described in a codebook which is available as a PDF file which can be downloaded from the website. The codebook states that the database was designed to be "useful to as broad an audience as possible" and hence, researchers chose to "err on the side of inclusiveness."{{cite report|title=Global Terrorism Database Codebook: Inclusion Criteria and Variables|publisher = University of Maryland |page = 5 |url = https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/downloads/Codebook.pdf|edition=October 2019|accessdate =2020-09-01|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200901082155/https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/downloads/Codebook.pdf|archive-date = 2020-09-01|df = mdy-all}}

In 2001, the University of Maryland, College Park obtained a large database of terrorist attacks from 1970 to 1997 collated by Pinkerton Global Intelligence Services. Data from 1993 was missing because it got lost in an office move by Pinkerton. Although START attempted to retrospectively code these events, they believe that around 85% of the original data is still missing; as such, data from 1993 is not included in the main database, however the surviving data is still available to download separately.GTD Codebook: Inclusion Criteria and Variables. October 2019. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). Available at: https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/downloads/Codebook.pdf With funding from the National Institute of Justice, the University of Maryland finished digitizing the data in December 2005. In April 2006, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), working with the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), received additional funding from the Human Factors Division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to extend the GTD beyond 1997. The data generated for 1997 to 2007 was then harmonized with the Pinkerton data from 1970 to 1997 to create a unified database of terrorist events from 1970 to 2007 (excluding 1993). New years were periodically added, and as of August 2014, the data goes up to 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/about/History.aspx|title = History of the GTD|accessdate = June 12, 2014|publisher = National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism}}

The GTD was formally introduced in a paper in Terrorism and Political Violence by Gary LaFree and Laura Dugan of START, published in 2007.{{cite journal|url=http://ccjs.umd.edu/sites/ccjs.umd.edu/files/pubs/FTPV_A_224594.pdf|title = Introducing the Global Terrorism Database|last1 = LaFree|first1 = Gary|last2 = Dugan|first2 = Laura|pages = 181–204|year = 2007|volume = 19|issue = 2|journal = Terrorism and Political Violence|doi = 10.1080/09546550701246817| s2cid=20868440 }} An update on the GTD by LaFree was published by Perspectives on Terrorism in 2010.{{cite journal|title = The Global Terrorism Database: Accomplishments and Challenges|last = LaFree|first = Gary|volume = 4|issue = 1|date = 2010|journal = Perspectives on Terrorism|url=http://terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/89|accessdate = June 12, 2014}} Another update was published in Evidence-based Counterterrorism Policy in 2012.{{cite book|last = LaFree|first = Gary| title=Evidence-Based Counterterrorism Policy | chapter=Generating Terrorism Event Databases: Results from the Global Terrorism Database, 1970 to 2008 |volume = 3|date = 2012|pages = 41–64|doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-0953-3_3|isbn = 978-1-4614-0952-6}} In 2017, Benjamin Acosta and Kristen Ramos published the 1993 Terrorism and Political Violence Dataset, which marks a comprehensive recollection of the previously missing 1993 data.{{Cite journal|last1=Acosta|first1=Benjamin|last2=Ramos|first2=Kristen|date=2017|title=Introducing the 1993 Terrorism and Political Violence Dataset|journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism|volume=40|issue=3|pages=232–247|doi=10.1080/1057610X.2016.1184061|s2cid=147834791 }}

In 2018, the GTD suffered a lapse in funding that caused projects and updates to be temporarily put on hold. The Department of Defense Combating Terrorism and Technical Support Office and the German Federal Foreign Office were able to provide short-term funds which enabled the GTD to put out their report for 2018, but the Global Terrorism Database continues to seek funding for the long term. If they are not able to get it, they will be unable to update for the indefinite future and the GTD may not remain free as a result.{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/news/message-global-terrorism-database-manager|title=Message from the Global Terrorism Database Manager {{!}} START.umd.edu|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-10-26}}

Data from the Global Terrorism Database is used to generate the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) published by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

A number of academic papers studying various aspects of terrorism, including trends in the amount and types of terrorism, draws on data from the GTD for its empirical analysis.{{cite journal|title = Investigative Visual Analysis of Global Terrorism|last1 = Wang|first1 = Xiaoyu|last2 = Miller|first2 = Eric|last3 = Smarick|first3 = Kathleen|last4 = Ribarsky|first4 = William|last5= Chang|first5 = Remco|journal = Computer Graphics Forum|volume = 27|issue = 3|pages = 919–926|date = May 2008|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8659.2008.01225.x|citeseerx = 10.1.1.174.3876| s2cid=35217883 }}{{cite journal|url=http://128.8.127.3/grad/scholarlypapers/papers/JoonghoonLee.pdf|title = Exploring Global Terrorism Data: A Web-based Visualization of Temporal Data|last = Lee|first = Joonghoon|accessdate = June 12, 2014|doi = 10.1145/1519390.1519393|journal = Crossroads|volume = 15|issue = 2|pages = 7–14|date = December 2008| s2cid=11438242 }}{{cite book|chapter-url=https://viscenter.uncc.edu/sites/viscenter.uncc.edu/files/CVC-UNCC-08-15.pdf|title = Visual Analysis of Entity Relationships in Global Terrorism Database|last1 = Godwin|first1 = Alex|last2 = Chang|first2 = Remco|last3 = Kosara|first3 = Robert|last4 = Ribarsky|first4 = William| editor-first1=Moon S | editor-first2=Kaunglin | editor-first3=William J | editor-first4=William | editor-first5=Sergey I | editor-first6=Bahram | editor-first7=Shu-I | editor-last1=Kim | editor-last2=Chao | editor-last3=Tolone | editor-last4=Ribarsky | editor-last5=Balandin | editor-last6=Javidi | editor-last7=Tu |publisher = SPIE Proceedings|doi = 10.1117/12.778084|volume = 6983|pages = 69830G|chapter = Visual analysis of entity relationships in the Global Terrorism Database|series = Defense and Security 2008: Special Sessions on Food Safety, Visual Analytics, Resource Restricted Embedded and Sensor Networks, and 3D Imaging and Display|year = 2008|citeseerx = 10.1.1.167.6280| s2cid=17470701 }}

In his book The Better Angels of Our Nature, author Steven Pinker used data from the Global Terrorism Database for his analysis of trends in terrorism, calling it "the major publicly available dataset on terrorist attacks."{{cite book|title = The Better Angels of Our Nature|last = Pinker|first = Steven|authorlink = Steven Pinker|isbn = 978-1-101-54464-8|date = October 4, 2011|title-link = The Better Angels of Our Nature| publisher=Penguin }}

In 2014, Pape et al. observed that, "according to the GTD data today, there were over 70 percent more suicide attacks in 2013 (619) than the previous peak in 2007 (359) during the Iraq war." Meanwhile, their Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism (CPOST) claims a 19 percent decrease for the same period:{{Citation

| last1 = Pape | first1 = Robert

| last2 = Ruby | first2 = Kevin

| last3 = Bauer | first3 = Vincent

| last4 = Jenkins | first4 = Gentry

| author-link = Robert Pape

| date = August 11, 2014

| title = How to fix the flaws in the Global Terrorism Database and why it matters

| newspaper = New York Times

| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/08/11/how-to-fix-the-flaws-in-the-global-terrorism-database-and-why-it-matters/

| accessdate = 2016-01-08}}

Pape et al. noted that this difference can be explained by a change in methodology between 2007 and 2013. As noted above, the GTD data were collected by four different organizations:{{Citation

|date = June 2015

|title = GTD Global Terrorism Database Codebook: Inclusion Criteria and Variables

|publisher = National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)

|place = University of Maryland, College Park, MD

|page = 4

|url = http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/contact/

|accessdate = 2015-11-28

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150712220715/http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/contact/

|archive-date = 2015-07-12

|url-status = dead

}}

Pape et al. quote GTD officials as claiming that their "researchers, past and present, have ensured that the entire database uses the same standards for inclusion and is as comprehensive as possible." Pape et al. disagree while noting that their CPOST methodology has been consistent since their first recorded incident in 1982. They conclude, "American policy makers and the public deserve the best data available on terrorism, one of the most important national security issues of our time."

The Global Terrorism Database has been cited in The Guardian,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/apr/17/four-decades-us-terror-attacks-listed-since-1970|title = Four decades of US terror attacks listed and detailed. How many terror attacks have hit the US since 1970 – and how serious are they?|newspaper = The Guardian|date = April 17, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014|last = Rogers|first = Simon}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/30/russian-terrorist-attacks-since-1991-whats-changed|title = Russian terrorist attacks since 1991: what's changed? Two bomb attacks today in Volgograd are thought to be the work of terrorists.|last = Chalabi|first = Mona|date = December 30, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014|newspaper = The Guardian}} using a database of terrorism we look at how the frequency and type of attack has changed the New York Times,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/bombings-end-decade-without-terror-in-us.html|title = Bombings End Decade of Strikingly Few Successful Terrorism Attacks in U.S.|last = Shane|first = Scott|date = April 16, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014|newspaper = New York Times}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/world/africa/state-department-ramps-up-efforts-against-boko-haram.html|title = Nigerian Television Becomes Front for U.S. in Terrorism Fight. State Department Ramps Up Efforts Against Boko Haram|date = May 17, 2014|accessdate = June 12, 2014|newspaper = New York Times}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/at-fort-hood-wrestling-with-label-of-terrorism.html?_r=0|title = At Fort Hood, Wrestling With Label of Terrorism|last1 = Fernandez|first1 = Manny|last2 = Blinder|first2 = Alan|date = April 8, 2014|accessdate = June 12, 2014|newspaper = New York Times}} the Washington Post,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/11/06/hyping-the-number-of-deaths-from-terrorism/|title = Hyping the number of deaths from terrorism|last = Kessler|first = Glenn| newspaper=The Washington Post |date = November 6, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/16/eight-facts-about-terrorism-in-the-united-states/?wprss=rss_business|title = Eight facts about terrorism in the United States|last = Plumer|first = Brad| newspaper=The Washington Post |date = April 16, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014}} the Wall Street Journal,{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304723304577369780858510366|title = Al Qaeda Is Far From Defeated|last = Jones|first = Seth G.|date = April 30, 2012|accessdate = June 12, 2014|newspaper = Wall Street Journal}} and Foreign Policy.{{cite magazine|url=http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/15/a_brief_history_of_terrorist_attacks_in_boston|title = A brief history of terrorist attacks in Boston|last = Groll|first = Elias|date = April 15, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014|magazine = Foreign Policy}}{{cite magazine|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/23/barack_obama_s_counterterrorism_policy_by_the_numbers_drone_speech|title = Obama's counterterrorism policy, by the numbers|last = Groll|first = Elias|date = May 23, 2013|accessdate = June 12, 2014|magazine = Foreign Policy}}

While calling the Global Terrorism Database a treasure trove of information, a 2013 Washington Post fact-checking article criticized its use by government officials to hype the threat of terrorism around the world, given its use of a definition of terrorism conflicting with Congressionally required law.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2013/11/06/hyping-the-number-of-deaths-from-terrorism/ |title= Fact Checker Analysis – Hyping the number of deaths from terrorism |author=Glenn Kessler |date= November 6, 2013|newspaper=Washington Post}}

An article for Stratfor stated that the Database does not pull incidents from thin air, but expressed concern that claims of a 70% increase in 2017 North American terrorist fatalities were based on the GTD classifying the 2017 Las Vegas shooting as an essentially certain case of goal-driven ideological terrorism; when no clear ideological or political motive has been found. Excluding that one incident would have yielded a 10% decline.{{cite web |url=https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/understanding-terrorism-more-numbers-game |title= Understanding Terrorism Is More Than a Numbers Game|author= Ben West |date=Aug 28, 2018 |publisher=Stratfor }}

An article for Security Magazine noted that trends monitored by the Global Terrorism Database showed that Global Terrorism was declining, but that U.S. attacks are on the rise. According to the trends, global terrorism had decreased for the fourth consecutive year, but terrorist attacks were the highest they had been in the United States since 1982.{{Cite web|url=https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/91079-global-terrorism-decreases-in-2018-us-attacks-increase|title=Global Terrorism Decreases in 2018; U.S. Attacks Increase|website=www.securitymagazine.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-26}} The report by the Global Terrorism Database also noted that the number of U.S.-based attacks in 2017 and 2018 had remained stable, despite an increase in attacks to more than 65 in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/publications/local_attachments/START_GTD_TerrorismIn2018_Oct2018.pdf|title=Trends in Global Terrorism: Islamic State's Decline in Iraq and Expanding Global Impact; Fewer Mass Casualty Attacks in Western Europe; Number of Attacks in the United States Highest since 1980s|last=Miller|first=Erin|date=October 2019|website=START GTD|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=October 25, 2019}}

In July 2023, Alexander Fürniß and Tobias Müller published an article in the German popular science magazine Katapult in which they investigated the presence of erroneous entries in the database. Aside from the most high-profile attacks, they found inconsistencies in many records for Germany from German reunification through July 2021, attributing the errors to a lack of time and personnel, particularly individuals with knowledge of the states involved, to conduct case-by-case reviews. The public databases on terrorist attacks, would in any case rarely meet the high standards of empirical research. However, Fürniß and Müller stressed that this did not mean the data were unusable, as they were still reliable for describing developments over time and providing information on changes in the modus operandi of terrorist organizations.{{cite journal |last1=Fürniß |first1=Alexander |last2=Müller |first2=Tobias |date=July 2023 |title=Terrorismusforschung: Weltweit wichtigste Datenbank voller Fehler |trans-title=Terrorism research: World's most important database full of errors |language=de |journal=Katapult |issue=30 |pages=42–47}}

• Casualty recording
• Database on Suicide Attacks
• Patterns of Global Terrorism
• Global Terrorism Index
• International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE)
• MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
• Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone
• Correlates of War
• Worldwide Incidents Tracking System (WITS)

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{official website}}
• [https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/downloads/Codebook.pdf Codebook] detailing inclusion criteria and other details of methodology

Category:Political databases

Category:Terrorism databases