ITERATE, International terrorism: attributes of terrorist events, 1960-2020

The ITERATE project is an attempt to quantify data on the characteristics of transnational terrorist groups, their activities which have international impact, and the environment in which they operate. ITERATE data are available in two formats: as MS Excel tables and as text-file narratives. The Excel Tables are available for download via this Dataverse record. For access to the text-file narratives, please contact the Map & Data Library, University of Toronto. ITERATE’s numeric version, in Excel format, covers 1968 through 2020, coding the incidents discussed in the textual chronologies. It combines four distinct and interrelated files which count the most salient components of international terrorism: Common File 1968-2019 - includes over 13,000 cases and 42 variables Hostage File 1968-2007 - coded characteristics of 1,410 terrorism incidents that involved hostage-taking, with 41 variables Fate File 1968-1987 - includes 974 incidents and14 variable Skyjack File 1968-1987 - includes over 372 skyjacking incidents and 27 variables All variables and values for the data have remained consistent. New values are added with the emergence of new terrorist groups and types of terrorist activity. Incident codes for each event are consistent across files, enabling immediate cross reference. See codebook for further information. The datasets are based upon, inter alia, an exhaustive search of major media, research, news and information services, including AP, UPI, Reuters, CNN , MSNB , AFP, The Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, Time, Newsweek, and al-Jazeera. The chronology incorporates information obtained from interviews with government officials, scholars, and former hostages/others involved in international terrorist incidents. Additional sources include relevant manuscripts and scholarly publications dealing with the subject. Finally, the chronology uses many official government chronologies, including those published by the NCTC, FBI, CIA, US Department of State, and FAA. ITERATE Text and ITERATE Numeric data files were acquired in April 2021.