A long running academic research program begun in 1963 by political scientist J. David Singer at the University of Michigan with historian Melvin Small, now based at Pennsylvania State University, that systematically compiles data on interstate and civil wars since 1816, including coded battle death totals for each combatant. Its own dataset records approximately 500,000 Iraqi and 750,000 Iranian dead for the Iran-Iraq War. Its strength is a standardized, documented, replicable coding method applied consistently across wars, letting the Iran-Iraq War's toll be compared on the same basis as other conflicts. Its limit is that its per-war totals rely on the same underlying government and combatant reporting that other estimates use and do not represent an independent demographic recount.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
A long standing, widely cited academic conflict-data project applying a standardized, documented coding method across wars since 1816, though its per-war totals draw on the same underlying reporting other estimates use rather than an independent recount. No single publication year applies to an ongoing dataset; this atlas cites the project itself rather than inventing one. NotesCited for the higher, widely used academic dataset estimate of the Iran-Iraq War death toll.
Citation
AuthorCorrelates of War Project
PublisherPennsylvania State University
Source TypeInstitutional database
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Michigan directly: "David Singer at the University of Michigan with historian Melvin Small, now based at Pennsylvania State University, that systematically compiles data on interstate and civil wars since 1816..."
This source names Pennsylvania directly: "historian Melvin Small, now based at Pennsylvania State University, that systematically compiles data on interstate and civil wars since 1816, including coded battle death totals for each combatant."
Claims Backed By This Source (10 claims)
This source backs 10 claims across the atlas. As facts: 6 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 2 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Wars & Conflicts, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.