What are ICPSR's terms of use? What are the consequences of violating ICPSR's terms of use?

What are ICPSR's terms of use?

Our terms of use vary depending upon where the data were acquired.

For example, ICPSR 20460 is distributed under our standard terms of use:

• Comparison of Older Volunteers and Older Nonvolunteers in the Philadelphia Area, 1993-1998

ICPSR 4457 was acquired from the National Institute of Justice, which stipulates additional terms of use:

• Role of Law Enforcement in Public School Safety in the United States, 2002

Studies acquired from the National Center for Health Statistics, like the example below, also have additional terms:

• National Health Interview Survey, 1994: Second Longitudinal Study on Aging, Wave 3, 2000

When you download a study from ICPSR, you will be required to read and agree to the terms of use for that study prior to receiving the files. A copy of the terms of use will be included with your data download. 

What are the consequences of violating ICPSR's terms of use?

Subjects who participate in surveys and other research instruments distributed by ICPSR expect their responses to remain confidential. The data distributed by ICPSR are for statistical analysis, and they may not be used to identify specific individuals or organizations. Although ICPSR takes steps to assure that subjects cannot be identified, users are also obligated to act responsibly and not violate the privacy of subjects (intentionally or unintentionally).

If ICPSR determines that the terms of use agreement has been violated, one or more steps will be taken, which may include:

• ICPSR may revoke the existing agreement, demand the return of the data in question, and deny all future access to ICPSR data.
• The violation may be reported to the Research Integrity Officer, Institutional Review Board, or Human Subjects Review Committee of the user's institution. A range of sanctions are available to institutions including revocation of tenure and termination.
• If the confidentiality of human subjects has been violated, the case may be reported to the Federal Office for Human Research Protections. This may result in an investigation of the user's institution, which can result in institution-wide sanctions including the suspension of all research grants.
• A court may award the payment of damages to any group(s) or individual(s) harmed by the breach of the agreement.