In most cases, all researchers listed on a single application must be affiliated with the same institution. For collaboration across institutions, researchers from each institution much submit separate applications to access the restricted data. In their research descriptions, the Investigators for each request should mention that they are collaborating with researchers at the other institution(s) so that ICPSR staff can process the applications together. Data files and data subsets may NOT be shared between individuals at different institutions, even if all parties have received ICPSR approval to access the data.
In most cases, students may gain access to restricted data only if they have a faculty sponsor acting as the Investigator on the application. The faculty sponsor is responsible for overseeing the student’s proper use of the restricted data.
In some cases, journalists, government employees, and others may be able to gain access to restricted data. Please send an inquiry to ICPSR-help@umich.edu to find out if this applies to your circumstances. In most cases, self-employed individuals or others with no institutional affiliation cannot gain access to restricted data.
The majority of ICPSR’s restricted data do not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution for access. However, some restricted data are only available to researchers affiliated with ICPSR member institutions. You may filter your search results by member-funded or public data using the “Data Availability” filter on the search results page, or you may consult the Notes section of the study home page to identify ICPSR member-only data:
The majority of restricted data at ICPSR are federally funded and do not have an access fee, but some studies do have fees. If a study has an access fee, this information will be displayed within the application.
