Share NIH Data
ICPSR supports data archiving for NIH-funded data collections. Whether you are an individual researcher or manage a program, ICPSR is ready to accept data, provide cost estimates, assist with the planning of your NIH grant, and offer letters of support to bolster your grant applications. We are here for you. Watch the instructional video, Share Your NIH (and other) Data: Preparing, or read the steps below.
Steps to share data with ICPSR
Find step-by-step instructions on How to Use ICPSR's Online Data Deposit System.
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Step 1 |
Step 2 |
Step 3 |
Step 4 |
Done |
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Identify data fit |
Register your proposed study with ICPSR |
Prepare data for submission |
Relax! The data are with experts |
Step 1: Identify data fit
ICPSR accepts a wide range of social science data. This includes data from surveys, experiments, observational studies, administrative records, and other forms of quantitative and qualitative data. Additionally, ICPSR may accept data from diverse disciplines within the social sciences, including but not limited to sociology, political science, economics, psychology, and public health. For more information, see the ICPSR Collection Development policy. Read below for specific NIH-funded archives that might align with your funding and data topic.
Step 2: Register your proposed study with ICPSR
Fill out the registration form to alert ICPSR about your proposed study / data collection.
- Once you have done this, you may wish to use the pre-filled Template NIH DMS Plan from ICPSR to designate ICPSR as the repository for your data.
Optionally, you can request an ICPSR professional curation cost estimate in the registration process.
- Please review the Budgeting for ICPSR Professional Curation Services. ICPSR will receive notice of your submission after you register for your study, and a staff member will contact you directly to provide an estimate if you have requested one.
Step 3: Prepare data for submission
Deposits should include all data and documentation necessary to independently read and interpret the data collection. ICPSR encourages depositors to submit data files for archiving as SPSS, SAS, or Stata files if they are quantitative data or in plain text (*.txt), rich text (*.rtf), scanned image of text with OCR (*.pdf), or Microsoft Word (*.doc, *.docx) for qualitative data. ASCII files are also acceptable if setup files accompany them. Datasets in other formats are accepted as well. Use the Depositor Checklist or read more on the Start Deposit page.
Step 4: Upload data
Once you’ve collected everything needed to deposit your data, it’s time to submit it! Review What Should My Deposit Include? for details on what you'll need to have prepared.
Need more help?
- Contact ICPSR-help@umich.edu with additional questions about grant planning and writing, as well as NIH data deposit and sharing
- Additional Guidance for HEAL Researchers
- Request a letter of support from your designated archive to bolster your application
- Visit our NIH topical archives and projects to learn more about NIH-funded data at ICPSR
- Access Deposit FAQs
- Guide for Sharing Qualitative Data at ICPSR
- See the full ICPSR Guide to Social Science Data Preparation and Archiving
- Watch our webinars:
Don’t Jeopardize Funding!
As of January 25, 2023, National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires all investigators to submit a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMS Plan) as part of any proposal collecting scientific data. Researchers must comply with the plans; noncompliance may jeopardize future funding decisions! U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) requires a Data Management Plan (DMP) for all proposed research, even if no data are collected!
What is a DMS Plan?
A Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMS Plan) is a written plan that describes how scientific data will be managed, shared, and made findable and accessible to future researchers. NIH recommends the DMS Plan be no longer than 2 pages in length.
Updated 4/20/2024