Compliance Guide
An overview of disclosure risk review requirements for researchers using ICPSR restricted-use datasets — including high-risk data involving children, adolescents, and sensitive topics.
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides restricted-use data access to researchers studying sensitive populations and phenomena. Like IES/NCES restricted-use data, ICPSR restricted-use datasets carry strict data use agreement (DUA) requirements that govern how findings may be reported and disseminated.
Researchers using ICPSR restricted-use data must comply with data use agreement terms before publishing or presenting findings derived from these datasets. Disclosure avoidance reviews help ensure that reported statistics cannot be used to re-identify individual study participants, particularly in datasets involving vulnerable populations.
ICPSR restricted-use data typically involves high-risk populations where re-identification poses serious privacy risks. These include:
Datasets involving minors require heightened privacy protections under federal regulations.
Studies covering adolescent behavior, substance use, and wellbeing carry special sensitivity requirements.
Datasets including psychiatric diagnoses, treatment history, or psychological assessments.
Data on criminal justice involvement, arrests, or incarceration records require strict disclosure controls.
Each ICPSR restricted-use dataset has a specific DUA that outlines publication and dissemination requirements. Carefully review the DUA terms before preparing any manuscript or report.
Apply all required disclosure avoidance procedures specified in your DUA — including cell size suppression, rounding, and restrictions on presenting combinations of variables that could identify individuals.
Contact the ICPSR data custodian or the relevant dataset depositor according to your DUA instructions. Submit all outputs — tables, figures, and written text — for disclosure review before distribution.
Do not publish, present, or share any findings until formal clearance has been received. Keep clearance documentation on file.
A comprehensive, dataset-specific ICPSR disclosure risk review checklist is currently in development. It will cover specific disclosure avoidance rules, common pitfalls, and submission guidance for major ICPSR restricted-use datasets. Check back soon or contact us to learn more.
Contact Us for UpdatesReach out for guidance on ICPSR restricted-use data requirements or DRR-AI's upcoming ICPSR checklist.
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