Make an Access Request

Interested in gaining access to our research data? Read more here about requesting access and see details about our access policies.

To view or gain access to data, please follow the steps outlined below. We will endeavour to get back to you as soon as we can.

Researchers are encouraged to get in touch at an early stage of project planning. To help design studies, Generation Scotland summary data can be viewed on request by contacting access@generationscotland.org. 

Requesting Access

Once a project is planned, applicants should fill out a collaboration proposal form. There is one form for Generation Scotland access and another for CovidLife access. If you would like access to Generation Scotland data, please complete the form below:

A picture of the Access request form, detailing 'Please ensure you have read the following documents before applying for access to the Generation Scotland Database • Data access policy • Data management policy • Intellectual property policy • Data and Materials Transfer Agreement (DMTA) - to be signed upon Generation Scotland approval) Section 1. Please note this information along with the project title, lay summary, and data requested will be a
GS Access Request Form (53.9 KB / DOCX)

There is an additional form for access to samples which is available on request.

If you would like to access any of the data from our CovidLife projects, please use the form below:

Approval Process

Upon submission, these forms are reviewed by the Generation Scotland Access Committee , which meets regularly. Our aim is to review applications within 6-8 weeks of submission, but typically sooner.  Applicants are notified of the decision no later than 2 weeks after the meeting.

Data Transfer Process

If approved, each project is subject to a Data & Materials Transfer Agreement (DMTA) or commercial contract. It will need to be signed on behalf of the recipient institution. After the DMTA/contract has been signed, samples and/or data can be released. For your reference, you can view this below. You do not need to fill in this form. A DMTA specific to your study will be sent to you if it is approved.

Costs

If you would like to discuss access charges, please contact us at access@generationscotland.org

Access by International Researchers

Woman coding on laptop with monitor to left

Generation Scotland has consent for data to be used by researchers from around the world for medical research. However, the original consent given by Generation Scotland participants did not allow us to send samples to researchers in countries other than the UK.  We have since approached all Scottish Family Health Study participants seeking explicit consent to allow samples to be sent to researchers outside the UK, subject to the same ethical scrutiny as all other uses of Generation Scotland resources. The great majority of those who responded gave their consent.

Access Policy

Our policy explains procedures for managing access and the publication of data from Generation Scotland resources, which is used to guide the Access Committee. The policy follows on from the Generation Scotland Collaboration Agreement. We welcome feedback from potential users and other interested parties. Please e-mail access@generationscotland.org to give your feedback.

PDF Downloads of GS Access Policy

GS Collaboration Agreement (1.29 MB / PDF)
GS summary authorship policy (362.62 KB / PDF)

 

The Generation Scotland Executive gratefully acknowledges the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) Access Policy, on which the Generation Scotland Collaboration Agreement and the Management, Access and Publication Policy are based.

For more information, please e-mail access@generationscotland.org or call our office on 0131 651 8740.

Data Management and Linkage Policy

A unique study ID was applied to our data and samples at the point of collection. Personal information for study participants is held separately from all other study data, along with an encrypted version of the Communit Health Index. The key to the encrypted Community Health Index linkage is held in the NHS system and is not accessible by Generation Scotland. This process is described in the Data Access and Linkage Plan.

Data Access and Linkage Policy (494.55 KB / PDF)

You might also be interested in:

Generation Scotland

CovidLife

Our Resources

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article was published on