Thank you for your interest in Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Public Release data files. Once you have registered as a user of this site, public release files may be downloaded to your computer from our private server.
The data and documentation files at this site are provided for your convenience by the staff of the Health and Retirement Study. While HRS staff make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the data and documentation at this site, users are reminded that errors may be present, even in files that have been thoroughly cleaned. The Health and Retirement Study will make reasonable efforts via electronic mail and/or announcements on our public Web site to notify registered users of data file changes.
By registering for access to HRS Public Release data, the User agrees to all of the following:
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Make no attempts to identify study participants.
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Not to transfer HRS Public Release data to any third party other than staff or students for whom you are directly responsible except as indicated below.
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Not to allow others to use your username and password to access this site.
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To certify the destruction of any downloaded Public Release data file as well as any data files derived from the downloaded file when requested to do so by the Health and Retirement Study.
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To include the following citation in any research reports, papers, or publications based on Public Release data:
In text:
"The HRS (Health and Retirement Study) is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740) and is conducted by the University of Michigan."
In references:
"Health and Retirement Study, ([insert Product Name]) public use dataset. Produced and distributed by the University of Michigan with funding from the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740). Ann Arbor, MI, (year)."
- To include the following citation in any research reports, papers, or publications based on any Public Release data file tagged as "Early" or "Preliminary":
"This analysis uses Early Release data from the Health and Retirement Study, ([insert Product Name]), sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740) and conducted by the University of Michigan. These data have not been cleaned and may contain errors that will be corrected in the Final Public Release version of the dataset."
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Please note that although it is necessary to include the above citations to the HRS in any publications, it is not necessary to associate your publications with the HRS grant in PubMed.
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Provide information regarding any research product (dissertation, thesis, journal article, book, book chapter, report, etc.) based on data obtained from the Health and Retirement Study by sending an electronic copy to hrspublications@umich.edu.
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Report immediately to the Health and Retirement Study at hrsquestions@umich.edu any disclosure of study participant identity as well as any discovery of flaws or errors in the data or documentation files.
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Notify the Health and Retirement Study through use of the update function provided at this site or by electronic mail directed to hrsquestions@umich.edu of changes in your electronic mail address, postal address, telephone number, organizational affiliation or organizational status.
Third Party Redistribution of HRS Public Release Files
A number of requests have been received concerning third parties redistributing Health and Retirement public release files. Data librarians, archiving institutions, and other third parties are permitted to redistribute HRS public release files under the following restrictions:
- Only public release files are to be distributed.
- The third party must register as a user on this site.
- All recipients of the files must personally register as a user on this site.
- Procedures must be in place to ensure that the restrictions listed above are fulfilled.
If you have any questions concerning this policy, email hrsquestions@umich.edu.
Replication Policy
Many scholarly journals require that researchers must include the components of their analysis process (input/output data and supporting documentation) as part of their publication submission. The reason for this requirement is to allow other researchers to replicate the findings that are reported in the publication. HRS supports this principle but does not allow third-party distribution of its data by anyone, including journals. This document (.pdf) provides guidance to researchers who are using or who plan to use HRS data products as inputs to analysis conducted as part of the publishing process.