[ Terms of Use & Attribution Policy ]

Updated on January 4th, 2022

All rights to use The Diaspora Initiative (TDI, henceforth) data or analysis are conditioned on the user’s adherence to the use restrictions and TDI’s Attribution Policy outlined below. TDI reserves the right to update the Terms of Use at any time and to restrict or revoke access from any user who violates these terms.

Terms of Use

All users may NOT/shall not/are prohibited from:

  • using TDI’s data or analysis in any manner that may harm, target, oppress, or defame TDI, its data subjects, or other groups, or cause any of these to be harmed, targeted, oppressed, or defamed.
  • using TDI’s data or analysis in a manner that causes damage to the legitimate interests of TDI.
  • providing, permitting, or allowing direct access to any of TDI’s original/raw data or analysis to any other user.
  • using TDI’s data or analysis to create, develop, or support any dataset, product, or platform similar to, or in competition with, or that would create a functional substitute for, any of TDI’s content, products, or platforms.

All users MUST:

  • use TDI data responsibly and in good faith. This includes ensuring accurate and faithful representation of TDI’s methodology based on the TDI DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN and other publicly available resources. In the case of any uncertainty or confusion, users must consult the TDI research team directly (contact@diasporainitiative.org) to confirm accurate understandings and must correct any inaccuracies identified. Responsible and good faith use also requires users to clearly articulate and present any manipulation of the data for their research or analysis. TDI is required to monitor and address irresponsible or bad faith data use as part of our do- no-harm and conflict sensitivity policies.

All users MAY:

  • Crawl the TDI website or API ONLY if done in accordance with the provisions of our robots.txt file, but scraping is entirely prohibited. If you have any other questions about the use restrictions or Attribution Policy, or their application, please feel free to contact us directly at contact@diasporainitiative.org.

Attribution Policy

1. If using the TDI primary data repositories (Research section) in any way, direct or manipulated, the data must be clearly and prominently acknowledged. Proper acknowledgement includes (1) a footnote with the full citation which includes a link to TDI’s website (see below for examples), (2) in-text citation/acknowledgement, stating that TDI is the source of the data, and that the data are publicly available, and/or (3) clear citation on any and all visuals making use of TDI data.

Please also indicate:

  • The date you accessed the data: the TDI datasets are ‘living datasets’, with updates made at intervals, so your date of access will help clarify the specific ‘snapshot’ of TDI data you have accessed.
  • Which data you accessed: what filters did you use to isolate the relevant events (for networks and other datasets, filters are available to isolate nodes/entities, years, countries etc.)
  • In what ways you have manipulated the data: are there any changes to the unit of analysis, categorization, groupings, etc. which would result in your data structure looking different from the original TDI data?
  • In what ways have you added to or amended the data: did you generate new variables based on the original data? Did you add your own or another assessment to the original data?

2. If generating a data file for public or private use, and presenting those data to another party, the TDI data included must be directly acknowledged in a source column, including TDI’s full name and a link: “The Diaspora Initiative (TDI) – A Knowledge Repository for Diasporas & Migration; diasporainitiative.org”

3. To reference the TDI diaspora codebooks, data management plan etc. please cite as follows:

  • Example: Andra-Lucia Martinescu (2021). Data Management Plan & Methodologies. The Diaspora Initiative (TDI). Harvard Dataverse. V5.

4. If using any type of TDI data repositories in an academic paper, report, or article, please cite as follows:

  • Example: Andra-Lucia Martinescu (2023). Data Management Plan & Methodologies. The Diaspora Initiative – TDI. Harvard Dataverse. V5.
  • For published reports and/or analyses use this example: Martinescu, A L, Balatchi- Lupascu A. (2020). Understanding the Romanian Diaspora. Foreign Policy Centre (London).
    Available at: https://fpc.org.uk/publications/understanding-the-romanian- diaspora/.

5. If including TDI data alongside other data sources for a project larger in scope than the TDI dataset, please follow the steps above and also:

  • Be clear and open in all outputs (e.g. papers, website, etc.) about what percentage of your information comes from TDI.

6. If referring to figures or statistics published in TDI analysis, infographics, interactive graphs, networks, working papers, etc., please cite the individual publication, including the author(s), using the following format:

7. If using TDI data in a visual, graphic, or map of your own, please attribute the source data clearly and prominently on the visual itself or within the key/legend and include a link to TDI’s website. This can be in small print on the bottom of the image. Please note your date of data access. These citations should be included for both standalone infographics as well as for tables/figures within a larger report. If unable to include a link on a static visual file, please note “diasporainitiative.org” as the source URL. When sharing such an image on social media, please (1) be sure that the citation is not cut off, and (2) please tag TDI (LinkedIn).

8. If you wish to reproduce or republish a visual, graphic, or map TDI has already published (rather than creating an original image using raw data) for non-commercial purposes, please cite the individual publication, including the author(s), using the following format:

  • Example: Andra-Lucia Martinescu (2020). Distribution of Funding for Diaspora Projects in The Diaspora Initiative (TDI). Available at: https://diasporainitiative.org/governance/. © 2023 TDI All rights reserved. Used with permission from TDI.
  • If TDI content does not list an author, the citation should identify TDI as the author.

9. If you wish to cite a statistic based on TDI data in text, please explicitly reference “TDI” by full name, along with a hyperlink.

  • Example: “[…], according to TDI.” (The hyperlink leads to the TDI website).

10. If you wish to cite a specific finding from a TDI report or any of its authors in text, please explicitly reference “TDI” or the author by full name, along with a hyperlink to the TDI report providing the finding.

  • Example: “(…), according to a recent TDI report.” (Add hyperlink to the specific TDI report you wish to reference).

11. Please do not use the TDI logo to denote use of TDI data unless explicitly authorized. The TDI logo is reserved for products created directly by TDI or jointly with TDI.

Contact Us

If you intend to use TDI data or analysis in a manner not described in this Attribution Policy, contact us directly at contact@diasporainitiative.org instructions regarding the attribution requirements.

© 2022 TDI. All rights reserved.