Researchers

If you are a recipient of a CLSA Data Access Trainee Waiver, congratulations! You join a cohort of over 250 trainees who have taken advantage of the CLSA’s valuable resources to further the field of aging research. There are several expectations and privileges involved.

1. The CLSA dataset requested must be for the sole use of the trainee project, i.e., the graduate student’s thesis research or the postdoctoral or clinical fellow’s research project.
2. You are encouraged to include this award in your CV. We recommend using the following language: “CLSA Data Access Trainee Fee Waiver [insert year], monetary equivalent CAN $4,000.”
3. Trainees must acknowledge receipt of a CLSA Data Access Trainee Fee Waiver in all resulting publications as follows, “[Name of trainee] was the recipient of a CLSA Data Access Trainee Fee Waiver.”

Yes, please review Appendix 1 of the CLSA Publication and Promotion Policy for CLSA Data Users.

Yes, in keeping with standard guidelines for de-identification and aggregation of data, all cell sizes with a numerical value less than 6 must be suppressed prior to sharing results outside of the research team. This includes any results represented as counts, rates, percentages, or any other form, including tables, maps, and graphs, that are based upon numerators or underlying data points representing less than 6. For more information, please review the CLSA Publication and Promotion Policy for CLSA Data Users.

Log into Magnolia and access the relevant application. Navigate to the tab labelled “Manuscripts” (note: not available while an amendment is in progress). Add the document here and complete the form that follows. The manuscript will now appear in your Manuscript List when you log in to Magnolia.

Graduate students (Masters or PhD) who wish to obtain the CLSA data for the sole purpose of their thesis, and postdoctoral or clinical fellows (limit 1 waiver per fellowship) who wish to obtain the CLSA data for the sole purpose of their postdoctoral or clinical fellowship project, who are enrolled at Canadian institutions for their graduate degree, postdoc, or clinical fellowship, can apply for a fee waiver. This fee waiver only applies to alphanumeric data. Any additional data requested, such as images and raw data, have associated fees. The trainee fee waiver cannot be applied to CIHR catalyst grant applications. Canadian trainees working outside Canada but funded through a Canadian source are also eligible for a fee waiver. The request for a fee waiver must be checked in Part 1 of the CLSA Data and Biospecimen Access Request Application in Magnolia.

Once you submit your CLSA Data and Biospecimen Request Application, you can track the progress of your application through Magnolia, the online application system. Once you have begun the application process, it is your responsibility to check your email (including your folders for junk, spam, etc.) for notifications from Magnolia. You may be contacted by the Data Access Team, if additional information is required. You will be notified about the approval status of your application approximately three months after the submission deadline. If your application is approved, a CLSA Access Agreement must be negotiated and signed between McMaster University and your institution. This part of the process can take a variable length of time (up to an additional three (3) months) and is not under the control of the CLSA. You will also need to provide evidence of ethics approval for your project, if you had not done so within your initial application. Please be aware that these steps may affect the length of time that it takes for the data to be released to you. Once all parties have signed the CLSA Access Agreement and proof of ethics approval has been received by the CLSA, your data will be released within 10 working days. Please note that the release of additional data (images and raw data) will require more time (one to three months, depending on the request). When planning for your project, you must include in your timeframe at least six (6) months from the application submission deadline to the time you receive your dataset.

Yes. Please note that ethics approval is not required at the time of the application to use CLSA data, but no data or biospecimens will be released until proof of ethics approval has been received by the CLSA. Should your institution not require a full ethical review for the use of de-identified data, please provide a letter from your Institutional Review Board to this effect. Ethics approval must be obtained only from the primary applicant’s institution, not from all of the institutions of the members of the project team.

The CLSA DataPreview Portal has been designed to help researchers browse available variables in the CLSA dataset and find basic frequencies. Should you need additional information not available through the DataPreview Portal to determine the feasibility of your proposal, please contact us at access@clsa-elcv.ca. We can provide simple cross-tabulations (of two or three variables) from cross-sectional data. While we do our utmost to respond to data queries to help potential users ensure that their proposal is feasible, please note that we are not resourced to provide statistics on change across time-points or more in-depth statistical support.

If you have additional questions about CLSA linked data, please contact linkage_lien@clsa-elcv.ca. For data access questions, researchers should contact DASH or the relevant provincial data centre for detailed information on the application process.

Data access requests for linked CLSA data are reviewed by the CLSA, DASH, and the respective provincial data centre(s). The timeline for review depends on many factors, including the feasibility of the project and the number of jurisdictions involved in the request. Approved users should anticipate between three to twelve months between submitting their application and receiving access to the linked dataset. Applicants should consult the relevant provincial data centre(s) for more detailed information on anticipated timelines.

Researchers should familiarize themselves with the User Responsibility Checklist and Data Dictionaries (CLSA data only).

Graduate students (Masters or PhD) enrolled at Canadian universities who wish to obtain the CLSA data for the sole purpose of their thesis, and postdoctoral or clinical fellows (limit 1 waiver per fellow) who wish to obtain the CLSA data for the sole purpose of their postdoctoral project, may request a fee waiver.

Fee waivers apply to the CLSA portion of the data access fee only.

The CIHR Catalyst Grants for the use of CLSA Data are not eligible for Fee Waivers for the CLSA portion of the data access fee.