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Manage your project

Making the most out of UK Biobank

We know you will be keen to get started on your research. UK Biobank is excited by the range of imaginative projects now using the research resource. 

We do want to know how you are getting on, so please keep in touch with us:

  • Keep your contact details up to date 
  • Submit extensions to your projects as required
  • Provide Annual Project Reports or Annual Confirmation Forms when requested
  • Alert us to publications
  • Respond quickly to audit requests
  • Return your results

It is important that your research is health related and in the public interest. UK Biobank data must be kept to the highest security standards. Do not forward or share data with researchers who are not registered as collaborators.

UK Biobank is only possible because of the goodwill of our 500,000 participants. We want to tell them how the resource is improving health. For these reasons it is important you provide your annual updates in a timely way, and tell us about up-coming publications. 

 

Accessing UK Biobank data

Guidance on how to download the various types of UK Biobank data can be found on the Accessing Your Data section of Data Showcase along with summaries of the sizes of our datasets.

 

Group Mailing Lists

Several JISCMail mailing lists have been established to facilitate community support of researchers utilising specific UK Biobank datasets. These mailing lists are set up and managed by members of the research community to enable discussion and knowledge exchange regarding UK Biobank datasets, and are an excellent resource.

UK Biobank Neuroimaging JISCMail list

UK Biobank Genetics JISCMail list

UK Biobank Eye Consortium JISCMail list



Adding collaborators from other institutes

Additional collaborators can be added to a project via the UK Biobank online Access Management System (AMS). Instructions for adding collaborators can be found in the AMS User Guide.

If collaborators from an additional institute are added to a project, that institute is required to enter into an MTA with UK Biobank before data can be released to them.

Collaborator MTA - Data Only (2023)

Change requests

For instructions on how to request additional data, a scope extension or a duration extension for a project, please see the AMS User Guide. 

Each dataset must only be used for the approved purpose of the project it was released under. Further research may require a separate access application.

AMS User Guide - Payment

AMS User Guide - Projects and Change Requests

Applicant Annual Project Reports

Applicant PIs across all research projects, are required to submit Annual Project Reports to UK Biobank. These provide us with an update of your progress and developments in your research. They also provide us with important information in relation to your compliance with the MTA.

Please complete the form in the 'Reports' tab of your project in AMS. Further guidance can be found in the AMS User Guide.

Applicant annual project report

Participant withdrawals

Participants are free to withdraw from UK Biobank at any time and request that their data no longer be used.

UK Biobank will email researchers directly to notify them about withdrawals and ask researchers to remove the records corresponding to withdrawn participants from further analyses.

 

Find out more

Collaborator Annual Confirmation Form

Lead Collaborators from all Collaborator Institutions are required to submit Annual Confirmation Forms to UK Biobank. These provide us with important information in relation to your compliance with the MTA.

Please complete the form in the 'Reports' tab of your project in AMS. Further guidance can be found in the AMS User Guide.

Collaborator annual confirmation form

2013: the first research paper published from the resource was on measurement of hand grip strength

Returning data to strengthen the resource

Returning results reinforces the founding principles of UK Biobank to make data open access and available to all in the health research community. This will help research move more quickly and bring the improvements to health we all want to see. 

We want to spread the findings from UK Biobank far and wide and inform our participants and those who fund the research resource of the great work they have helped shape. By keeping us informed of your publications we can make health research findings accessible to our participants and the wider general public.  

We can share your results widely through this website, social media and UK Biobank events throughout the year. 

Publication submissions

Submitting your publication

It is important that you notify the access management team of your publication before it is published. You can do this by sending a copy to access@ukbiobank.ac.uk with the manuscript and approved project number, or by loading it directly onto the Access Management System. Approval of publications by UK Biobank is not required, but UK Biobank does request that you let us know and provide a copy at least 2 weeks prior to the date of publication.

Please ensure that you use the following in the Acknowledgments section in your paper:
"This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application Number xxxxx."

Publicising your research

If you plan to issue a press release to announce your paper, we ask that you please read the communications guidelines here and share a copy of the release with the UK Biobank communications team by emailing communications@ukbiobank.ac.uk

Whilst we are happy for you to use UK Biobank images for your publication, please get in touch with us before doing so; we would like to make sure that there is no prospect of a participant being identified and the correct copyright credits are included. UK Biobank endorses the open access policies described by the Wellcome.

UK Biobank Communications Guidelines

Over 165,000

an increasing number of articles are citing UK Biobank in their research

Linkage Data Acknowledgements 

Please refer to the following guidance from NHS England and Public Health Scotland regarding the acknowledgement of data linkage.

NHS England

Researchers using data from NHS England must cite the copyright of NHS England as follows: "Copyright © (year), NHS England.  Re-used with the permission of the NHS England [and/or UK Biobank].  All rights reserved." Where practicable, outputs cite the source of the data as "this work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support."

Public Health Scotland

Attribution Statement - Please acknowledge National Safe Haven, providing access to the data assets and the environment, made available as part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study Programme in papers and other research outputs. E.g. This research used data assets made available by National Safe Haven as part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, led by Health Data Research UK in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and funded by UK Research and Innovation (research which commenced between 1st October 2020 – 31st March 2021 grant ref MC_PC_20029; 1st April 2021 -30th September 2022 grant ref MC_PC_20058)

Returning your results to UK Biobank

The results of your research using UK Biobank data should be returned to us within 6 months of entering the public domain or within 12 months of the end of your project, whichever comes first.

The reason why UK Biobank obliges researchers to return their results is to:

1. Incorporate important derived data-fields into the resource so they can be used by others.

2. Make available the underlying methodology used to generate the main findings of the research so that others can confirm, refute or expand on the published analyses.

Please see the 'Returning Your Results to UK Biobank' section of Data Showcase for further information and the Return of Results User Guide for detailed instructions.

Any derived data fields that we incorporate directly into the resource will be listed in the Returns Catalogue on Data Showcase.

Closing a project

Once your project is complete, you should inform the UK Biobank Access team so it can be closed in AMS. In order to close your project, we require you to:

  1. Complete and upload a final Annual Project Report / Annual Confirmation Form to the AMS.
  2. Confirm in writing that the data released to your project has been destroyed or rendered inaccessible.
  3. Confirm that all the results from your project have been returned to UK Biobank.

Returning your results to UK Biobank
Return of Results User Guide
Returns catalogue on Data Showcase 

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