Terms of Use
The Brain Cell Data Center (BCDC) at the Allen Institute provides a foundational community resource on cell types in the mammalian brain by sharing the integrated data, tools, and knowledge produced by the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN).
The Allen Institute Terms of Use apply to each of our Sites and are available here. Also, below is the specific Policy for External Users of the BICCN Projects. Moreover, each dataset or tool may have individual terms applicable to that specific dataset or tool (“License Agreement”). Please note that human datasets that are not consented for open-access and will have individual restrictions contained in their corresponding License Agreement. Please be sure to review the data set or tool specific terms as they may consist of or be under related, non-BICCN datasets or tools stored in repositories or referenced in papers that have separate licensing terms.
The overarching goal of the BICCN project is to build comprehensive three-dimensional common reference brain cell atlases that will integrate molecular, anatomical, and functional, data for describing cell types in mouse, human, and non-human primate brains. The BICCN project seeks broad and rapid data dissemination and use by the entire scientific community to accelerate scientific exploration and to reap the maximum value from this project. All data produced from mouse, non-human primate, and open-access consented human brain samples will be available for unrestricted access and use immediately upon release to public databases.
Data Use Policy for External Users
BICCN data, tools, and resources are generally released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode) (“CC BY 4.0 License”). Under the CC BY 4.0 License external data users may freely download, analyze and publish results based on any BICCN open-access data and tools as soon as they are released, provided they give appropriate credit, a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. The CC BY 4.0 License applies to all open-access datasets generated by individual members of the Network, regardless of type or size.
Researchers using unpublished BICCN data are encouraged to contact the data producers to discuss possible coordinated publications; however, this is optional. The Network will continue to publish the results of its own analysis efforts in independent publications.
Disclaimer
Please check the License Agreement for each BICCN Resource as there may be related, non-BICCN datasets or tools stored in repositories or referenced in papers with additional terms and obligations. For example, some members of the Network may claim patent, copyright, or other intellectual property rights in all or a portion of the data they have submitted. The Allen Institute is not in a position to assess the validity of such claims, and therefore cannot provide comment or unrestricted permission concerning the use, copying, or distribution of the information contained in the BICCN portal.
Citation and Acknowledgement
We require that researchers who use BICCN datasets (published or unpublished) in any tools, web applications, presentations, and publications cite and acknowledge the BICCN and BICCN production laboratory(s) for referenced dataset(s). Example citations are provided with each dataset.