Terms of Use
These terms govern the use of the TIGER Study platform, data use agreements, publication policies, and intellectual property rights for all participating institutions and investigators.
Effective date: February 2026
Contents
1. Terms of Platform Use
1.1 Acceptance of Terms
By accessing or using the TIGER Study platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, the Data Use Agreement, and the TIGER Study Publication Policy. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not access or use the platform.
1.2 Authorized Users
Access to the platform is restricted to authorized research personnel at participating institutions who have been granted credentials by the TIGER Study coordinating center. Each user account is personal and non-transferable. Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their authentication credentials.
1.3 Acceptable Use
The platform may only be used for purposes related to the TIGER Study protocol, including patient data entry, data review, analytics access, and study-related communication. Any use of the platform for purposes unrelated to the study, including commercial exploitation, unauthorized data extraction, or system interference, is strictly prohibited.
1.4 Account Termination
The TIGER Study coordinating center reserves the right to suspend or terminate user accounts that violate these terms, fail to comply with data quality standards, or upon departure of the user from a participating institution. Institutions are responsible for notifying the study team when personnel changes affect registered users.
2. Data Use Agreement
2.1 Data Ownership
Patient data entered by an institution into the TIGER Study platform remains the property of the originating institution. By participating in the study, institutions grant the TIGER Study consortium a non-exclusive license to use de-identified, pooled data for research purposes as defined in the study protocol.
2.2 Permitted Uses
De-identified pooled data may be used for: consortium-approved research analyses, quality benchmarking reports, peer-reviewed publications, presentations at scientific meetings, and development of clinical guidelines. All uses must align with the study objectives and be approved by the Publication Committee.
2.3 Prohibited Uses
Data may not be used for: commercial purposes without consortium approval, identification or re-identification of individual patients, institutional ranking or public comparison without consent, litigation support, or any purpose not approved by the Steering Committee and relevant ethics boards.
2.4 Data Sharing
Requests for access to TIGER Study data by external researchers must be submitted to the Publication Committee with a detailed research proposal. Approved requests receive access to a limited, de-identified dataset specific to the proposed analysis. Direct access to the full database is not granted to external parties.
3. Publication Rules
3.1 Consortium Publications
All analyses using TIGER Study data must be submitted to the Publication Committee for review prior to manuscript preparation. The committee ensures scientific quality, avoids duplication, and coordinates the publication timeline across ongoing projects.
3.2 Authorship Guidelines
Authorship follows ICMJE criteria. For consortium-wide analyses, authorship typically includes: the lead analyst(s), the writing group, the statistical team, and contributing institutions listed as collaborative group authors. Institutions that contribute a minimum number of patients (defined per analysis) are eligible for group authorship.
3.3 Single-Center Sub-Studies
Participating institutions may publish single-center analyses of their own data without consortium approval, provided the publication does not include pooled data from other institutions and does not conflict with ongoing consortium analyses. A notification to the Publication Committee is required.
3.4 Acknowledgment
All publications using TIGER Study data or infrastructure must include the standard acknowledgment: 'This study was conducted within the framework of the TIGER Study consortium, coordinated by Amsterdam UMC.'
4. Intellectual Property
4.1 Platform IP
The TIGER Study platform, including its software, design, analytics algorithms, and documentation, is the intellectual property of the TIGER Study consortium and its technology partners. No rights to the platform IP are transferred to participating institutions or individual users.
4.2 Research Outputs
Scientific findings derived from TIGER Study data are jointly owned by the contributing investigators and the consortium, subject to the publication rules outlined above. Patents or commercial applications arising from study data require approval from the Steering Committee and appropriate benefit-sharing arrangements.
4.3 Database Rights
The aggregated TIGER Study database constitutes a protected database under applicable database rights legislation. Unauthorized extraction or re-utilization of substantial parts of the database is prohibited.
5. Limitation of Liability
5.1 Platform Availability
The TIGER Study team endeavors to maintain platform availability but does not guarantee uninterrupted access. Scheduled maintenance windows, system upgrades, and force majeure events may temporarily affect availability. The study team is not liable for data entry delays caused by platform downtime.
5.2 Clinical Decisions
Analytics and benchmarking data provided through the TIGER Study platform are intended for research and quality improvement purposes only. They do not constitute medical advice and must not be used as the sole basis for clinical decision-making. The TIGER Study consortium is not liable for clinical outcomes related to the interpretation of study data.
5.3 Data Accuracy
While the platform incorporates data validation and quality assurance mechanisms, the TIGER Study coordinating center does not guarantee the accuracy of data entered by participating institutions. Each institution is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of its own data submissions.