Frequently Asked Questions
Researcher Use of FITBIR
Listed below are the frequently asked questions about researcher use of FITBIR.
- Can the FITBIR GUID be used for research purposes, even if there are no plans to share research data with FITBIR?
- Can FITBIR be used as a repository for data unrelated to TBI research?
- What access rights/account privileges should I request when requesting an FITBIR Portal account?
Q. Can the FITBIR GUID be used for research purposes, even if there are no plans to share research data with FITBIR?
FITBIR recognizes that an efficient method to identify a research subject without the need to distribute personally identifiable information (PII) is of value to the TBI research community. Therefore, FITBIR will support TBI researchers interested in using the FITBIR GUID for this purpose, even if the researcher has no immediate plans to share data with FITBIR or an FITBIR federated data resource. Researchers interested in using FITBIR for this purposes are still required to complete the FITBIR Submission Agreement describing their plans for the use of the FITBIR GUID.
Q. Can FITBIR be used as a repository for data unrelated to TBI research?
No. FITBIR is not funded to support research communities unrelated to TBI. However, FITBIR would be happy to provide any lessons that we have learned or provide other general information that would be helpful to those interested in establishing platforms similar to FITBIR.
Q. What access rights/account privileges should I request when requesting an FITBIR Portal account?
The privileges requested in the Account Privileges section depend on the role of the user. A few examples are provided, but, feel free to email the FITBIR operations team at to discuss what privileges make sense for your particular study.
A Data Manager should request a FITBIR Account and GUID privilege. Query Access to the specific Study should also be requested if the Data Manager will be involved in reviewing data submitted as part of the QA/QC process. A Data Manager would not typically require Study Creation access as FITBIR Studies should be created by the Principal Investigator. Also Data Dictionary access should be requested
A Principal Investigator should request an FITBIR Account, Study Creation and Query Access. The Study Creation capability should be requested by a Principal Investigator as he/she should create the FITBIR Study to which data will be submitted. We also encourage all new investigators to receive query access to FITBIR.
The Principal Investigator would not typically require a GUID Client as GUIDs will likely be created by the Data Manager.
