Clarification regarding privately-provided restricted access files

Occassionally, after having sent a request for restricted-access files to be provided privately, which in turn relies on authors indicating to us on the DCAF that they can make some files available to us “privately”, we have to clarify structure, intent, and process.

This is a sample/template for such an email:

Dear [author]

we can access the replication package as deposited on openICPSR. However, you also checked the box that states that confidential files can be made available to the Data Editor privately​. This is meant for confidential or proprietary files that cannot be published.

If you have deposited such files in openICPSR, please recall your deposit, delete those files, and resubmit the deposit without any files that you do not have the rights to publish. Every file in openICPSR is meant for public use, we simply review that future replicators can run and make sense of the deposit. We do not delete or modify files on openICPSR, nor is it an appropriate place to save files that are not meant for publication.

Any not-for-publication files should be deposited at the private Box link provided by Sofia here. We will delete those files when we are done with our checks. Please only deposit not-for-publication files - any other code or data files will be taken from your openICPSR deposit. Your public​ README (the one on openICPSR) should list the files that are not provided in the public​ deposit, should describe how others (not us) can obtain such files, and how to integrate them into the public​ deposit directory structure.