From 1997 to 2005, the Whirling Disease Initiative did not have a formal data submission and use policy. Consequently, those project Primary Investigators were not legally obligated to share their metadata and datasets with others. Thankfully, some of those investigators have chosen to share their data.
In 2006, the Whirling Disease Initiative established a formal data policy; all Primary Investigators and grantees are now required to abide by this policy, which includes guidelines and requirements for data and metadata submission. This document also includes guidelines for dataset access and use.