The Human Fertility Database

User Agreement

The data in the Human Fertility Database (HFD) are provided free of charge to all individuals who request access to the database. We ask that you kindly observe the following requests and restrictions:

In all published work and presentations, please acknowledge the HFD as either the source or the intermediary of the data. When you download data, you should note the date for future reference.

If you are presenting or analyzing our original estimates of female population exposure, fertility rates, or fertility tables, we suggest the following format for a bibliographic citation:

Human Fertility Database. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany) and Vienna Institute of Demography (Austria). Available at www.humanfertility.org (data downloaded on [date]).

If requirements of a publisher or other important reasons force you to choose another citation format, please make sure that this citation includes the full name of the database, the full names of both institutional data providers, and the HFD Internet address.

Please note, however, that a portion of the data available in this collection comes from other sources. In such situations, it is appropriate to cite first the original source of the data, but also to acknowledge the HFD as the intermediary.

You will find a list of data sources used for each country. It is the user's responsibility to determine whether the data being cited are original to the HFD or they come from a non-HFD source. It is also the user's responsibility to give proper credit to the organizations and individuals whose data are contained in this database.

Please do not pass your copy of these data to other users. Rather refer them to the HFD website, where they may download the data for themselves. Since these data will be updated on a regular basis (including corrections as needed), this practice helps to prevent the existence of multiple outdated or incorrect versions. It also ensures that each user has full access to information about the data, citation procedures, etc.

All data contained in the HFD have been carefully checked to avoid errors. However, the HFD (including all the project personnel and institutional sponsors) accepts no liability with regard to the material available in the collection. In particular, we accept no responsibility for any harm suffered by the user as a result of using these data, even if such harm results from errors on our part. As a registered user, we ask you kindly to inform us of any errors that you may identify, so that they can be corrected in a timely fashion.

It is our intention to update the HFD on a regular basis and to provide convenient access to the collection (for registered users only) via the Internet. However, we do not accept responsibility for any harm or inconvenience resulting from a suspension of service, whether temporary or permanent.