# Is it okay to use sample data in research, as long as I cite?

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/is-it-okay-to-use-sample-data-in-research-as-long-as-i-cite/10872>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [March 27, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/is-it-okay-to-use-sample-data-in-research-as-long-as-i-cite/10872 "2020-03-27T12:08:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Adam\_Trusty](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/adam_trusty/32/3613_2.png) [@Adam\_Trusty](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Adam_Trusty)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/is-it-okay-to-use-sample-data-in-research-as-long-as-i-cite/10872/1 "2020-03-27T12:08:42Z")

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Operating system: Windows  
Slicer version: 4.10.2

So I’m in medical school, working on a project. I’d like to use the MRI brain sample data, am I allowed to do that, legally, as long as I cite slicer v4? I have looked everywhere to find this out, but can’t figure it out. I tend to lean towards “yes” because it says open-source everywhere, but I wanted to double check.

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**Author:** ![pieper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/pieper/32/8_2.png) [@pieper](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/pieper)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 12:26pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/is-it-okay-to-use-sample-data-in-research-as-long-as-i-cite/10872/2 "2020-03-27T12:26:50Z")

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Thanks for checking - short answer is yes, you can use the data and yes, it’s correct to cite your sources in any publication.

The details are in the [license agreement here](https://github.com/Slicer/Slicer/blob/master/License.txt) which covers both code and data.