Updated February 2026
Academic research is easy… said no one ever.
But accessing the data you need to push your research forward shouldn't be.
Dewey was born because we realized that accessing valuable datasets for academic research has historically been a broken and challenging process. Researchers spend too much time searching, negotiating, and licensing, yet still often fail to get their hands on quality data. So, we took it upon ourselves to fix it by managing these steps for you.
We operate on a subscription basis, with varying subscription types to accommodate reserach teams, departments, and entire universities.
In some ways, this is a unique model for the academic research market, so we put together this primer to answer the most frequently asked questions we receive.
Overview: Why subscribe to Dewey Data?
Dewey Data subscriptions unlock access to data from an ever-growing list of commercial data providers. Our platform includes datasets oncorporate finance, real estate, public policy, workforce management, marketing, urban planning, GIS, behavioral economics, weather, and much more.
We manage all communications and licensing directly with our data partners, giving them a single, straightforward outlet for reaching the academic market. Because of our model for working with vendors, Dewey is typically the only, and the most affordable, way to access data from these companies for academic research purposes.
With one annual payment, Dewey subscribers unlock access to datasets, including full history and updates. Subscribers have flexibility when choosing how to pay for their license and do not need to get separate approvals for data use. The Dewey team can provide support and is constantly adding new data to the subscription as added value.
What’s included in your subscription
Datasets from 30+ of our data partners are included in all Dewey subscriptions. We also have some datasets that are exclusively available with institutional subscriptions.
A complete list of what data vendors are included can be found in our documentation.
We’re constantly adding new data partners to our platform, so another benefit of subscribing is that the number of datasets you have access to will continue to grow over time!
Choosing your Dewey Data subscription type
Our subscription plans are designed to meet your unique research needs, whether you're an individual researcher or responsible for your entire university's data licensing.
Researcher Subscription
The Researcher subscription is designed for individual researchers and their project collaborators. For $3,600/year this plan provides access to our standard dataset collection with the ability to manage up to 3 active projects at a time. Researchers can also customize two datasets per day.
The Researcher subscription is administered by an individual researcher who can create projects in the product and invite collaborators to those projects. Admins can invite an unlimited number of collaborators, but may only assign a limited number as downloaders of the data. All users covered on a researcher account should be collaborating on one or many projects together.
Subscribe via credit card or request an invoice on our pricing page.
Institutional Subscriptions
If you have a larger group of researchers in need of data, you may want to look at an institutional license. Dewey has pricing tiers for departments, schools, and wider university access. In addition to granting access for all students, research assistants, and faculty within a group, institutional licenses also include additional datasets unlocked and classroom and teaching use cases. Institutional subscribers can also collaborate with co-authors from third-party universities (though those co-authors should not have direct access to download data).
Department ($25,000/year) - A specialized academic unit within a larger faculty or college focused on a specific discipline or field of study, such as a Marketing Department within a Business School.
School ($35,000/year) - Sometimes called a "college" or "department" within a university, encompasses multiple related departments or disciplines like a Business School or School of Engineering.
University ($50,000/year) - Unlocks our complete institutional dataset collection for your entire university community. This plan includes SSO, usage analytics, and other features built specifically for those in charge of data licensing.
To learn more, get in touch with our team here.
How do I choose the correct subscription?
Users cannot share data from our platform with other researchers unless they are included in their subscription. This means that you'll want to ensure that all co-authors of your research who need to download data are covered in your subscription, not just the person accessing or working with the data. Our institutional options allow you to have cross-departmental and cross-university researchers on your team as collaborators. If you ever have any doubts about who needs coverage, you can always contact our team to check.
Subscription terms and cancellation
Subscriptions can be canceled at any time. However, it’s important to understand that Dewey subscriptions are licenses to access data, they are not purchases of data. Your “term” or “permitted use” with the available datasets is contingent upon remaining subscribed.
To proceed with cancellation, you’ll need to acknowledge the following:
- I'll lose access to the subscription datasets on the Dewey platform
- I've deleted all copies of the data accessed during my subscription term
- I can no longer continue to use data accessed during my subscription term for any research unless it has been accepted for publication and I've notified the Dewey team
That being said, we understand the research lifecycle is long, and oftentimes you’ll need to retain a copy of the data for multiple years to successfully publish a paper.
To store a copy of any dataset post-term, ensure the dataset is saved to your project in the platform and update the status of that project to reflect the paper's status. You can only store a copy of the data used in this research and that data can’t be used for any other research. For complete details on post-term use and replication requirements, please refer to our documentation and Terms and Conditions.
Working papers and published work
Do you have any research in progress or something you’ve just published? Let us know!
We’d love to help you spread the word about your research and show our data partners how academics are using their data. Even if it’s just a working paper, please do keep us updated!
Other frequently asked questions
- Is my university subscribed? How can I encourage my university to subscribe?
- Check our list of subscribed universities to see if your institution already has access. If you'd like to work with us to encourage your university to subscribe, please schedule a meeting with our team.
- What happens if my university group subscribes after I've already subscribed?
- If you've subscribed to Dewey and then a group you're a member of also subscribes within the next 3 months, we'll provide a full refund of your individual subscription.
- What datasets are included in my subscription?
- See the complete dataset list for details.
Getting started
So, you’re ready to get started with a Dewey Data subscription? We love to hear it!
You can login to the platform for free with your university email address. Researcher subscriptions can be paid via credit card or reach out to our team to request an invoice or quote be generated.
You’re also welcome to book a demo of our platform for a personalized overview of Dewey’s functionality and data products.