Terms of Service

DECfinder is operated by the Institute for Development Impact, I4DI. These terms govern your use of DECfinder, an independent archive that preserves and provides public access to documents from the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse and other USAID-supported knowledge collections.

By using DECfinder or creating an account, you agree to these terms. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and handle information about users.

Using DECfinder

DECfinder is provided free of charge as a public resource for research, education, professional use, and reference.

Individual document pages are open to everyone. Browsing, search, document downloads, bookmarks, and other research features require a free account.

Free access through DECfinder does not change the ownership or copyright status of individual documents. Your use of archive materials remains subject to applicable law and any rights or conditions identified in the documents themselves.

Your account

Please provide accurate information when registering, keep your password secure, and notify us promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.

You are responsible for activity conducted through your account. You may not share your account for the purpose of providing automated, bulk, or excessive access to the archive.

Accounts transferred from the previous DECfinder website remain subject to these terms. You may delete your account at any time through your account settings.

DECfinder users cannot view other users, their account information, bookmarks, searches, downloads, or activity.

Acceptable use

DECfinder was created to keep development knowledge accessible to the public. Please use the archive in a way that preserves reliable access for others.

You may not:

• scrape, crawl, bulk-download, or systematically extract documents or metadata without I4DI’s prior permission;
• circumvent account requirements, bot protection, download controls, or rate limits;
• interfere with the operation or security of the site;
• introduce malicious code or attempt to gain unauthorized access;
• use another person’s account without permission; or
• use DECfinder in violation of applicable law or the rights of others.

Automated or excessive activity may be rate-limited or blocked. I4DI may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms or threaten the security or availability of the archive, with notice where reasonably practical.

Researchers and institutions with a legitimate need for larger-scale access should contact us through the support form rather than attempting to extract the archive.

Documents in the archive

Documents available through DECfinder remain the work of their original authors, government agencies, implementing organizations, research institutions, publishers, and other contributors.

I4DI preserves, organizes, indexes, and provides access to these materials but does not claim ownership of their contents.

Copyright and usage rights vary across the archive. Some documents may be in the public domain or available for broad public use, while others may remain protected by copyright or carry conditions established by their authors or publishers. Public funding or previous availability through a government repository does not necessarily place a document in the public domain.

You are responsible for observing any rights or conditions identified in an individual document and for determining whether your intended use is permitted. Please identify the original authors and publishing organizations when citing or reproducing archive materials.

The DECfinder name, platform, software, design, and original content created by I4DI remain the property of I4DI or its licensors.

Material you submit

You may use DECfinder to suggest missing documents, report problems with existing records, submit corrections, or contact I4DI for support.

When you submit a document for possible inclusion in the archive, you confirm that you have the right to share it for that purpose. You give I4DI nonexclusive permission to review, store, process, index, reproduce, and make the document available through DECfinder. This permission is limited to preserving and operating the archive and does not transfer ownership of the document to I4DI.

I4DI may decline or remove material that cannot be verified, falls outside the archive’s scope, or may violate another person’s rights.

If you believe that material available through DECfinder infringes your copyright or another legal right, contact us through the support form or at [email protected]. Please identify the material, the DECfinder page where it appears, your relationship to the rights holder, and the basis for your request. I4DI will review the matter and may restrict access to the material while the review is underway.

Independent status

DECfinder is an independent I4DI initiative. It is not an official USAID website and is not operated by the United States government.

Documents reflect the information, terminology, evidence, and views of their original authors and publishers at the time they were produced. Their inclusion in the archive does not imply endorsement by I4DI, USAID, or the United States government.

Disclaimer

DECfinder and the materials available through it are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.

The archive includes documents produced across many decades. Some materials may be incomplete, outdated, superseded, or based on information that has since changed. They are provided as source materials and should be reviewed in their original context.

I4DI works to maintain the archive and improve its records but cannot guarantee that the collection is complete, error-free, current, or continuously available.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, I4DI is not liable for losses arising from reliance on archived documents, use of or inability to use DECfinder, unauthorized activity outside I4DI’s reasonable control, or interruption of the service. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot legally be limited.

Changes and account termination

I4DI may change, suspend, or discontinue features when necessary to maintain, protect, or improve DECfinder.

We may update these terms as the archive or its legal and operational requirements change. The effective date at the top of the page will be revised when changes are made, and significant changes will be announced on the site.

You may stop using DECfinder and delete your account at any time. Provisions concerning document rights, submitted materials, disclaimers, liability, and governing law will continue to apply where relevant after an account is closed.

Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute arising from these terms or the use of DECfinder will be brought in a court located in the District of Columbia, except where applicable law gives a user the right to bring a claim elsewhere.

Questions about these terms may be submitted through the DECfinder support form or sent to: