# Approving a data request and onboarding its team
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Only Data Request Approvers and Administrators can approve a data request or onboard its team.
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Data Request Approvers and Administrators are responsible for evaluating data requests submitted by Researchers and Data Facilitators, and well as approving them when permissible. Once a data request has been approved, Data Request Approvers and Administrators can also approve and onboard its team members, granting them access to the relevant dataset.
### How to approve a data request
1. From your username in the header, select 'Manage data requests'.
2. Select the data request you wish to evaluate.
3. Select the 'Project details' tab to review the data request team's responses to any data request questions, as well as the data request's title and purpose.
4. **If the relevant dataset requires a document to be uploaded**, select the 'Attachments' tab to review it. **If the relevant dataset does not require a document to be uploaded**, proceed to step 13.
5. Select 'Authorise' from the row of the desired document to review its details.
6. **If you wish to download or delete the uploaded document**, select 'Download', or 'Delete' respectively.
7. **If you wish to deny the document's validity**, select 'Deny. **If you wish to approve the document's validity**, proceed to step 13.
8. Populate the 'Notes' field with your reason for denial, then select 'Deny document'
9. **If you wish to approve the document's validity**, select 'Approve'. **If you do not wish to approve the document's validity**, proceed to step 13.
10. Adjust the 'Expiry date' field to the date you would like this document's validity to expire.
11. Populate the 'Notes' field with your reason for approval, then select 'Approve document'.
12. **If you wish to review the data passports of researchers**, select the 'Members' tab and do so.
13. Select the 'Summary' tab to communicate with the data request's team members, in case any additional information is required.
13. Once appropriate, select 'Approve this request' to do just that.
**Note:** If you wish to cancel the request, select 'Cancel Request' from the bottom of the 'Summary' tab (below).
### How to approve and onboard a data request's team members
1. **Once a data request has been approved**, select its 'Members' tab.
2. Select 'Manage Access' from the row of the user who you wish to approve. Then, **if this team member is:**
* **To be onboarded later**, select 'Approve as analyst'
* **To be onboarded now**, select 'Approve and onboard'
* **Not to be onboarded**, select 'Deny'.
**Note:** Project leads are approved as Analysts from this screen (rather than as Project Leads).
3. Confirm your selection by selecting 'Approve \[*user*]', 'Approve and onboard' or 'Deny Approval' appropriately. **If you are denying a user's approval, you must provide a reason in the indicated field.**
**Note:** If the relevant dataset has an undertaking attached, a user must complete it before they can be approved or onboarded.
4. **If a user was only approved earlier, but is now to be onboarded**, select 'Manage Access', then 'Onboard user'. **If a user was both approved and onboarded in step**
**Note:** A user's onboarding can still be denied even if they have been approved by selecting 'Deny onboarding' (below).
5. Select 'Onboard \[*user*]'.
6. The email assigned to the dataset as its onboarding email will be sent further information/instruction, but additional evidence of onboarding can also be downloaded by selecting 'Download Onboarding'.
