iCANDID has an integration with the TikTok API. The application process for access to TikTok API has to be handled by the researchers/research teams themselves (more information below). Once a researcher is granted access, iCANDID can use the API key to harvest the required data.

For more information on the TiKTok application process visit https://developers.tiktok.com/products/research-api/.

You can find the request form at https://developers.tiktok.com/application/research-api. To prepare yourself for the process, you can find the questions asked in the form at the bottom of this page. TikTok estimates that the review process for an access request can take up to 3 or 4 weeks.

Once you have requested and received access to the TikTok API for researchers, you can contact 'icandid[at]kuleuven[dot]be' for help in harvesting data and its integration in iCANDID. For questions or support, you can also contact 'icandid[at]kuleuven[dot]be'.

When contacting us for help in harvesting data, please provide the following information:
  • which accounts (@) you want to collect from. You can find the 'username' of the profiles you want data from in the URL of their profile behind the @ symbol
  • which keywords/hashtags (#) you want to collect 
  • for what period you want data (from yyyymmdd – to yyyymmdd)
It is also possible to request more complicated queries to harvest more specific datasets. For these, it is preferable if you provide a query object in JSON format based on the parameters used on TikTok. You can find instructions for this at https://developers.tiktok.com/doc/research-api-specs-query-videos.

Important note: The TikTok Terms of Service require you to submit drafts to them 7 days in advance of publication in order to ensure that no user private and personal data is disclosed.

Questions from the TikTok application form for the research API:

  • What is the name of your university and department?
  • What is the address of your university and department?
  • What is the link to your university's website?
  • What is the link to your department's website?
  • What is your area of expertise?
  • Provide the name of your research team
  • Do you work with a research team that may also need to access the Research API datasets?
  • Provide the name, university and department, title and role of your team member(s)
  • Provide links to your past publications or attended conferences
  • Which research topic category does your proposal fall under?
    • Consumer trends, behavioral science, community and culture, education
    • Radicalization, misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, violent extremism, influence operations
    • Human rights
    • Civic engagement and activism
    • Algorithm
    • Mental health
    • Youth safety & well-being
    • Other (please specify)
  • Provide a summary of your project. (Provide an outline of the research project, including the context, importance, and potential findings)
  • Please provide a description of your research design.
  • State your access request start date
  • State your access request end date (The longest access you can apply for is 2 years)
  • Do you have plans to share the data with third parties (for example, another institution or entity)?
  • Describe your data protection plans by providing the terms of your research data and privacy governance
  • What are your research hypotheses or research questions?
  • What are the expected outputs of your project?
  • Provide a summary of your literature review
  • Provide a list of your references or citations