Data Management: Data Management Plans

A data management plan describes the data you use in your research and describes how you plan to store and share your data. Data management plans are often required by funding institutions.

 Data management plans should include:

• description of the type of data that will be created,
• the format of the data and the metadata that will be used to describe it,
• methods for archiving and preserving the data,
• policies for accessing the data, and
• plans for releasing or terminating the data in the longterm.

The DMP Tool is an interactive tool for drafting data management plans that walks you through the process of creating a plan for a variety of funding agencies and institutions.

Many funding agencies require grant applicants to include a data management plan in their proposals.

Follow these links to see specific data management plan policy and requirements for the following granting agencies:

National Science Foundation (NSF)

National Institutes of Health (NIH). Note: This is the current NIH policy which is effective through 2022. A new NIH data management policy goes into effect on Jan 25 2023.

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Wellcome Trust