Research Guides: Data Management: Data Management Plans

What is a data management plan?

A data management plan is a formal document that outlines what a project will do with its data during and after the project. The usual components of a Data Management Plan (DMP) include:

Description of the project and the data to be collected
What documentation will be used
What file formats and file naming conventions will be used
Plans for short-term storage and data management
Legal and ethical issues
Software and hardware accommodations for the data
Access and sharing policies including which persons are responsible for which parts of the project
Long-term archiving and preservation details

Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results
From the National Science Foundation

Example_DMP
Example Data Management Plan using the Auraria Institutional Repository.

Create a Data Management Plan

DMPTool
The Data Management Plan (DMP) Tool helps generate data management plans based on the requirements of various funding agencies, both federal and private funding sources.
Data Management Checklist
MIT Libraries
Expanding Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research
The Obama Administration was committed to the proposition that citizens deserve easy access to the results of research their tax dollars have paid for. In a policy memorandum, OSTP Director John Holdren directed Federal agencies with more than $100M in R&D expenditures to develop plans to make the results of federally funded research freely available to the public—generally within one year of publication.

Federal Funding Data Management Requirements

Department of Defense (DOD)
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
NASA-Funded Research Access
The Research Access initiative is part of the agency’s framework for increasing public access to scientific publications and digital scientific data.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEH) Office of Digital Humanities
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Data Management Planning
National Science Foundation (NSF) Public Access Plan
US Agency for International Development (USAID)
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
U.S. Geological Survey
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Sample Data Management Plans

Sample NSF Plans - UC San Diego
This resource, created by UC San Diego, includes sample data management plans submitted to a variety of NSF divisions and directorates.
ICPSR Data Management Sample Plan
Many federal funding agencies, including NIH and most recently NSF, are requiring that grant applications contain data management plans for projects involving data collection. To support researchers in meeting this requirement, ICPSR is providing guidance on creating such plans.