A Data Management Plan (DMP) is a document that describes the types of data that will be produced as part of a research project and how those data will be securely stored, documented, shared, and preserved both during the project and after it is completed. Federal grant agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) require DMPs (or data sharing plans) to be submitted when applying for almost all grants.
Data Description
The data description identifies the information that will be gathered (i.e., architectural sketches, Russian ballet performance clips, romantic comedy film stills, Cincinnati crime statistics, audio clips from crowds), the types of files that may be produced (i.e., spreadsheets, image files, text files, video files, etc.), the file types that may be gathered (i.e., jpeg, png, wav, rtf, etc.), whether the "data" is qualitative or quantitative, who owns the data, and where the data originated.
Data Organization
Data Organization discusses how the data will be handled during the project (i.e., how the files will be named, how the data will be organized in the files, if and how different versions of the data will be named and organized, etc.).
Metadata
Metadata is information about data. This section of the DMP defines how information will be provided about the data that will be gathered, the metadata standard(s) that will be used (i.e., Dublin Core, VRA, etc.), and how and where the metadata will be stored (i.e., in a readme text file and uploaded with the dataset in a repository).
Data Storage
The data storage section of the DMP specifies how data will be stored and backed up, describes the physical and technological resources being used for storage, and whether there is sensitive information that will require secure storage.
Data Sharing
This portion of the DMP discusses if and how researchers can view the data (i.e., will a public website be created for researchers to access the data, or will researchers have to request access to the data).
Data Preservation
The data preservation section identifies how data will be made accessible over time (i.e., where will data be stored, and what file format will be used to unsure future usage).
See DMPTool.org for funder-specific guidelines:
Religious studies technical plan A technical plan submitted from the University of Bristol, also including comments from the reviewers
Language studies technical plan A technical plan from the University of Glasgow about developing the Scots syntactic atlas
Virtual holocaust memory technical plan An example plan from the University of Leeds with some reviewer feedback
Mapping metaphor technical plan A language example from the University of Glasgow
Trevor Jones technical appendix (2012) A plan from a large project digitising an archive of film music that was highly rated by peer reviewers. The plan has been shared by the University of Leeds.
Mackintosh architecture technical appendix (2009) Technical appendix and addendum from the University of Glasgow
Example poor DMP with pointers Fictional AHRC technical plan with suggestions for improvements, developed by Brian Aitken for a DCC workshop
Reflections from an AHRC reviewer Pointers suggested by Brian Aitken, a technical reviewer for the AHRC. These were drafted for a workshop on reviewing DMPs.
Draft evaluation rubric for assessing AHRC technical plans Assessment framework developed by Sarah Jones at the DCC
BBSRC
Plan for a BBSRC Tools and Resources Development Fund (TRDF) Grant DMP published in the RIOjournal by Dr Laurent Gatto at the University of Cambridge
Sample BBSRC data sharing statement (2014) Example shared by Dr Christos Ioannou in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol. See p8 in the guide.
Drosophila Genetics Example plan shared by the University of Glasgow
Evaluation rubric for assessing BBSRC data sharing plans Assessment framework developed by Mary Donaldson at the University of Glasgow
EPSRC
Synthetic chemistry example Plan shared by the University of Glasgow
Water supply and remediation project Example covering interview data and ethical approval
ESRC
Z-proso DMP A longitudinal study exploring the life-course of 1,400 youths and the pathways that lead to violence and delinquency. Plan shared by Dr Aja Murray at Cambridge University.
Two social science DMPs Example plans shared by the University of Leeds as part of the Leeds RoaDMaP training materials
Data management plan for Realist Evaluation of Adapted Sex Offender Treatment Programs for Men with Intellectual Disability This plan looks at managing quantitative and qualitative data, including audio interviews. The plan discusses ethical issues around a very sensitive dataset, including using consent and anonymisation to generate data which can be shared and reused. It was shared by the University of Leeds.
Data management planning for ESRC researcher Guidelines from the UK Data Service to help applicants respond to the specific ESRC requirements
Data Management Plan: Guidance for Peer-Reviewers An explanation of what the ESRC is looking for in data management plans
Horizon 2020
AtlantOS Data Management Plan A 2016 DMP covering the concept of FAIR data for an Altalntic Ocean observation systems project
Centre of Excellence in Simulation of Weather and Climate in Europe (2016) DMP provided by the German Climate Centre (DKRZ)
FREME Data Management Plan Plan developed by the Open framework of e-services for multilingual and semantic enrichment of digital content project
Helix Nebula open science cloud A High Energy Physics example covering the Large Hadron Collider experiments
Open Sea Operating Experience to Reduce Wave Energy Costs First version of a DMP by the opera project
Tweether An engineering based micro-electronics example
AutoPost An example DMP from an industry-driven innovation action that will deliver ICT-based solutions to enhance established post-production workflows.
Evaluation rubric for assessing H2020 plans Assessment framework developed according to the original H2020 template
MRC
Trypanosome Cell Processing (2014) Example shared by the University of Glasgow
Wellcome Trust
Writing a Wellcome Trust DMP A guide by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) explaining how to write a DMP, illustrated by a worked example
Wellcome Trust Developing a data management and sharing plan An excellent FAQ from the Wellcome Trust outlining what its data plans should contain, and providing notes on how to answer the questions.
Other examples and guidance
Data management plans from successful grant applications (2011-2014) (opens in a new window) 108 DMPs from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Office of Digital Humanities
UCSD Example Data Management Plans Over 20 example plans submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States by academics at UC San Diego
Colorado School of Mines examples A variety of US example DMPs from Mines and elsewhere
NSF data management plans 5 DMPs submitted to the NSF, shared by the DataOne initiative
Biology and chemistry DMPs Three example DMPs from the USA shared by NECDMC, an instructional tool for teaching RDM to undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in the health sciences, sciences and engineering.
ICPSR Guidelines for effective data management plans Suggestions of what elements to include in data mangement plans and a useful list of example plans and guidance resources
Developing an Institutional Research Data Management Plan Service EDUCAUSE ACTI Data Management Working Group (ACTI-DM) white paper
Humboldt University Anleitung zur Erstellung eines Datenmanagementplans (DMP) in Horizon 2020 Instructions [in German] for creating a DMP in Horizon 2020 using DMPonline. The guide walks through the process of creating a DMP with the tool and notes the specific requirements in the Horizon 2020 open data pilot.
