Research Data Management: Creating Data Management Plans (DMP)

The requirements of a DMP vary by funding agency; however you may need to address the following topics:

Roles and Responsibilities

• List staff roles and their responsibilities for carrying out the research; include a description of time allocations, training requirements, and contributions of non-project staff, as appropriate.
• Indicate when and/or how often adherence to your DMP will be checked and/or demonstrated. Include the names of the person(s) responsible for adherence to your DMP
• Indicate who/which roles will assume responsibility for carrying out the DMP should personnel changes occur or if the PI leaves the institution. Describe the process for transferring responsibility for the data
• Indicate who will have primary responsibility for how the data will persist over time when the original personnel are no longer associated with the project
• whether, when, or under what conditions the management responsibility for the research data will be transferred to a third party (e.g. institutional, or community repository)

Types of Data

• A description of the data to be generated or used through the course of the proposed research and which of these are considered research data necessary to validate the research findings

Data Formats and Metadata

• A statement of plans for data and metadata content and format including, where applicable, a description of documentation plans, annotation of relevant software, and the rationale for the selection of appropriate standards

Access, Sharing and Privacy

• A statement of plans, where appropriate and necessary, to protect confidentiality, personal privacy, Personally Identifiable Information, and U.S. national, homeland, and economic security; recognize proprietary interests, business confidential information, and intellectual property rights; and avoid significant negative impact on innovation, and U.S. competitiveness

Data Storage and Preservation

• policies and provisions for re-use & re-distribution of research data
• the anticipated means for sharing and the rationale for any restrictions on who may access the data and under what conditions a timeline for sharing and preservation that addresses both the minimum length of time the data will be available and any anticipated delay to data access after research findings are published
• any special requirements for data sharing, for example, proprietary software needed to access or interpret data, applicable policies, provisions, and licenses for re-use and re-distribution, and for the production of derivatives, including guidance for how data and data products should be cited
• any resources and capabilities (equipment, connections, systems, software, expertise, etc.) requested in the research proposal that are needed to meet the stated goals for sharing and preservation
• any other future decision points regarding the management of the research data including plans to reevaluate the costs and benefits of data sharing and preservation

Costs

• cost/benefit considerations to support whether/where the data will be preserved after direct project funding ends and any plans for the transfer of responsibilities for sharing and preservation

Adapted from these sources:

Data Archive (2016) Create & Manage Data. Retrieved from http://data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/planning-for-sharing

​DataONE, (2016). Best Practices. Retrieved from https://www.dataone.org/best-practices

DDI Alliance. (2015). Welcome to the Data Documentation Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.ddialliance.org/

NCSU Libraries. (2016).  Elements of a Data Management Plan Retrieved from http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/guides/datamanagement/how_to_dmp

Publicly Available Plans from DMPTool

To access DMPTool with your Augusta University credentials, follow these steps:

 1. Visit https://dmptool.org/ and click Log In located in the upper right corner of the screen. 

2.  On the next screen select Augusta University from the list of institutions. 

3.  On the next screen log in with your Augusta University credentials. 

4. On your Dashboard, click Create New DMP to start a new document.

5. Select a new document by selecting a Template for a funding agency or by copying a publicly shared DMP.