Research Data Management

Funder Requirements

In order to promote open access to research data, many funding agencies require research data produced as part of a funded project to be made publicly available. Many agencies have instituted requirements for data sharing and formal data management plans, including, but not limited to:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Data Management Plan Requirements: As an extension of the NSF Data Sharing Policy, grant proposals must include a data management plan of no more than 2 pages describing how all data resulting from the research will be managed and deposited in a repository. Data underlying research papers must also comply with publisher data sharing policies. Note: requirements may evolve in line with the NSF Public Access Plan.
• National Institutes of Health: Data Sharing Policy: Supports the sharing of research data and expects researchers funded at $500,000 or more to include a data sharing plan in their grant proposals. For research in genomics, see the NIH Genomics Data Sharing Policy.
• The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Office of Digital Humanities requires data management plans as a part of grant applications for proposals and awards.

For information regarding other agencies, see the DMPTool’s funding agency templates or look at the funding agency’s website.

For help in writing these plans, see our guidance on data management plans.