Research Guides: Data Management Plans: Create Your Data Management Plan

Using the Data Management Planning Tool

Consult the Help Guide for using the Data Management Planning Tool

Other Data Plan Templates

The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) also offers Data Management Planning tools to enable researchers to build, edit, and export data management plans for the following funding agencies:

AHRC
BBSRC
Cancer Research UK
EPSRC
ESRC
MRC
NERC
STFC

Jump Start Your Data Management Plan

The Data Management Planning Tool developed by a group of major U.S. research institutions, offers ready-to-use templates to create data management plans for specific funding agencies. This tool provides step-by-step instructions and guidance for creating your data management plan for NSF, NIH, NEH, NOAA, GBMF and IMLS.

To get started, click here, select "Option 2: If your institution is not affiliated with DMPTool," and you'll be able to create an account or login.

Points to Address in a Data Management Plan

If you expect to generate significant digital data through the course of your research, best practices dictate that you create a detailed Data Management Plan (DMP). Many funding agencies and programs have specific guidelines on what information to include in your DMP that should take precedence. Some general questions you should answer include:

What form and format is the data in?
What is the expected lifespan of the data?
How can the data be used, reused, and repurposed?
How large (filesize) is the data, and what is the anticipated rate of growth?
Who are the potential audiences for the data?
Who owns the data?
Does the data include sensitive or copyrighted information?
How should the data be made accessible?

From Purdue University Libraries, Conducting a Data Interview by Michael Witt and Jake Carlson

Data Curation Checklists
Created by the UK's Data Curation Centre (DCC), this 6-page document provides an overview of concepts that should be addressed in your Data Management Plan.
Guidelines for Effective Data Management Plans
Developed by University of Michigan's Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), this document contains a framework, example language for data management plans, links to other resources, and a bibliography of related publications.

3 Things You Can Do Right Now To Manage Your Data

1. Outline a procedure for naming data and document files for lab and research groups (i.e. PI, graduate, students, collaborators).

2. Develop a procedure and schedule for regular collection and indexing of files from all lab and research group participants.

3. Back-up regularly on multiple storage media (i.e. office computer or lab hard-drive, external hard-drive, data service) in geographically different locations.