Skip to Main Content

Data Management and Sharing

NIH Data Management Requirements

National Institutes of Health Policy for Data Management and Sharing 

The National Institutes of Health Policy for Data Management and Sharing (effective for applications after 1/25/23) applies to all research that generates scientific data regardless of amount requested.

Final Policy for Data Management and Sharing (NOT-OD-21-013)

Applicability 

Data Management and Sharing Policy applies to:

  • Research Projects
  • Some Career Development Awards
  • Small Business (SBIR/STTR)
  • Research Centers 

Data Management and Sharing Policy does not apply to:

  • Training (T)
  • Fellowships (F)
  • Construction (C06)
  • Conference Grants (R13)
  • Resource (Gs)
  • Research-Related Infrastructure Programs (e.g. S06)

For more information see the list of activity codes applicable to DMS Policy 

Writing a Data Management and Sharing Plan

DSM Plan optional format See sample plans by scrolling further

Supplemental Information to the NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing: Elements of an NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan 

Additional guidance may be given by the Institute, Center, or Office and/or in the funding opportunity announcement. 

Budgeting for Data Management 

NIH recognizes that the requirements for data management and sharing will mean that research incur costs. See Budgeting for Data Management & Sharing 

NSF Data Managment Requirements

National Science Foundation Data Sharing Policy 

Summary: "Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF grants. Grantees are expected to encourage and facilitate such sharing."

Full Text: Proposals & Awards Policies and Procedures Guide (NSF 23-1) Reference Chapter XI.D.4 

4. Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results
a. Investigators are expected to promptly prepare and submit for publication, with authorship that accurately reflects the contributions of those involved, all significant findings from work conducted under NSF awards. Recipients are expected to permit and encourage such publication by those actually performing that work, unless a recipient intends to publish or disseminate such findings itself.

b. Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections, and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF awards. Recipients are expected to encourage and facilitate such sharing. Privileged or confidential information should be released only in a form that protects the privacy of individuals and subjects involved. Exceptions to this sharing expectation may be provided by the recipient for a particular field or discipline to safeguard the rights of individuals and subjects, the validity of results, the integrity of collections, or to accommodate the legitimate interest of investigators. A recipient or investigator also may request a particular adjustment or exception from the cognizant NSF Program Officer.

c. Investigators and recipients are encouraged to share software and inventions created under the award or otherwise make them or their products widely available and usable.

d. NSF normally allows recipients to retain principal legal rights to intellectual property developed under NSF awards to provide incentives for development and dissemination of inventions, software and publications that can enhance their usefulness, accessibility, and upkeep. Such incentives do not, however, reduce the responsibility that investigators and organizations have as members of the scientific and engineering community, to make results, data, and collections available to other researchers.

e. NSF program management will implement these policies for dissemination and sharing of research results, in a way appropriate to field and circumstances, through the proposal review process; through award negotiations and award conditions; and through appropriate support and incentives for data cleanup, documentation, dissemination, storage and the like.

(f) Each NSF award contains, as part of the award general terms and conditions, an article implementing dissemination and sharing of research results.

Applicability

A Data Management Plan is required for all proposals.  Per PAPPG guidance "A valid Data Management Plan may include only the statement that no detailed plan is needed, as long as the statement is accompanied by a clear justification."

Data Management Plan Requirement & Guidance 

Proposals & Awards Policies and Procedures Guide (NSF 23-1) Reference Chapter II D 2. i. (ii)

Data Management Plan (no more than 2 pages)

Proposals must include a supplementary document in the proposal submission that includes the following:

1. the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be produced in the course of the project;

2. the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content (where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with any proposed solutions or remedies);

3. policies for access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements;

4. policies and provisions for re-use, re-distribution, and the production of derivatives; and

5. plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and for preservation of access to them.

Data management requirements and plans specific to the Directorate, Office, Division, Program, or other NSF unit, relevant to a proposal are available on the NSF website If guidance specific to the program is not available, then the requirements established in this section apply. 

Directorate-level Guidance 

  • Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) 

  • Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering (CISE) 

  • Education & Human Resources Directorate (EHR) 

  • Engineering Directorate (ENG) 

  • Geosciences Directorate (GEO) 

  • Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate (MPS) 

  • Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) 

  • Cross-Directorate Programs 

Other Sponsors

The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) compiled the requirements from several federal funding agencies, including AHRQ, ASPA, CDC, D. Defense, D. Education, D. Energy, D. Transportation, EPA, FDA, Homeland Security, NASA,NIH, NIST, NOAA, NSF, USAID, USDA, and USGS.