UCSF Guides: Reproducible Data Management: Make a Data Management Plan

What is a Data Management Plan?

Data management plans (DMPs) are tools for helping you organize and manage your research data throughout the life of a project. Most NIH researchers are not yet required to write a DMP, with the exception of those working with genomics data that must write a data sharing plan. Eventually DMPs will be required for all NIH researchers but in the meantime they are simply a best practice. Check out the resources below to learn more about crafting your own DMP.

Planning Resources

Ten Simple Rules for Creating a Data Management Plan
This article from PLoS Computational Biology details the steps in the data management planning process.
Data Management Plan Self-Assessment Questionnaire
This comprehensive questionnaire from Purdue University can help researchers think about all the different aspects of the research data lifecycle that should be addressed in a data management plan.
DMP Tool
The DMPTool is a free, open-source, online application that helps researchers create data management plans. The DMPTool provides a click-through wizard for creating a DMP that complies with funder requirements. It also has direct links to funder websites, help text for answering questions, and resources for best practices surrounding data management.

Example Data Management Plan - NSF
This is an example data management plan drafted to meet National Science Foundation standards. It is likely that future NIH requirements will be very similar.
Example Data Management Plan - Moore Foundation
This example plan was provided for grantees of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation but it is a good resource for anyone creating a DMP

UCSF Data and Resource Sharing Templates
Provided by the UCSF RDO these templates are for researchers who need to address data and resource sharing in their grants. Note that these are not as comprehensive as a full data management plan.