A data management plan (DMP) is a short written document (generally a few pages) that describes the data you expect to acquire or generate during the course of a research project; how you will manage, describe, analyze, and store those data; and what mechanisms you will use at the end of your project to share and preserve your data. In so doing the plan describes all of the resourcing, ethical, legal, file management, security and storage issues required for the gathering, sharing and preservation of data.
DMPs are increasingly standard operating procedure when securing research funding as there are many benefits associated with them. In Canada the Tri-Agency released it Research Data Management Policy which states:
“All grant proposals submitted to the agencies should include methodologies that reflect best practices in RDM. For certain funding opportunities, the agencies will require data management plans (DMPs) to be submitted to the appropriate agency at the time of application, as outlined in the call for proposals; in these cases, the DMPs will be considered in the adjudication process.”
DMPs are created in response to several questions asked of researchers by funders. Typically researchers are given a template with questions and they fill it out. In Canada, the Tri-Agency accepts DMPs completed using the Portage DMP Assistant - which has incorporated a number of templates into it.
To learn more about Data Management Plans consult the sections of this guide that deal with Elements of a DMP, Preparing to Write a DMP, Writing a DMP, Ethical & Legal requirements, etc.
You can also consult further information about DMPs including Best Practices, Sample DMPs, DMP Templates, Training Resources, Locating Open Data and Citing Data.
For a quick overview of local services consult our DMP Pathfinder.
This guide was created by the Open Knowledge Foundation. It discusses the legal, social and technical aspects of open data. It’s particular it provides a listing of numerous Open Data Resources.
How to Develop a Data Management and Sharing Plan
Written by Sarah Jones (Digital Curration Centre).
A quick guide we have developed to get you started on Research Data Management.
Good Enough Research Data Management – A Very Brief Guide (version 1.1; July 2017).
This very brief guide presents a set of good data management practices that researchers can adopt, regardless of their data management skills and levels of expertise.
⭐️Checklist for a Data Management Plan. v.4.0. 2013.
Good checklist for DMPs by the Digital Curation Centre in the U.K.