Data Management and Sharing Plans

FUNDING AGENCY GUIDELINES

[Update: 2/24/2023]

Starting in 2013, the Public Access to Federally Funded Research memo from the Obama-era White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed grant-funding agencies with budgets over $100 million to develop policy requirements public access to resulting articles and data.

However, OSTP updates in August 2022 from the Biden Administration widened the scope of these mandates so that all federal agencies must now implement data sharing policies for publicly funded grant research. Additionally, in the short-term, agencies have been asked to cooperate with the OSTP to update their public access and data sharing plans by mid-2023, with public access policies for all agencies fully implemented by the end of 2025.

Federal funders' responses to the 2022 OSTP memo will be updated as they become available.

Many of these changes are anticipated by agencies responding to the Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan (2021). "The FDS describes a 10-year vision for how the Federal Government will accelerate the use of data to deliver on mission, serve the public, and steward resources while protecting security, privacy, and confidentiality." (p. 15).

Update: 2023 National Institutes of Health data sharing requirements

NIH has implemented its updated Data Management and Sharing (DMS) plan guidelines as of January, 25, 2023.

NIH defines relevant data as recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publications. Note that scientific data in this definition do not include laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, completed case report forms, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, communications with colleagues, or physical objects, such as laboratory specimens.

Furthermore, there are justifiable reasons for limiting the sharing of data, which should be described in the DMS plan.

Federal Agencies (as of Obama-era; pre-2022 requirements)

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ): updated March 2022.
  • AHRQ's response to the 2013 OSTP's Public Access Memo
    • "This policy requires applicants for AHRQ new/competing grants and research contracts to include a DMP for managing, storing and disseminating the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of research funded by AHRQ, or state why data management is not possible, as a component of their grant application or research contract proposal."
• Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) (HHS): updated 2014.
  • ASPR's response to the OSTP's 2013 Public Access Memo.
    • The ASPR Public Access Plan for Digital Scientific Data applies to any digital scientific data set or publication that arises from • Any ASPR-sponsored research grant, cooperative agreement, contract or other transaction awarded on or after October 1, 2014. • Any ASPR-sponsored intramural research project, whether funded directly or via interagency agreement. • Any ASPR employee
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: updated 2005 and 2015.
  •  CDC plan for increasing access to scientific publications and digital scientific data generated with CDC funding
    • This plan describes the steps Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (referred to as CDC throughout this document) are taking to maximize access to intramural and extramural data without charging user fees in response to the OSTP Memo. This plan complies with OMB M-13-13, issued in May 2013.
  • CDC Policy on Sharing Data (2005)
    • "The purpose of CDC’s data release/sharing policy is to ensure that (1) CDC routinely provides data to its partners for appropriate public health purposes and (2) all data are released and/or shared as soon as feasible without compromising privacy concerns, federal and state confidentiality concerns, proprietary interests, national security interests, or law enforcement activities."
• Department of Defense: updated August 2022.
  • Information on DoD's Public Access policies.
  • Public Access to the results of DoD-funded research policies [pdf] described on pages 14-15 of DoD Scientific and Technical Information Program (STIP) document.
    • "The STIP operates as a coordinated structure of decentralized activities with overall policy direction and oversight vested in USD(R&E). Its purpose is to ensure that STI is appropriately managed to enable scientific knowledge and technological innovations to be fully accessible to the research community, industry, the military operational community, and the general public within the boundaries of law, regulation, other directives and executive requirements." (p.13).
• Department of Education: updated 2016.
  • Institute of Education Sciences (IES) data sharing policy
    • "The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) expressed its commitment to advancing education research through the sharing of scientific data collected through its grant-funded research programs. The purpose of this data sharing implementation guide is to describe how this policy will be implemented and to provide guidance to grant applicants".
• Department of Energy: updated 2014.
  • DOE's Response to the OSTP's 2013 Public Access Memo
  • DOE Policy for Digital Research Data Management
    • The DOE's Office of Science began requiring a data management plan with all grant applications in October 2014. The agency notes that "Sharing and preserving data are central to protecting the integrity of science by facilitating validation of results and to advancing science...." However they note that "Not all data need to be shared or preserved. The costs and benefits of doing so should be considered in data management planning."
• Department of the Interior: US Geological Society (USGS): updated 2021.
  • USGS data management guide
    • "Data intended for public release are subject to USGS FSP review, approval, and release requirements."
  • 2021 updated data standards
• Department of the Transportation: updated April 2022.
  • DOT Public Access Plan
    • "This plan establishes objectives to ensure public access to Publications and Digital Data Sets arising from DOT-managed research and development (R&D) programs."
• Environmental Protection Agency: updated March 2022.
  • EPA Open Data
  • Open Data Policies and Guidance (including information on data management planning)
• Food and Drug Administration: updated 2015.
  • FDA's response to the OSTP's 2013 Public Access Memo.
  • Public Access to Results of FDA-Funded Scientific Research
    • "FDA shares the objectives of transparency and maximizing public access to FDA-funded research. Accordingly, FDA has developed a policy for public access to FDA-funded peer-reviewed publications and digitally stored data."
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration: updated February 2023.
  • NASA Data Management Plans
    • "The data collected by NASA represent a significant public investment in research. NASA holds these data in a public trust to promote comprehensive, long-term Earth science research. Consequently, NASA developed policy consistent with existing international policies to maximize access to data and to keep user costs as low as possible. These policies apply to all data archived, maintained, distributed or produced by NASA data systems."
  • See example NASA Mission project data management plans
• National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Digital Humanities: updated January 2023.
  • NEH Data Management planning.
    • Planning Your Next DHAG 3: Managing and Sustaining the Project Assets: "We aligned our data management plan instructions with those of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences to enable applicants to take advantage of data management resources that their institutions may have already developed for NSF applications. You will find instructions for preparing a data management plan for projects seeking funding from the DHAG program in the current Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)."
• National Institute of Standards and Technology: updated 2015.
  • NIST Guidelines, Information Quality Standards, and Administration Mechanism
    • Per NIST, grantees are not subject to the data sharing guidelines listed in the "NIST Guidelines..." document unless NIST directly distributes the data.
  • NIST open data program
    • "The Open Data Program provides the framework, infrastructure, and tools to make NIST data, software, and publications findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable by businesses, researchers, other stakeholders, and the public."
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: updated 2015.
  • NOAA data management guidelines
  • Data and Information Sharing Plan Information and Guidance -- includes updates for FY 2023.
    • "Proposals submitted in response to the Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Opportunity must include a data and information sharing plan (DISP) of no more than two pages describing how NOAA Ocean Exploration’s requirements for environmental data and information will be satisfied."
• National Science Foundation: updated 2015.
  • NSF's Response to the OSTP's 2013 Public Access Memo
  • NSF FAQ on Open Access Policy -- FAQs updated 2018.
    • "Existing NSF policies on preparing data management plans are retained....Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable amount of time, the primary data created or gathered in the course of their work under an NSF grant. Grantees are expected to encourage and facilitate such sharing."
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): updated July 2022.
  • USDA Public Access to Scholarly Publications and Digital Scientific Research Data Directive
    • "The USDA will make all peer-reviewed, scholarly publications and digital scientific research data assets arising from unclassified scientific research supported wholly or in part by the USDA accessible to the public, to the extent practicable."
• USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA): updated 2021.
  • Data Management Plan for NIFA-Funded Research, Education, and Extension Projects

    • "an appropriate data management plan (DMP) should be a core component of the research, education, and extension planning for applications submitted to NIFA. Beginning in Fiscal Year 2019, NIFA is requesting DMPs for all competitive grants programs."

• US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): updated 2015 and 2021.
  • VA Policy and Implementation Plan in response to the OSTP 2013 Public Access Memo.
  • VA Enterprise Data Strategy (updated 2021).
    • "Data management, information sharing, and analytics aspects or challenges of these initiatives are priority objectives in the data strategy."

• NOTE: To locate requirements for agencies not listed here, we recommend searching the web and specifying government websites in addition to your keywords. For example, "site:gov atmospheric radiation". This will help you find funders at local, state and national levels with data management expectations.