About the Data Management Plan

Tip: Why is this topic important
» Administrative information about the DMP itself
» Be clear about contributions to the DMP and the data management in the project
» How will the DMP be maintained as a living document?
» Make notes about relevant related information

NB! For projects with particular information security requirements (e.g. dual use research, protection of intellectual property rights and commercial interests), already the DMP itself could be sensitive information. If applicable, clarify this with your IT department.

About this chapter

This chapter collects administrative information about the data management plan (DMP) itself. It makes it clear who contributes to data management in the research project and how responsibilities are assigned in the research group (e.g. between the project leader, research staff, and technical staff), which also is useful information when making data accessible. A DMP should be a living document and plans and responsibilities for undertaking DMP revisions should be noted in this chapter.

Questions in this chapter include the following aspects:

DMP as a living document

A DMP should be considered a living document and be revised as the project develops. When the first draft is written some aspects may not be in place but become evident as the project progresses. It is therefore recommended to schedule updates of the DMP and assign a responsible person for its updating. When a project is completed, the DMP should be updated with all research outputs produced.

Question-specific guidance

DMP title

Make a title for the data management plan which makes it clear which research project it relates to. If a project has multiple DMPs, then add information about which part or package of the project this specific plan is for.

E.g. “Data Management Plan for AMAZING - A really fantastic project, 2020-2024”
E.g. “Data Management Plan for AMAZING - A really fantastic project, WP3 the complex data collection, 2020-2024”

Contributor(s)

List all person contributing both to the DMP and the data management in the project.

Name is written Given-name Family-name; e.g. Niels Henrik Abel.

Institutional email addresses as contact email are preferred.

ORCIDs are recommended to unambiguously identify researchers. If contributors do not have an ORCID they should create one – it’s free of charge.

Affiliations are added at an institutional level and harvested from the ROR registry of research organizations.

Roles should be added to specify their contribution (following the DataCite contributor type definitions). Examples of roles are:

Contact Person
Data Collector
Data Manager
Project Leader
Project Manager
Project Member
Researcher
Supervisor
Work Package Leader
Related Person or Other can be used for others who contribute in more general terms.

If there are several data management plans within a project, this field is used to show relations. Create the “master DMP” first, and then individual sub-plans for the different parts of the project. For research centres or research consortia, often the term ‘umbrella DMP’ is used to describe overarching principles and routines.

Also other formal documents with a relation to the DMP can be listed here, such as data collection plans for research cruises or expeditions, and Software Management Plans or other types of Output Management Plans.

Have your made plans for revisions of this DMP?

For the data management plan to function as a project tool, the plan should be updated as the project evolves, and changes or issues occur. By planning for revisions and assigning responsibility for revisions you contribute to safeguarding the data collected or produced during the project.

It is recommended to schedule revisions at given dates, at regular intervals or connected to milestones in the project. Responsibility for DMP revisions can be specified based on the contributor list.

Have you published, or will you publish (versions) of this DMP?

You can publish the data management plan and its updates in an open repository like Zenodo. By doing this your DMP will be permanently archived, get a DOI, and one can easily share and refer to the plan in collaborations and future grant applications. Publishing a data management plan is also best practice for research transparency and open research.

For projects with information security requirements (e.g. dual use research, protection of intellectual property rights and/or commercial interests), the DMP itself could contain sensitive information. If applicable, the data management plan should not be published.