NSF Data Management Plan Template Duke University Libraries Data and GIS Services

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1 NSF Data Management Plan Template Duke University Libraries Data and GIS Services NSF Data Management Plan Requirement Overview The Data Management Plan (DMP) should be a supplementary document of no more than two pages. The DMP must describe how the researcher will adhere to the NSF policy on sharing of results, which states 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. See Award & Administration Guide (AAG) Chapter VI.D.4 ( See Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Chapter II.C.2.j for full policy implementation ( Each directorate may have specific guidelines for the DMP look at your main directorate and/or division or program website for additional policies. DMPs are evaluated by NSF and its reviewers during the peer review process. NSF has not provided specific information about expected practices, as these will necessarily vary widely depending on context. Your DMP should include enough information to show that you have done due diligence in thinking through and addressing appropriate data management, sharing, and retention practices for your particular context. After an award is made, data management will be monitored primarily through the normal Annual and Final Report processes, and the record of your fulfillment of prior data management plans will factor into subsequent proposals. As you develop your DMP, also consult and be aware of the Duke University Policy on Research Records: Sharing, Retention, and Ownership, found in Appendix P of the Faculty Handbook ( records- sharing- retention- and- ownership). Help with Your Data Management Plan What follows are some general guidelines for preparing a data management plan for proposals being submitted to NSF and includes some information specific to the Duke University context. You are encouraged to contact Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services when preparing your plan, as they will be able to answer questions, provide advice, consult with your project and IT staff, and connect you with tools and services (both at Duke and elsewhere) that may assist with the development and implementation of a data management plan. They can also review your draft plan and provide advice on how to improve it before you submit it. DISCLAIMER: The consulting advice provided by the Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services is to be considered only as advice based o experience working with researchers on data management planning, and is to be used with the understanding that the Library is not rendering legal or compliance advice on specific matters. If you have specific questions or concerns, we recommend that you consult with appropriate legal counsel and grants administration advisors with respect to your individual situation. Library Data and GIS Services can participate in an help inform those conversations if requested. 1

2 Data Management Plan A complete Data Management Plan will include each of the following section headers followed by a paragraph or two that provide information on the questions in each section. I. Types of Data NSF Guideline: Samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be produced in the course of the project. Duke Tips: Give a short description of the data you are expecting to produce, including amount (if known) and content. If the project will be collecting data of a sensitive nature, note this and and address any special procedures, actions, and requirements in subsequent sections. Data types could include text, spreadsheets, images, 3D models, software, audio files, video files, reports, surveys, patient records, lab notebooks, statistical code, etc. 1. What data will be generated in the research? 2. What data types will you be creating or capturing? 3. How will you capture or create the data? Briefly describe devices, methods, etc. 4. If you will be using existing data, state that fact and include where you got it. What is the relationship between the data you are collecting and the existing data? II. Data and Metadata Standards NSF Guideline: 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). Duke Tips: Describe the format of your data and how it will be documented. Think about what details (metadata) someone else would need to be able to use your data. For example, you may need a readme file to explain variables, the structure of the files, etc. If you plan to use existing standards or best practices of your field, mention them here. If not, explain why. Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services can help you find appropriate standards and best practices. 2

3 1. Which file formats will you use for your data, and why? 2. What contextual details (metadata) are needed to make the data you capture or collect meaningful? 3. How will you create or capture these details? 4. What form will the metadata take? 5. Which metadata standards will you use? 6. Why have you chosen particular standards and approaches for metadata and contextual documentation? (e.g. accepted standards of the field, widespread usage) III. Data Storage, Management, and Backup Duke Tips: In order to be able to share and preserve your data at the conclusion of your project, you ll need to have in place effective practices for managing the data as you create it. Describe your plans for storing, managing, and backing up your data during the course of the project. This section should have enough detail to show that you are using an appropriate approach for your context, and that your IT service provider can be trusted to apply relevant best practices to store and protect your data. These questions may best be answered by your IT service provider. Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services can help facilitate this discussion and help your IT staff understand NSF expectations and develop appropriate plans to meet them. 1. What technology will you be using to store your data? (fileserver, cloud storage, local device, etc.) 2. What systems/approaches will you use to manage and track your data? (content management system, electronic lab notebook, database system, etc.) 3. Who is providing and managing this service? (departmental IT, lab staff, OIT, cloud service provider, etc.) 4. What access controls and security practices will be in place? Who will have access to the data during the course of the project? 5. What are the plans for backup and recovery of this data? 6. How long will this service be available (i.e., beyond the term of the project)? What are the terms of service (what kinds of support can you expect, and for how long)? 7. How are the costs of this service being supported? (departmental IT, charged to grant, etc.) 8. If you have confidentiality or security needs, how will you address them? 3

4 IV. Policies for Access and Sharing and Provisions for Appropriate Protection/Privacy NSF Guideline: Policies for access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirement. Duke Tips: One of the key reasons NSF is now requiring a Data Management Plan is to encourage you to think about how you will prepare and manage your your data for sharing and to describe how you will actively share your data with non- group members after the project is completed. You should explain how and when the data will become available. Will data be accessible on a web page, by request, via an open- access repository, etc.? If there is an embargo period for sharing the data, make sure you provide details explaining reasons for this delay (e.g. publisher, commercial, patent reasons). If the data is of a sensitive nature human subject concerns, potential patentability, species/ecological endangerment concerns and public access is inappropriate, address here the means by which control and access will be achieved (e.g. formal consent agreements; anonymiztion of data; restricted access, only available within a secure network). Where possible, make the data available without the requirement of a specific request to a researcher or institution (i.e., via a web- based online repository). Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services can help you find an appropriate repository or other method to make your data available beyond the term of your project and your desire/ability to respond to requests for access. Also, note that the Duke policy on research records (Faculty Handbook, Appendix P: records- sharing- retention- and- ownership) outlines expectations around ownership and sharing, and your answers to the questions below should reflect the guidelines of this policy. 1. How will you make the data available? (include resources needed to make the data available: equipment, systems, expertise, etc.) 2. When will you make the data available? (immediately upon capture, at time of publication, after an embargo period, etc.) 3. What is the process to gain access to the data? 4. Does the original data collector/creator/principal investigator retain the right to use the data before opening them up to wider use? 5. Are there ethical and privacy issues? If so, how will these be addressed? 6. What have you done to comply with your obligations in your IRB Protocol? 7. Is the dataset covered by copyright? If so, who owns the copyright and other intellectual property? 8. How will the dataset be licensed if rights exist? 4

5 V. Policies and Provisions for Re- Use, Re- Distribution NSF Guideline: Policies and provisions for re- use, re- distribution and production of derivatives. Duke Tips: Explain how the policies you outline above can be applied to the re- use and re- distribution of your data. In other words, identify who will be allowed to use your data, how they will be allowed to use it and whether or not they will be allowed to further disseminate it. If you are planning on restricting access, use, or dissemination of the data, you must explain in this section how you will codify and communicate these restrictions. Where possible, make your data available under an open license to enable others to make use of the data and to build on your work. See and for further information on open data. Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services can help make your data citable so you receive credit for downstream uses. 1. Will any permission restrictions need to be placed on the data? 2. Which bodies/groups are likely to be interested in the data? 3. What and who are the intended or foreseeable uses / users of the data? 4. Are there any reasons not to share or re- use data? VI. Plans for Archiving and Preservation of Access NSF Guideline: Plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and preservation of access to them. Duke Tips: The Duke University Policy on Research Records: Sharing, Retention, and Ownership, found in Appendix P of the Faculty Handbook ( records- sharing- retention- and- ownership) specifies that Research records should be archived for a minimum of five years after final reporting or publication of a project (or longer if required by an external sponsor, law, rule or regulation). The archived records should be the originals. In addition, the records should be kept for as long as may be required to protect any patents resulting from the work. If any questions regarding the research are raised during the required retention period, the records should be kept until such questions are fully resolved. In the event an investigator leaves the University for any reason, the original research records must be retained at the University and the investigator s department and collaborators notified as to their location. Where possible, you should submit your data to a relevant disciplinary repository that has long- term plans to archive and provide appropriate access to data, and where other researchers that might be interested in your data are likely to find it. Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services can help you identify appropriate repositories for your context and help you submit your data there. 5

6 Duke University Libraries supports an institutional repository (DukeSpace), which can serve as an archival and access service for digital data produced in Duke research. If there are no disciplinary repositories relevant to your context and you plan to deposit it in DukeSpace for preservation and access, then you may adapt the generic response below for this section. If you do so, please contact Duke Libraries Data and GIS Services in advance of submitting your NSF proposal to discuss the parameters under which the DukeSpace repository can host your data at the completion of your project. For data in excess of 1Tb or 1000 files, the library may need to recover costs for maintaining the service, and will work with you to determine those costs so that you may include them in your proposal budget. 1. What is the long- term strategy for maintaining, curating and archiving the data? 2. Which archive/repository/database have you identified as a place to deposit data? 3. What transformations will be necessary to prepare data for preservation / data sharing? Who will be doing this work? 4. What metadata/documentation will be submitted alongside the data or created on deposit/transformation in order to make the data reusable? 5. How long will data be kept beyond the life of the project? 6. What procedures does your intended long- term data storage facility have in place for preservation and backup? 7. What costs are associated with long- term storage and access, and how will these be met? Generic Response for digital data to be deposited in DukeSpace: Based on consultation with staff from Duke University Libraries, I plan to deposit my digital research data in the Duke institutional repository DukeSpace. I will submit the necessary metadata and other resources to archive and make my data accessible for future users. In accordance with the Duke Policy on Research Records: Sharing, Retention, and Ownership (Faculty Handbook, Appendix P) the data will be preserved for a minimum of five years after completion of the project. I will work with the staff of Duke University Libraries to determine whether and how the data may be kept beyond that period. The DukeSpace repository provides for data redundancy, including off- site storage, and is maintained and supported by Duke University Libraries according to guidelines established in the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) criteria and checklist. 6

7 Other sources of guidance on developing data management plans for NSF proposals University of Virginia, ( ) University of Wisconsin- Madison, Research Data Services. ( a- plan/data- plans/) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Libraries. ( management/plans.html) Inter- University Consortium for Political and Social Research ( ) Credits This document was adapted (with permission) from a template developed by the Scientific Data Consulting Group at the University of Virginia Library ( The questions are adapted from the Digital Curation Centre's Checklist for a Data Management Plan (v2.2) ( management- plans). 7