Data Services: Data Management Plans

What is a Data Management Plan (DMP)?

• A DMP is a document that describes the data you expect to collect or create, how you will describe, analyze and store those data, and when the project is finished, how you will preserve and share the data.  It is best to begin planning for data management early in your research design process.
• Most federal grant applications require a data management plan and have specific requirements for its content.  SPARC has a list of different agency's data sharing requirements. 

Online tool

• Miami University is a collaborator with DMPtool - a web site designed to help you write a good data management plan for your project.  It contains examples and templates customized for dozens of granting agency programs.  Space is provided for you to compose each section that your funder wants included in your plan.  You can save and come back to your work, have an expert review your progress and when you are finished, export your plan in plan text for inclusion in your grant proposal.
• When you write a data management plan, you can also submit it for review before you finalize it to include in your grant application.

Why write a data management plan?

• Helps you think about how you will manage your data.
• A requirement (that is becoming more competitive) for grant applications.
• Specifies to others exactly what and who is responsible for the data at each step.

What is in a data management plan?

• What kinds of data you will be collecting or creating
• Who will have access to the data at each step
• Where the data will be stored and in what formats
• How the data will be processed
• Who will have access to the data
• How and where it will be stored after the project is finished
• How the data will be shared.

How long is a data management plan?

• Usually for grant applications, it is an overview and is one to two pages long.

DMP review

• Our data services staff can assist you by reviewing your data management plan.  Contact us at dataplans@miamioh.edu for more details.