The basic tool for research data management is the data management plan (DMP), a document that describes the various aspects of research data management - what data was generated and how, information about its availability and use, etc. The DMP should be a 'living' document that is continuously updated to reflect what has actually happened to the data.
- DMP helps to anticipate potential issues
- DMP facilitates monitoring
- DMP reduces the risk of duplicate work, data loss and security breaches
- DMP helps ensure that data is accurate, complete and reliable
- DMP facilitates data sharing
- DMP helps ensure continuity and consistency of long-term projects
- DMP ensures compliance with funders' policies
There is no one strict form of DMP - different institutions or funders may emphasise different parts of the data management process. DMPs submitted in the context of grant projects should therefore respect the policies of the funder.
The content of the DMP also depends on the type of research and data collected. For example, for data from medical or sociological research, issues related to ethics and data processing may be important. For researchers in biology, chemistry or physics working with large volumes of data, issues related to data storage and backup may be important.
Examples of generic templates:
Completed DMPs for interest or inspiration:
- public DMPs on the DMPonline website,
- Data Management Plan Catalogue of the LIBER Research Data Working Group,
- example DMPs and guidance, sorted by research funders, on the Digital Curation Centre’s website.
DMP can take different forms. It can be created as a document in a word processor or written on paper.
For example, DMP prepared within the framework of the Programme JAC: Excellence in Research must correspond to the DMP template for the Horizon Europe programme. A bilingual version of this template is available in the NTK repository.
However, there are also tools that can facilitate the creation of the DMP by asking appropriate questions or guiding the researcher to more specific explanations of the questions. Examples of these tools include DMPonline or the Data Stewardship Wizard.
DMPonline is a freely available web-based tool provided by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) for creating and sharing data management plans.
The tool includes pre-set templates from the most prominent funders and creates a DMP (i.e., asks questions) directly for the selected template, which the user can answer in free text. If the user does not prepare a DMP for a specific funder, he/she can choose a generic DCC template. The tool enables collaboration with colleagues and also public sharing of a DMP. The created plan can then be downloaded in different formats (e.g. csv, html, docx, pdf or json).
The Data Stewardship Wizard (DSW) is a freely available web-based tool developed within the ELIXIR research infrastructure. Further details, including information about the DSW at UPCE, can be found here.
Useful Resources:
- Digital Curation Centre: Data Management Plans
- Digital Curation Centre: Checklist for a Data Management Plan
- Digital Curation Centre: How to Develop a Data Management and Sharing Plan
- ELIXIR: Data management plan
The pages were prepared using information retrieved from the website of the Charles University Open Science Support Centre.
Photo: "Research Data Management" by jannekestaaks is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
