In 1999 the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-110 was amended to require Federal awarding agencies to ensure that all data produced under an award will be made available to the public through the procedures established under the Freedom of Information Act'' (FOIA). A Data Management Plan is a document that describes what data will be created, what policies apply to the data, who will own and access the data, what data management practices will be used, what facilities and equipment will be required, and who will be responsible for each of these activities.

Funding Agency Guidelines for Preparing DMPs

• NIH Data Sharing Policy and Implementation Guidance
• National Science Foundation Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results
• National Endowment for the Humanities DMPs
• Institute of Education Sciences

Other Helpful Resources

DMPTool

The DMPTool is a free, open-source, online application that helps researchers create data management plans. The DMPTool provides a click-through wizard for creating a DMP that complies with funder requirements. It also has direct links to funder websites, help text for answering questions, and data management best practices resources. On the DMPTool website, you can also find examples of data management plans.

Mansfield Library

The Mansfield Library maintains a guide on research data management. They recently created a series of short videos (3-5 minutes each) that discuss different aspects of data management. There's a video specifically related to data management plans. Each video is accompanied by a transcript as well as a list of useful online resources.