Data Management Plan
A data management plan (DMP) helps you manage your data, in terms of organisation, storage and preservation.
Taking the time to write a good DMP gives you an opportunity to think through many of the issues covered in this guide, and usually saves time and effort later on in the process.
Increasingly, funders require a DMP as part of the application for research funding. For instance, as of 2017, a DMP is required for applications to Horizon 2020. As from 2019, The Swedish Research Council requires that projects which have recieved funding have a data management plan in place when the project starts. Formas also requires that a DMP is created for projects that have been awarded funding. At present, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond requires data management plans for certain project types.
Even though many funders do not yet require a DMP, adding a DMP as an attachment to your application can be an advantage as it shows that you have considered data management aspects.
Lund University provides a data management planning tool, DMPRoadmap. Currently, there is one template for the Swedish Research Council and one general template for data management plans at Lund University. Read more about DMP Roadmap at the Staff Pages.
A DMP is truly useful when it is a living document that is updated throughout the project. A DMP should include answers to questions such as:
- What kind of data will you collect or create?
- How will the data be collected or created?
- Which documentation and what metadata will accompany the data?
- Are there ethical issues that need consideration?
- How will you manage copyright and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues?
- How will data be handled to insure it is stored and transferred securely?
- How will the data be backed up during the projects?
- Which data should be retained, shared, and/or preserved?
- What is the long term preservation plan?
- How will you share the data? Are there any restrictions on data sharing?
- Who will be responsible for data management?
- Can the resources required for managing the data be specified and what costs are involved? For instance, personal resources, software and hardware.