Background
In October 2020, NIH issued a new Policy for Data Management and Sharing, effective January 25, 2023. The new policy will require a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMS Plan) for ALL NIH-funded projects, an expansion from the 2003 policy requirement for projects over $500K in annual direct costs to include a data sharing plan. Proper data management and sharing are critical research practices to accelerate scientific advancement and support scientific integrity. The specifics of how each element of the DMS Plan is addressed will vary field to field and project to project. The DMS Plan submitted for a complex, multi-site clinical trial will look very different from the DMS Plan for a project involving more basic science bench work. Each NIH Institute, Center, and Office (ICO) has the flexibility to develop more specific requirements to best meet the needs of the particular field(s) it funds; however, significant variation in ICO-specific requirements will place substantial administrative burden on researchers to first navigate the varying requirements before they can even begin developing their DMSP.
Goals
Phase 1: NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan Template Pilot
Test the effectiveness and usability of two DMSP templates developed in collaboration with representatives from participating ICs:
Option 1 is a prescriptive template designed to limit the need for free text entry
Option 2 aims to provide detailed prompts as well as more options to include free text responses as necessary.
Gather data from the researcher/faculty perspective as well as the NIH program perspective
Refine template(s) based on pilot data
Phase 2: Cost Policies
Establish common cost principles
Identify types of costs required
Determine how to identify additional/unforeseen costs that may be required to meet the spirit of the data sharing policy.
Templates
*Due to the significant programming used to construct the Alpha Template as a form fillable PDF, the template will not open in a web browser; it must be downloaded and opened in Adobe. Please select download and open from your downloads folder. If you are having an issue selecting download via your browser of choice, update your browser settings to always download PDFs rather than the default option of opening them in the browser.
Resources
September 2022 plenary session “NIH Implementation of the New Data Management and Sharing Policy” slides and video
January 12, 2023 planning meeting slides
January 2023 Meeting; DMSP Logistical Overview
Upcoming Events
FDP and our NIH colleagues are pleased to announce the below upcoming opportunities to share our experiences and feedback with each other regarding implementation of the new NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy and the FDP DMS Pilot. All times listed below are in Eastern Time:
The Town Hall sessions are intended to be listening sessions open to a broad audience. These sessions will focus on more targeted topics related to the NIH DMS Policy and the FDP DMS Pilot; further information on the selected topics forthcoming. Zoom webinar information will be shared as soon as it is available. These sessions will be recorded, and the recordings will be posted for those not able to attend.
Contact