What is the DMPTool?

The DMPTool is a free, open-source, online application that helps researchers create data management plans. These plans, or DMPs, are now required by many funding agencies as part of the proposal submission process. 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 resources for best practices surrounding data management. More information and answers to frequently asked questions is available here.

Video

Want a quick overview of the DMPTool? Check out our 90-second video describing the DMPTool’s features. Go to DMPTool Video page.

DMPTool Background

The original DMPTool was a grassroots effort, beginning in January 2011 with eight institutions partnering to provide in-kind contributions of personnel and development. The effort was in direct response to demands from funding agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that researchers plan for managing their research data. By joining forces the contributing institutions are able to consolidate expertise and reduce costs in addressing data management needs.

The original contributing institutions were:

• The University of California Curation Center (UC3) at the California Digital Library
• DataONE
• Digital Curation Centre (UK)
• Smithsonian Institution
• University of California, Los Angeles Library
• University of California, San Diego Libraries
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Library
• University of Virginia Library

Since its release in October 2011, the DMPTool has generated huge interest among the science and library community, including its appearance on the Library of Congress’ Top 10 Digital Preservation Developments of 2011.Given the success of the first version of the DMPTool, the founding partners obtained funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to create a second version of the tool, released in May 2014.

As of January 2020, more than 44,000 users have created over 41,120 plans using the DMPTool. Go to the main DMPTool website to learn more.