As far as we can discern, DMPs are not yet a required component of Department of Defense (DOD) grant applications. But in an effort to address numerous user requests for a DOD template, we went ahead and created one based on the draft DOD Public Access Plan issued in Feb 2015, which states:

“This proposed plan is a draft at this point and has not been adopted as part of the DoD regulatory system or as a definitive course of action.”

The (draft) DOD requirements for DMPs are similar to those issued by NSF, NASA, and others so DMPTool users should note the resemblance among these templates. Another similarity is that the DOD plan focuses heavily on access to data underlying published articles. The plan mentions an implementation date at the end of FY 2016 — we will monitor the situation and update the template accordingly. This also presents an opportunity to monitor the new CENDI.gov inventory of public access plans.

Meanwhile, the DOD encourages pilot projects with voluntary submission of articles and data. The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) will be responsible for key elements of policy implementation and compliance monitoring (see their prototype DOD Public Access Search for articles that mention DOD funding).

Official news remains pending, but for now we’re happy to provide a draft DOD template for conscientious researchers. If anyone has experience with DOD programs asking for DMPs or related developments, please let us know!

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). We created a template to assist NIJ funding applicants with preparing a Data Archiving Plan. This is essentially a 1–2 page DMP submitted with grant proposals: 1) to demonstrate your recognition that data sets resulting from your research must be submitted as grant products for archiving and have budgeted accordingly, and 2) to describe how the data will be prepared and documented to allow reproduction of the project’s findings as well as future research that can extend the scientific value of the original project. The policy also notes that “some amount of grant award funds is typically withheld for submission of research data along with the final report and other products/deliverables.”

In most cases, the NIJ requires grantees to deposit their data in the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), which is hosted by ICPSR. The template contains links to guidelines, best practices, FAQs, and other helpful information provided by the NACJD and ICPSR, including specific instructions pertaining to common types of social science data and software.

While the NIJ is not subject to the OSTP Memo, the requirement to submit a Data Archiving Plan has been in place since 2014. We finally added a template in response to a user request.

On October 1, 2015, the NSF Directorate of Biological Sciences issued Updated Information about the Data Management Plan Required for Full Proposals. Changes to the guidelines include some reorganization and clarification of the components of the DMP. There is a new section, “Future Proposals,” highlighting that DMP implementation will be considered during evaluation of future proposals. The new guidelines also contain a handy list of data management resources and training opportunities, including links to DataONE, Data Carpentry, and Software Carpentry, as well as mention of services provided by university libraries. According to the NSF Bio Buzz blog, the updated DMP guidelines are part of the newly released Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, which applies to proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 25, 2016.

As with the previous revision to the NSF-BIO guidelines in 2013, we handled the changes to the template in the DMPTool by deactivating the old one and creating a new template. DMPTool users who created plans using the old template(s) will continue to have full access to those plans. Users creating new NSF-BIO plans will be presented with the new 2015 template.

We will continue monitoring the Bio Buzz blog for future updates.

We’ve added a drop-down list for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and created a new “Generic” template. The existing “DOE: Office of Science” template remains the same.

These template changes come in response to the recent release of the agency-wide DOE Policy for Digital Research Data Management, which took effect on October 1, 2015 and applies to all Unclassified and Otherwise Unrestricted Digital Research Data. The suggested elements for data management that were being piloted by the Office of Science will now apply to all DOE-sponsored research programs. Going forward, each sponsoring office must include the requirements for DMPs in all solicitations and invitations for research funding, with details about how and when a DMP should be submitted. The generic template contains updated DOE links that direct researchers to consult the appropriate sponsoring office for specific requirements and guidance. The new links also include a helpful list of Data Management Resources at DOE Scientific User Facilities.

Stay tuned for more template news from the DMPTool as agencies continue to revise existing policies and release new ones.

The National Institutes of Health issued new Guidance for Investigators in Developing Genomic Data Sharing Plans along with some helpful sample plans (dated July 14, 2015). The DMPTool team has been monitoring the responses to the OSTP memo by federal agencies, but this alert came to us via the DMP admin email list. Please continue to let us know when you hear anything at all (see the links from a previous post “How you Can Help”)!

We added a National Institutes of Health drop-down list to the DMPTool that contains the new NIH-GDS: Genomic Data Sharing template in addition to the NIH-GEN: Generic template. The basic data management requirements for most NIH grants remain unchanged (pending further notice); researchers can continue to use the generic template for most grants.

The new guidance pertains to those proposing research that will generate large-scale human and non-human genomic data. It describes the type of information that should be provided in a genomic data sharing plan and when the plan should be submitted, including instructions for IRB review, appropriate uses of the data, and suggested/required data repositories. The new guidance is an update to the existing NIH GDS Policy that became effective on January 25, 2015.

On February 22, 2013, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued an executive directive that requires the results of taxpayer-funded research – both articles and data – be made freely available to the general public.

The DMPTool team has been closely monitoring the responses by federal agencies, but we could use your help (see the links below under “How you Can Help”).

Forty-three agencies were directed to come up with plans for increasing access to the results of federally funded research (see the OSTP memo links at the bottom of this blog). Since July 2014, twelve of these agencies (and their sub-agencies) have released their plans. The DMPTool team has been actively reviewing newly released funding agency announcements and plans specifically for how Data Management Plans are to be implemented. Once identified, the new plans, if the plans are different form what is already in the DMPTool, will be added to the DMPTool.

With the help of Librarians from across the country, other information from the various plans’ guidelines is being collected and consolidated (not just for data, but for published outputs as well). Columbia University and the University of Oregon are keeping up with the announcements via their Library websites:

• Federal Public Access Plans – Oregon State
• Public Access Mandates for Federally Funded Research – Columbia

SPARC and ARL are also trying to keep researchers and institutions informed:

• http://sparc.arl.org/advocacy/national/directive
• http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/public-access-policies/federally-funded-research/2696-white-house-directive-on-public-access-to-federally-funded-research-and-data

How You Can Help?

• If you see or hear ANYTHING about funder responses:
  • Send us, at the DMPTool an email (uc3@ucop.edu)
  • Tweet with the hashtag #OSTPResp (you can also keep up with what others report this way too)
• Select a funder announcement (from the above lists) to read and contribute to the following crowd source documents:
  • Crowd-sourced Compilation of OSTP Guidelines
  • Federal Open Policies Operation – FAQ

Note: Memos from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on Public Access

• Executive Directive on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research (Feb, 2012)
• March 24, 2014 Update (listing the required agencies)
• November 13, 2014 Update