Data Management

Creating and implementing a data management plan is an investment in your current and future research.  It saves time, increases research impact, improves accessibility, addresses privacy and confidentiality issues, safeguards data, and ensures compliance.

Curtin Library Research Data Management Visual

Write a DMP

Researchers are increasingly required by institutions and funders to submit a data management plan (DMP) as part of a research proposal.  In order to meet these requirements, we offer access to DMPTool via your Tulane credentials.

Here you can easily: 

• Generate a password protected DMP using templates specific to Tulane,
• Create, review, and share DMPs,
• Determine and meet the DMP requirements of all major funding agencies,
• Access public DMPs from various researchers and institutions, and
• Get advice and guidance on creating a DMP 

DMPTool Quick Start Guide
A brief guide to the tool and how to create and share your plan. 

How to Implement a Data Management Plan

Data Management Plans are often submitted with grant proposals. Thus, these plans are written generally, as many details about day to day data management are still not known. Many research groups are also not used to document changes in their data management plan during the research process, so the Data Management Plan becomes less useful.

Oregon State University Research Data Services created a DMP Implementation Plan template that is discipline agnostic and open source through a CC0 license. The goal of this template is both to help research groups make concrete and specific decisions about data management practices, and to make it a living document that can be updated and consulted often.

Learn more about the OSU DMP Implementation Plan template here: https://landonma.github.io/Data-Management-Templates-Project/ 

In 2013, the Office of Science and Technology (OST) released a memorandum that directed all Federal agencies with Research and Development expenditures of more than $100 million to draft plans to make publicly funded data accessible to all U.S. citizens.  

Therefore, individual agencies have generated policies that are appropriate for the disciplines they serve. Please follow the rules and regulations appropriate for your funder, discipline and data content when sharing. 

• DMPTool Funder Requirements List -  A list of Data Management Plan Guidelines compiled by DMPTool.
• Data Management Funder Requirements - A list compiled by the University of Minnesota Libraries
• National Science Foundation: Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results - NSF’s guidelines for data management and sharing
• National Institute of Health Guidelines - NIH’s data sharing policies and guidelines.
• National Institute of Health Genomic Data Sharing Guidelines - NIH guidelines for the sharing of human and non-human genomic data.
• ROARMAP - A searchable international registry of open access mandates and policies adopted by universities, research institutions and research funders. 
• SPARC Data Sharing Requirements by Funding Agency - A community resource for tracking, comparing, and understanding both current and future U.S. federal funder research data sharing policies is a joint project of SPARC & Johns Hopkins University Libraries.

Other compliance policies:

• Human Research Protection Program  

• State of Louisiana Department of Education