Beginning January 2023, all National Institutes of Health research grant and contract applicants will be required to submit a data management and sharing plan (DMSP) as part of their application. If awarded, compliance with the approved plan is required.
NIH’s new policy replaces its old policy entirely and requires that ALL grant applications/renewals that produce scientific data include a much more robust and detailed plan on the management, sharing, and preservation of data during the funded period and beyond.
To comply with the new policy, investigators will be required to provide specific information on access policies/procedures to protect the privacy of human participants, data preservation, metadata standards and distribution approaches. This information will be required in a DMSP, which is analogous to what other funders refer to as a data management plan.
The new DMS policy applies to:
- New and competing renewal grant applications submitted to NIH for the Jan. 25, 2023, proposal deadline date and later;
- Proposals for contracts submitted to NIH for the Jan. 25, 2023, proposal deadline date and later; and
- Any other NIH funding agreement executed on or after Jan. 25, 2023.
The policy does NOT apply to research and other activities that do not generate scientific data, e.g., training, infrastructure development, and non-research activities.
Important compliance notes:
- The submitted DMSP will become a term of condition of the Notice of Award and compliance during the award period will be determined by the awarding NIH Institute or Center.
- Failure to comply may result in NIH enforcement action or risk award termination. It also could impact future funding decisions.
What you can do to prepare for this change:
- Review the policy now. Also review supplemental documents Elements of an NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan, Allowable Costs for Data Management and Sharing, and Selecting a Repository for Data Resulting from NIH-Supported Research.
- Learn more about the policy and find resources from the University Libraries NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy website.
- Learn about funder requirements for data management and sharing on the University Libraries data management website.
- Review sample DMSP from the National Institute of Mental Health that comply with the new policy.
To draft the plan itself, we recommend the DMPTool (log in with NetID) using the NIH 2023 template. Additional guidance for completing each section of the template will be added to the DMPTool on a rolling basis. For guidance in writing and operationalizing your plan, view video modules prepared by University Libraries, Research Computing, the Human Subjects Protection Program, and RII.
For more information or to request a consult, email the Library Data Management team. We will provide ongoing updates to assist researchers and research assistants with this transition.