Data Management Plan (DMP)

A Data Management Plan (DMP) is a required condition of award at most major research funders and many institutions, setting out how a project’s research data will be handled across its life. A DMP typically covers: the types and expected volume of data to be generated or reused; the metadata standards and file formats used to describe it; ethical, legal, or Indigenous-data-governance constraints on sharing; storage, backup, and security arrangements during the project; who is responsible for which data-management task and what resources that requires; access and sharing arrangements once outputs are shared or published; and long-term preservation, including where data will be deposited and for how long.

Format is shifting

DMPs were historically authored as free-text narrative documents (PDF or DOCX) written once at proposal stage and rarely revisited. They are increasingly produced instead through structured online tools (e.g., DMPTool, DMPonline) and exported in a machine-actionable format that a repository, funder system, or institutional research-information system can read and validate directly, rather than a human having to re-key the same information elsewhere.

This page is the umbrella term — see these for specific stages and requirements

CASRAI documents several more specific DMP-related concepts as their own entries rather than folding them into this one: DMP active phase (how a DMP is meant to be used and revisited during the live project, not just written once at the start); machine-actionable DMP (maDMP) (the structured, system-readable format itself); climate impact statement (in DMP) (an environmental-impact disclosure some funders now require alongside the DMP); and sensitive-data handling (in DMP) (the specific provisions a DMP must make when the data itself is sensitive — personal, commercially confidential, or otherwise restricted). A DMP is also typically cross-referenced from, and consistent with, a project’s broader project plan.

References

• Science Europe, Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management (2021); NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy (NOT-OD-21-013); Horizon Europe DMP template.

Checking this against the current guidance

What has to be in a data management plan, and how strictly it’s checked, depends on the specific funder’s own DMP requirements. The answer depends on which funder you are working to,
and the page above states the general rule.

Ask
CASRAI: What has to be in a data management and sharing plan, and what makes a repository qualify as a trusted repository?

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Frequently asked questions

Is a data management plan the same document for every funder?

No. Every major US and international funder requires one, but the required sections, page limits, and level of technical detail differ by funder and often by program — see DMP template and structure for how the common elements map to specific funder requirements.

Who is responsible for writing the DMP?

Typically the PI drafts it, often with input from a data steward, the library, or the sponsored-programs office, because the plan has to describe both the research design and the institution’s actual data infrastructure and cannot be written from a template alone.

Does a DMP need to be updated after the award starts?

Yes, in most cases. A DMP describes intentions at proposal stage; if data types, repositories, or the estimated volume of data change materially during the project, funders generally expect the plan to be revised to match, particularly at continuation or annual-report stages.

What happens if a funder finds the DMP noncompliant after an award is made?

This depends on the funder. Some treat DMP compliance as a condition of the award and can withhold funds or flag the award for corrective action; others review it primarily at the proposal stage and address post-award drift informally through the program officer.