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v2026.1714 entries · CC-BY 4.0
Dictionary termTrack CStablev2026.2

DMP machine-readable expression

The structured serialisation of a DMP's content in a format (JSON, JSON-LD, XML) that conforming software can parse, validate, and act upon without human re-interpretation.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board
· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

  • Is an instance

    A 'dmp.json' file exported from DMPonline conforming to RDA DMP CS v1.1.

  • Is an instance

    A JSON-LD representation that links dataset entities to DOIs and contributors to ORCID iDs.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

  • Not an instance

    A scanned image of a DMP form (not machine-parseable).

  • Not an instance

    A free-text answer field within an otherwise structured form.

Editorial commentary

Where a narrative DMP communicates intent to a human reviewer, the machine-readable expression communicates to other systems. It encodes the same decisions but as typed properties with identifiers, dates, and controlled vocabularies. The RDA DMP Common Standard is the most widely adopted schema for this expression.

References

  • RDA DMP Common Standards WG outputs.

Also known as

structured DMP · DMP JSON · DMP serialisation

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element
xml
<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="DMP machine-readable expression"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/dmp-machine-readable-expression" />
Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)
json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "DMP machine-readable expression",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/dmp-machine-readable-expression",
  "description": "The structured serialisation of a DMP's content in a format (JSON, JSON-LD, XML) that conforming software can parse, validate, and act upon without human re-interpretation.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/machine-actionable-data-management-plans-madmp/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/dmp-machine-readable-expression",
  "sameAs": [
    "structured DMP",
    "DMP JSON",
    "DMP serialisation"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Adopted by research universities worldwide

University of Cambridge logoColumbia University logoUniversity of Edinburgh logoHarvard University logoMassachusetts Institute of Technology logoUniversity of Oxford logoPrinceton University logoStanford School of Medicine logoUniversity College London logoUniversity of Cambridge logoColumbia University logoUniversity of Edinburgh logoHarvard University logoMassachusetts Institute of Technology logoUniversity of Oxford logoPrinceton University logoStanford School of Medicine logoUniversity College London logo
  • University of Cambridge logo
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  • University of Oxford logo
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  • University College London logo

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