DMP template

A DMP template is a funder-, institution-, or community-specific structured set of questions and guidance used to elicit the content of a Data Management Plan (DMP) from a researcher. Templates organise the topics a plan needs to cover — data description, FAIR-enabling practices, ethical and legal constraints, storage, preservation, sharing, and responsibilities are common sections — into a consistent question structure. Because DMP tools such as DMPRoadmap and DMPonline encode templates as data rather than hard-coded forms, the same underlying question can be presented under an NIH label in one context and a Horizon Europe label in another, with the researcher’s answers exported into whichever structure the funder actually requires.

A research office deals with templates constantly, usually by selecting the correct one for a given funder inside an institutional DMP tool, or by maintaining a local institutional template that layers extra guidance (which internal repository to name, which storage tiers are available) on top of a funder’s base requirements. Choosing the wrong template — for example, using a generic institutional form for an application that requires the funder’s specific structure — is one of the more common avoidable errors a research office catches at review stage.

How it differs from adjacent DMP concepts

• vs. DMP narrative — the template is the question set; the narrative is the answers written out in prose.
• vs. RDA DMP Common Standard — the standard defines the structure of a machine-actionable output; a template defines the questions used to elicit content, and the two are related but not the same layer.

References

• Digital Curation Centre DMPonline funder templates library; Horizon Europe DMP template (European Commission).

Checking this against the current guidance

Using a funder-provided template does not by itself guarantee a compliant plan — the content still has to satisfy that funder’s specific requirements. The answer depends on which funder requirement you are working to,
and the page above states the general rule.

Ask
CASRAI: Does using a funder-provided DMP template guarantee compliance, or can a technically complete template still fail funder review on specific content grounds?

It searches CASRAI’s indexed corpus of research-administration guidance and cites
the passage behind each claim, so you can open the source and check it rather than
take its word — and it says so when the corpus does not cover something instead of
guessing. Two questions a day are free while you are signed out, no
account and no card. Everything CASRAI publishes stays free to read.

Frequently asked questions

Is it ever risky to reuse the same DMP template across different funders?

Yes — a template built around one funder’s required elements can omit a section another funder treats as mandatory, so a template needs to be checked against each specific funder’s current requirements before reuse.

Do DMP templates get updated when funder policy changes?

They should, but templates can lag a policy change if not actively maintained — always check the template’s date against the funder’s current guidance before relying on it.

Can an institution require its own template on top of the funder’s?

Yes, and many do, layering institution-specific data-security or repository guidance on top of the funder’s required elements, as long as the funder’s own required content is still present.