Explainer · Plain-language
What is a data management plan (DMP)?
A data management plan (DMP) is a formal document that describes how the data in a research project will be collected, documented, stored, shared, and preserved. Most major funders now require a DMP as part of a grant application, increasingly aligned with FAIR principles.
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What a DMP covers
A typical DMP addresses what data will be produced and in what formats; how it will be documented with metadata; where and how it will be stored and backed up; how sensitive or personal data will be protected and what ethical/legal constraints apply; how and when data will be shared, under what licence; and how it will be preserved for the long term, including in which repository.
Why funders require them
Funders use DMPs to ensure that publicly-funded data is well managed and, where possible, made FAIR and open for reuse. A DMP is usually submitted at the proposal stage and updated during the project, and compliance can be checked at reporting milestones. It is the practical mechanism by which open-data and FAIR-data policies are enforced.
FAIR and the DMP
Modern DMPs are framed around the FAIR principles — Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. The plan describes how identifiers, metadata, standards, and licences will make the data FAIR. This ties the DMP to the wider research-data-infrastructure and persistent-identifier landscape rather than treating it as a standalone form.
Machine-actionable DMPs (maDMPs)
Traditionally DMPs were free-text PDFs that no system could read. The Research Data Alliance developed a common standard for machine-actionable DMPs (maDMPs) so the plan becomes structured data that can flow between funders, institutions, and repositories — auto-populating fields, checking compliance, and updating as the project evolves. This is the area the CASRAI Dictionary's machine-actionable-DMPs domain supports.
Key facts
At a glance
- Purpose: plan for collecting, storing, sharing, preserving research data
- Required by: NIH (DMSP), UKRI, Horizon Europe, ARC, NHMRC, and most major funders
- Aligned with: FAIR principles
- Stage: submitted at proposal; updated through the project
- Machine-actionable: RDA maDMP common standard
- Tooling: DMPTool, DMPonline (DMP Roadmap)
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: A DMP is a one-off form you write once and forget.
Actually: No — a DMP is a living document. Good practice and most funders expect it to be updated as the project and its data evolve.
Often heard: A DMP is only about backing up files.
Actually: No — storage and backup are one part. A DMP also covers metadata, documentation, ethics and protection, licensing, sharing, and long-term preservation.
Going deeper
