Research Data Sharing and Management

Below are links to training opportunities and tools to author a data management and sharing plan.

A well-written Data Management Plan (DMP) will help win your award 

Data Management Plans (DMPs) are easy to create and most are only a couple pages long and easy to write. Simply describe the data you will create or acquire; how you will manage, describe, analyze, and store those data; and your sharing and preservation mechanisms at the end of your project. 

As you prepare your proposal for submission you should be thinking about all the technology you may need to support your research. The ASU Library in partnership with the Office of Research Data Management and other ASU units is able to provide a single point of contact for research data support, including:

• Technology Needs Assessments (TNA) – helping you understand what technology, tools and support the university can provide to assist you with your proposed research
• Research information management tools and consulting services
• Resilient project storage – secure storage that you can dedicate to storing your research data.
• Statistical data analysis services
• Geospatial data services
• Scientific programming services

Do not wait until your project has been funded to prepare. Being prepared will help you convince (via your DMP) that you know what you are doing and have the institutional support to do it. Visit ASU Research Data Management to learn more about data management plans and request support.

Why are DMPs important?

Most major grant funding agencies now require that a Data Management Plan accompany all grant proposals including the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Endowment for Humanities Office of Digital Humanities. Additionally an emerging number of academic journals also require openly accessible data for submitted articles. Even if not required it is still an important practice to follow to ensure your research data is preserved, accessible, and discoverable.

Browse data sharing requirements by Federal Agency:

Use this link provided through SPARC to browse the different data sharing, management and preservation requirements by various federal funding agencies.

The next sections of this guide provide:

• Information on data requirements
• A basic checklist to help you get started
• Guidance on best practices for citing data sets, data management, and sharing and storage of data
• A link to Discipline-specific digital repositories

Items that are typically included in a Data Management Plan:

1. the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be produced in the course of the project;
2. the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content (where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with any proposed solutions or remedies);
3. policies for access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements;
4. policies and provisions for re-use, re-distribution, and the production of derivatives; and
5. plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and for preservation of access to them.

Get started with your plan. 

The next modules walk you through a Data Management Plan Checklist  and the DMP Tool: a website providing both examples and templates to easily build and save your own data management plans.