For More Information, Contact:
Andrew Sallans, Head of Strategic Data Initiatives
Sherry Lake, Senior Scientific Data Consultant
About the Scientific Data Consulting Group

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) began requiring formal data management plans as part of the peer-reviewed funding proposal process effective January 18, 2011.

NSF Data Management Plan Requirement Overview

• Proposals submitted after January 18, 2011 must include a Data Management Plan (DMP)
• DMP should be a supplementary document of no more than two pages
• DMP must describe how the researcher will adhere to the NSF policy on sharing of results
• For full DMP policy implementation, see Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Chapter II.C.2.j
• Certain directorates and divisions have issued specific guidelines for the DMP and/or for the implementation of the data sharing policy – make sure look at your main directorate and/or division or program solicitation website to see if any additional policies apply.

UVa Library’s Scientific Data Consulting Group (SciDaC) NSF DMP Templates

SciDaC has adapted the basic guidelines set forth by the NSF to create a generic DMP template – this template is intended to provide structure for proposals in directorates/divisions that do not have specific standards for DMP content. SciDaC has also developed an individual template for each directorate/division that has specific DMP requirements. These templates all combine NSF guidance, questions from the Digital Curation Centre’s Checklist for a Data Management Plan, and SciDaC tips based on the group’s data management expertise.

If you are a researcher who will be using one of our templates, we encourage you to contact us for feedback and review.

And if you are part of an institution that wishes to re-purpose one or more of our templates, we ask that you please provide adequate acknowledgement.