Guidance on Preparing ^*NSF Data Management Plans

How We Can Help

All NSF proposals now require data management plans of up to 2 pages, describing what data you are producing, and how you will administer, preserve, and share data. Understanding what types of information to include in your plan and the various data management options available to you can be time-consuming and challenging. A JHU Data Management Services (DMS) consultant can save you time by helping you identify and review all your data management and sharing options relevant during and after your research project. The consultant will also guide you on appropriate content for you plan in relation to NSF’s and evolving requirements and the JHU Policy on Access and Retention of Research Data and Materials.  A high-quality, tailored data management plan specific to your research and NSF Directorate may improve the competitiveness of your proposal, particularly as NSF moves to a more systematic review and implementation of data management plans.

Guidance Process

For expert guidance on NSF data management plans, starts by contacting the JHU Data Management Services at datamanagement@jhu.edu, ideally two weeks or more ahead of your proposal deadline to ensure the successful preparation of your plan. A DMS Consultant will meet with you to discuss the proposal in development and work through our questionnaire with you, a tool we developed to help you gather and organize the relevant information needed for your plan. After the meeting, DMS consultants are available to review your draft data management plan, paying close attention to the data management requirements set forth by the Directorate, and in some cases, the solicitation. We typically provide feedback on draft data management plans within 24 hours during normal business days. We can also provide example data management plans written by fellow JHU researchers. For a general overview of what content is covered in a data management plan, see our page on “Overview of Plan Content”.

Additional Services

Would you like to share and preserve your data through a state-of-the-art repository? JHU Data Management Services also operates the JHU Data Archive and provides additional consulting to help you prepare your project data for longer-term access by you and your research community. Contact us to consider whether this archive or other preservation and sharing options are appropriate to include in your data management plan.

Also, we are happy to come to your department or other settings (e.g., journal club, graduate student associations) and discuss our services in more detail, or hold a workshop on writing NSF data management plans. Please contact us at datamanagement@jhu.edu to coordinate an event.

* Although we are focused on providing our services for NSF grants, we may be able to assist you on data management plans for other funding agencies

Text licensed under Creative Commons, unless otherwise noted.

Download our Questionnaire that will help draft your Data Management Plan