Data Management: Funder requirements

Many funding agencies are now requiring data sharing as a condition for receiving funds.  On this tab, we'll look at the policies of several of the most common funding organizations

Starting January 25, 2023, the NIH will require that researchers receiving NIH funding will submit a plan detailing how the data created through their NIH-funded research will be managed and shared.

Some of the key elements of the Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing are:

• Researchers will maximize the amount of scientific data they are legally/ethically allowed to share.
• Scientific data is defined as "The recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publications. Scientific data do not include laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, completed case report forms, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, communications with colleagues, or physical objects, such as laboratory specimens."
• A data management and sharing plan (DMS) is required at the time of application for an NIH grant.
• DMS plans will be reviewed by NIH program staff, however peer reviewers may also comment on the budget element of the DMS plan as well.
• "Shared scientific data should be made accessible as soon as possible, and no later than the time of an associated publication, or the end of the award/support period, whichever comes first.” 
• Researchers are encouraged to share data by means of established data repositories.

The NSF Data Sharing Policy states:

"Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF grants."

This policy is further elaborated in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG)

NSF (n.d.) Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results - NSF Data Management Plan Requirements. https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp