DMP Tool

DMP Tool is a service from the University of California Curation Center that helps you create a data management plan. You will need to create an account on the site to use the step-by-step guide.

ACRL Primer for Protecting Sensitive Data in Academic Research

This primer provides a quick grounding in the whats, whys, and hows of current regulations and practices for protecting sensitive data.

A Data Management Plan Includes...

  • Description of types of data, samples, and physical collections you will be creating.
  • Standards you will use for your data and the metadata that will describe it.
  • Policies for sharing, accessing, and re-using your data.
  • Methods for archiving and preserving your data.

Data Plan Outlines and Examples

Data Management Checklist

Contact your liaison librarian to schedule a consultation for assistance with writing a data management plan. The following questions will help you think about how best to manage your data and how to prepare the content of your data management plan.

Data Production
  • What type(s) of data will be produced?
  • What file format(s) will the data be saved as? Are those file formats proprietary? Will they degrade?
  • Will the data be reproducible?
  • Do you need tools or software to create/process/visualize the data?
Data Size
  • How much data will it be, and at what growth rate?
  • How often will it change?
Data Usage
  • Who will potentially be using your data both now and later?
Data Retention
  • How long should it be retained? (e.g. 3-5 years, 10-20 years, permanently)
Privacy and Security
  • Any special privacy or security requirements? (e.g., personal data, high-security data)
Data Sharing
  • Any sharing requirements? (e.g., funder data sharing policy)
  • Have you chosen a repository in which to archive your data?
Data Management Plan
  • Does your funding agency require a data management plan in the grant proposal?
Data Documentation
  • How will you be documenting your data and project?
  • What directory and file naming convention will be used?
  • What project and data identifiers will be assigned?
  • Is there a schema, ontological, or other metadata standard in your field for sharing data with others?
Storage and Backup
  • What are the strategies for storage and backup of the data?
Publication
  • When and where will the work be published?
Responsibility
  • Who in the research group will be responsible for data management?
  • Who controls the data (PI, student, lab, CSB and SJU, funder)?