Data Management and Sharing Plan

NIH requirements

Data Management and Sharing Plan Guidelines

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released the final format of the 2026 Pilot Data Management and Sharing Plan.  This simplified format is required for all new competing and non-competing applications with due dates on or after May 25, 2026. NIH will accept both the 2023 and 2026 formats for applications with due dates prior to May 25, 2026.

The pilot DMS Plan format consists primarily of Yes/No questions addressing core data sharing expectations, along with brief justifications if data sharing may be limited due to legal, ethical, or technical considerations. A concise table identifying anticipated data types and repositories is also required.

In NOT OD 26 046, NIH indicates that the streamlined DMS Plan format in being implemented as a pilot initiative designed to reduce administrative burden and improve consistency across submissions. The format will be evaluated and refined as appropriate in the coming year. Instructions and guidance for writing a Data Management and Sharing plan are available on the NIH website. 

If using the current Data Management and Sharing Plan (2023 version), describe the data management, preservation, and sharing of scientific data and accompanying metadata.

The NIH-wide Policy defines scientific data 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.”

Accordingly, Plans should outline where, when, and how these resources will be shared.

The Data Management and Sharing Plan should also:

  1. Briefly describe the expected schedule for data sharing;
  2. State format of the final dataset;
  3. Provide documentation;
  4. Address if analytic tools also will be provided;
  5. Address if a data-sharing agreement will be required,
    • If so, provide a brief description of the agreement (including decision criteria); and
  6. Describe mode of data sharing.

Your Data Management and Sharing Plan should also be referenced in:

  • Budget, if costs are associated;
  • Budget Justification (no more than two paragraphs--this is the only part of the DMSP that reviewers will see);
  • Background and Significance (especially for large databases); and
  • Human Subjects (for confidentiality assurances)

Sharing methods should be specific to the type of data being produced and can include publishing, researcher efforts, a data enclave or archive, or a mix of these. If intellectual property is anticipated to be developed as a result of the proposed research, investigators should consider patent issues, potential proprietary information, and possible restrictions for privacy laws (HIPAA, etc.).

In all cases, protecting the rights and privacy of human subjects should be a top priority.

For a UCLA-specific template for utilizing Dryad, please contact GSU at GSU@mednet.ucla.edu.

Page limit: 2 pages

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