A Data Management Plan (DMP) is a document that sets out how you will organize, store, and share your research data throughout each stage of your research project. It is a living document that can be modified to accommodate changes over the course of your research. Establishing a DMP at the start of your research project can make the process of handling your data easier throughout the research lifecycle.
A growing number of funding agencies, including the Tri-Agencies of Canada, now require researchers to submit a DMP as part of their grant applications.
Why is a Data Management Plan important?
This short video From NYU Health Sciences Library demonstrates what can go wrong without a DMP.
UPDATE: The first round of funding opportunities subject to the Tri-Agency RDM Policy's DMP requirement has been released:
CIHR
NSERC
SSHRC
For help with DMPs, contact rdm@kpu.ca.
ICPSR's Framework for Creating a Data Management Plan offers a simple outline for recommended sections to include in a DMP, along with explanations and example text.
The Digital Curation Centre’s Checklist for a Data Management Plan provides a useful list of questions to consider when writing a DMP:
What data will you collect or create?
What type, format and volume of data?
DMP Assistant
DMP Assistant is a free online tool specifically for Canadian scholars to help them prepare DMPs that meet the data accessibility requirements for Tri-Agency funding. Developed by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, it follows best practices in data management and walks researchers step-by-step through key data management questions. A variety of templates and example DMPs are provided to guide researchers.
How to use DMP Assistant:
1. Create an account: https://dmp-pgd.ca/
*NEW: You can now select Kwantlen Polytechnic University as your Organization!
2. Log in. The page will open to your Dashboard, from which you can view your existing DMPs or create a new one.
3. Click the 'Create Plan' button on the Dashboard, and answer the initial questions (project title and primary research organization). Once you answer these, you will be given a list of DMP templates to choose from. The default "Portage Template" should meet typical data management requirements. [Note: KPU has not yet created a customized institutional template.]
4. Once the plan is created, answer the questions. Questions with a * are mandatory. Guidance is provided in a box to the right of each question. Note that there are multiple tabs: Project Details, Contributors, Plan Overview, Write Plan, Share, Download.
5. Export or print your plan as a PDF to submit to funders or add as an attachment in ROMEO.
6. Revise the plan throughout your research process as needed.
If you have any questions about using DMP Assistant or writing your DMP, contact rdm@kpu.ca.
Other DMP Creation Tools:
DMPTool: jointly developed by eight institutions in US in 2011. It provides detailed guidance and links to general and institutional resources and walks a researcher through the process of generating a comprehensive plan tailored to specific DMP requirements.
DMPonline: jointly developed by the Digital Curation Centre of UK and the University of California Curation Center. There are a number of templates within the tool based on the requirements of different funders and institutions. Guidance is provided to help researchers interpret and answer the questions.
All publicly available DMPs created with the California Digital Libraries' DMPTool.
Hundreds of publicly available DMPs created using the Digital Curation Centre's DMP Online tool.
DMP Template for the Social Sciences
This template was developed in the project e-infrastructures Austria-Plus, created by AUSSDA - The Austrian Social Sciences Data Archive and WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Many researchers make their DMPs public; however, it should be noted that they are not reviewed for quality or completeness.