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Research Data Management Plan

Advice on data sharing

3.1 Determining what data to share 

Assuming there are no conditions that prevent you from sharing data, consider sharing at least the following data:

  • Data necessary to understand your work and validate, replicate, or reproduce your findings
  • Unique data that cannot be easily or cheaply recreated, or data that are impossible to recreate
  • Data that are broadly useful in your discipline and beyond (e.g. social or environmental observations)
  • Data that are not otherwise available from public repositories, data centers, or archives

3.2 Dealing with multiple investigator, institution and sponsors 

If your research involves multiple investigators or teams, either domestic or international, your plan should describe how you will harmonize and synchronize data management and post-project data sharing. At a minimum, indicate who is responsible for data management and sharing.

If your research involves multiple funding sources or partnerships, your plan should describe how you will accommodate and balance the data management expectations of the different sponsors or partners.

3.3 If your work will not produce data 

In most cases, you have to submit a plan with every proposal, but it is acceptable to state that your project will not produce data. Here's a good example:

However, if you are working on a capacity-building project or educational program, explain how you will manage the products of that work. For example, if you record videos of a workshop, how will you manage and share them?