Before the start of the trial or study, all interested or responsible parties must sign and approve the DMP. This document is intended to serve as a guide or a suggestive template for preparing a DMP. A data management plan, or DMP, is a formal document that describes what you will do with your data during and after a research project. Many funding agencies, especially government funding sources, require a DMP as part of their application processes.
Even if you're not seeking funding for your research, documenting a plan for your data is good practice and will help your data comply with Harvard's policies for responsible data management. A data management plan (DMP) describes the data that will be acquired or produced during the research; how the data will be managed, described and stored, what standards will be used and how the data will be managed and protected during and after the completion of the project. Add content to complement a DMP template provided by a funding source if that template doesn't allow you to fully describe your project, data assets and products, as well as the investments needed for any software (developed or purchased) and any hardware needed to support research. Write DMP content that describes the acquisition, processing, analysis, preservation, publication, and exchange of data (public access) of project products, as described in the USGS scientific data lifecycle.
Identify any confidential or confidential data from the DMP before the acquisition or collection of data to legally justify the need to hide them from public access if necessary. The Great Lakes Science Center and the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) are two examples of centers that conceptualize project documentation as a package, where a project folder includes many documents and forms that describe the project and the data. Ensure that the DMP content contains a level of detail that allows stakeholders (funders, project staff, and repository administrators) to understand the reality of project activities. Funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have established specific criteria for what should be included in a data management plan.
To help standardize or provide guidance on DMPs, a scientific center or funding source may choose to document their own data management strategy. If you want help completing a data management plan for a grant proposal, schedule an individual consultation. Understanding the life cycle of USGS scientific data will help you develop the content of the DMP; however, your funding source or science center can also provide you with specific guidance. The DMP, which is considered part of a formally agreed project work plan, legally establishes who is responsible for providing free public access to data and what data is exclusive property if used by the USGS.
Data managers and communication teams can use information to ensure that data preservation and exchange activities are carried out properly. SM 502.6 requires that the project work plan (SM 502), for each research project funded or managed by the USGS, must include a data management plan before the start of the project. In addition, the author uses a DMP to capture and record relevant information in a timely manner that can be used later for other requirements, such as metadata. Automated workflows help streamline the review and approval process, as well as facilitate records management.
