A Data Management Plan is a structured document that describes what research data is created, how it will be managed during and after the project and the different responsabilities. It enlists the set of actions that will be taken to produce, analyse, store, preserve and share the data generated when carrying out research.
A Data Management Plan accurately describes every step of your research, allowing you to reflect on the type of data you are going to create and share and how. A DMP is a living document, meaning it should be updated when changes are made. It is like a compass, guiding you and other researchers in your research project.
The European Commission has made DMPs mandatory for researchers who are awarded an EU research grant (MSCA, ERC, etc.). This enhances existing open science requirements applied throughout the programme. Writhing a DMP, however, should not be seen as a bureaucratic obligation, because writing a good DMP guarantees proper data management according to the FAIR principles and can be a truly useful guideline for your own benefit.Any research project has greater success if it is well-organised: managing research data and specific procedureswith a DMP can achieve this
The University of Milan’s DMP Template is inspired by the Horizon Europe template.
Planning your DMP
- Make a complete overview of all the e data which you will collect or create, along with methodologies and protocols.
- Consider data reuse carefully: data property is very important for research data management, that is why it should be considered from the start.
- Think about how you might want to share your research data in open access, and consider any possible restrictions that might need to be applied, following the ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’ principle.
USEFUL LINKS:
- DMP in pratice
- For research with human data
- Research with Sensitive data
- How to anonymise your data
- A useful DMP checklist
- Consult examples of DMPs
- Consult a guide
- ARGOS,a tool for writing DMPs
- Other useful tools for writing a DMP
Writing your DMP
If your funder has a DMP template, make sure to use the requested one. Otherwise, you can choose a preferred the template you prefer (such as UNIMI’s). Different DMP formats and templates exists, but they all have common content and share the same basic features summarized below:
1. Data description and collection or re-use of existing data
- How will new data be collected or produced and/or how will existing data be re-used (importantly, keep in mind disciplinary practices for data management in the SSH and in STEM/LS)?
- What data (for example the kinds, formats, and volumes) will be collected or produced?
- Who (for example role, position, and institution) will be responsible for data management (e.g. data steward, data manager, PI)?
2. Making your data FAIR
- Which resources will be dedicated to data management and making data FAIR?
- What metadata and contextual documentation (such as a readme file) will accompany the research data?
- Which instruments and methods are required for accessing re-using research data?
- How will is findability ensured?
3. Data quality
- What data quality control measures will be used?
- How will the integrity of the research data be guaranteed?
4. Data accessibility, security and preservation
- How will data security and protection of sensitive data be taken care of during the research? And how it will be (eventually) anonymised?
- How will data be kept safe during the research?
- How and when will data be shared? Are there possible restrictions to data sharing or embargo reasons? If yes, why?
- What will be the license associated to data?
- How will data for preservation be selected, and where will data be preserved long-term (e.g. a data repository)?
5. Legal and ethical aspects
- Are researchers compliant with national and international laws, do they have the necessary doumentation?
- Do researchers comply with ethical protocols, and can they demonstrate it?
If you have been awarded a funded grant and you are required to write a DMP, or simply want to write a DMP for your research project, get in touch. We can assit the writing and provide review. An annual training programme for first-year PhD students (and their supervisors) is also available. Contact us at dmp.phd@unimi.it for more information.