Data management plan template

Enter your information beneath each heading. As you go through the different phases of your project your plan should be updated.

Depending on if your project is collecting new data or reusing data that already exists the template will ask you different questions.

The template follows the FAIR Principles from GO FAIR. The FAIR acronym stands for:

• Findability – is your data easy to find?
• Accessibility – can your data be accessed?
• Interoperability – does your data work with other systems?
• Reusability – is your data able to be used again in the future?

1. Background information

1.1. Responsibilities

• Who in your team is in charge of updating and maintaining the data management plan?

1.2. Data summary

• Why are you collecting or using existing data, and how does it support your project goals?
• What data do you need? For example, qualitative, quantitative, surveys, medical records, images, software or codes?

2. FAIR data principles

2.1. Making data findable

If you’re collecting new data:

• what metadata are you going to document and where will you store this?
• what is your plan for metadata publication?

If you’re reusing existing data:

• who is responsible for finding the data you need?
• what sources will they use to find data?

2.2. Making data open and accessible

The Open Data Institute’s data spectrum can help you understand what data you may and may not be able to share.

If you’re collecting new data:

• how will you make data available to others?
• if some data cannot be shared, explain why
• how will people access the data?
• will you include instructions on how to access and use the data?

If you’re reusing existing data:

• who is responsible for getting you access to existing data?
• who is responsible for giving you access from the data provider?

2.3. Making data interoperable (work with other systems and applications)

If you’re collecting new data:

• who is responsible for designing and maintaining data systems?
• what open standards will you apply to the data?
• how will you share the data to ensure interoperability with other systems both internally and externally?

If you’re reusing existing data:

• who is responsible for data ingestion (the process of collecting and importing data from different sources for storage, processing and analysis)?
• how will you conduct a quality assessment of your data sources?

2.4. Reusing the data

If you’re collecting new data:

• who else might benefit from your data?
• how long will others be able to use your data for?
• what metadata will you publish along with your data to give context to new users so they can best use the data?
• if you are publishing data will it be under the Open Government License?
• how will you communicate the quality and standards of the data?
• who is responsible for making ethical decisions about data sharing?

3. Resources needed

• Have you budgeted for data management in your project?

4. Ethics

• Have you completed a data ethics assessment in line with the Government Data Ethics framework?