National Institutes of Health: Proposal Requirement Update

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will implement a new Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy for all grant applications submitted on or after Jan. 25, 2023.

What is the Data Management and Sharing Policy?

Through the DMS policy, NIH will “promote the management and sharing of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research.”

To accelerate and improve biomedical research and discovery, NIH would like to make the practice of data sharing cultural, which will enable the validation of results, provide access to datasets and promote data reuse.

The 2023 Data Management and Sharing Policy requires the submission of a DMS plan and compliance upon award through its project period.

How does the proposal requirement change?

Any research proposal, which is conducted in whole or in part with NIH funding, resulting in scientific data will require a DMS plan. The DMS plan is limited to two pages.

The DMS plan should include the following:

• Data type
• Related tools, software, and/or code
• Standards
• Data preservation, access, and timelines
• Access, distribution, and/or reuse considerations

For more information, please refer to NIH Writing a Data Management Sharing Plan.

The 2023 DMS Policy allows for budgeting of data management and sharing costs at the proposal development stage but must be incurred during the performance period. DMS costs should be identified and appropriately justified in the budget as DMS costs. This will be described in a detailed budget on a separate line. For modular budgets, this will be described in the Additional Narrative Justification.

Allowable costs can include:

• Curating data and developing supporting documentation
• Local data management
• Established repositories

Unallowable costs include:

• Infrastructure costs normally included in institutional overhead
• Routine research costs
• Costs incurred beyond the performance period

For additional information, please see NIH Budgeting for Data Management and Sharing.

How will this be monitored?

Should a submitted proposal be funded, the DMS plan will become part of the Terms and Conditions of award acceptance. Continued funding is contingent upon compliance with the approved DMS plan. Failure to comply may result in changes to the terms and conditions of the award and could also affect future funding decisions.

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More

• NIH Scientific Data Sharing Website
• YouTube: Understanding the New NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy Webinar Series Part 1
• NIH: Data Management and Sharing Plan vs. Resource Sharing Plan
• Diving Deeper into the New NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy Webinar Series Part 2
• NIH: 12 Days of Data Management and Sharing Tips & Resources
• NIH Scientific Data Sharing: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Data Management Tool
• Video: Open Ideas Exchange, NIH Data Sharing Plan