Meet NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

As of Jan. 25, 2023, the NIH requires all researchers seeking grant funds that result in the generation of scientific data to submit a two-page Data Management and Sharing plan outlining how their scientific data and accompanying documentation will be managed and shared. The goal of this policy is to maximize the appropriate sharing of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research.

This policy applies to all research funded (in whole or in part) by the NIH that generates scientific data, including:

  • Extramural grants
  • Contracts
  • Intramural research projects
  • All other NIH funding mechanisms

Any funding that does not generate scientific data (i.e. training (T) or fellowship grants (F)), are excluded from this policy. More information about research covered under this policy can be found here.

The NIH DMS policy wants to maximize the appropriate sharing of scientific data, which is defined as data commonly accepted in the scientific community as being of sufficient quality to validate and replicate the research findings. More information on what data needs to be shared can be found here. For large datasets, speak with your NIH program officer regarding what data actually needs to be shared.

UCSF has the following services available to help you create a data sharing plan.

Services

  1. Building your Data Management and Sharing plan - UCSF Library: Resources to help you build a DMS plan and prepare for data sharing, features:
    1. DMS plan templates, including a generic template and ones tailored for basic sciences, clinical trials, and social sciences
    2. Sample DMS plans from the NIH and UCSF.
    3. UCSF Budget guidance detailing the data management and sharing costs, including repository and de-identification costs, you can include in your NIH budget requests.
    4. Guidance on sharing de-identified data. Details on how to balance this NIH data sharing requirement with UCSF data security requirements on this linked guide.
  2. Repositories: The NIH prefers scientific data to be shared and preserved through repositories. There may be specific repositories named in the funding announcement or specific to your discipline for you to use. UCSF recommends controlled access repositories for all de-identified human subjects data. 
    1. Vivli: Vivli is a controlled-access clinical trial data repository. As an institutional member of Vivli, UCSF researchers can deposit data for free and access data de-identification services.
    2. Dryad: UCSF has partnered with Dryad, an open source repository that is free for all UCSF faculty, staff, students and is ideal for basic science and non human data. If you do not need to use a specific repository, then Dryad is available and you can upload up to 300GB of research data. 
  3. NIH 2023 Data Sharing Policy FAQs: The NIH website can answer many questions regarding this policy, including what data should be shared, when, for how long, etc. 

Directions

  1. Visit the UCSF Library page "NIH 2023 Data Management and Sharing Policy" to learn about all the resources available to you.
  2. Follow the steps here to plan for sharing de-identified data while meeting UCSF requirements. 

Support

Visit the NIH 2023 Data Sharing Policy FAQs for further questions.

You can reach out to, or schedule a consultation with, the UCSF Library's Data Management Team for further support.