This article provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to Element 6 of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy: Oversight of Data Management and Sharing.
Suggestions: Review the Overview of 2023 NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy for information on all areas and requirements for submitting an NIH DMS Plan with your grant application.
For example plans, see List of Sample Data Management and Sharing Plans.
Element 6: Oversight of Data Management and Sharing – Content
Requirement Examples Fill-in-the-Blank Template Additional Resources
Element 6: Requirement
Describe how compliance with this plan will be monitored and managed, frequency of oversight, and by whom at your institution (e.g., titles, roles).
In Element 6, researchers specify who will be responsible for compliance with the DMS Plan. In most cases, this will be the principal investigator (PI). Other information to include in this element:
- Other staff who will be involved in data management work. For example, a data manager, the co-investigator (Co-I) team, or a lab manager.
- When/how often all other lab staff will be trained to follow the DMS Plan – for example, as part of their onboarding to the project.
Do not include other campus offices (e.g., the library, grants management, sponsored programs) without first getting their permission.
Tip: The DMS Plan can be modified during the grant period through the prior approval module in eRA commons. See also: NOT-OD-23-185 for the NIH policy on revising a DMS Plan.
Element 6 Examples
Sample Plan Text
Lead PI Nabiel Mir, MD, ORCID: 0000-0003-0635-3985, will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of lab/team data management activities and data sharing. Broader issues of DMS Plan compliance oversight and reporting will be handled by the PI and Co-I team as part of general campus stewardship, reporting, and compliance processes. The compliance with the plan will be reviewed regularly by a designated Data Safety Monitoring Committee within the institution. The committee will evaluate adherence to the data management and sharing procedures outlined in the DMS Plan, assess the effectiveness of de-identification methods, and ensure that data sharing activities align with informed consent agreements. Any non-compliance issues identified will be addressed promptly, and corrective measures will be implemented as needed to ensure ongoing compliance with the DMS Plan.
Fill-in-the-Blank Template
Lead PI _________ [name], ORCID: __________ [ORCID iD], will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of lab/team data management activities and data sharing. Broader issues of DMS Plan compliance oversight and reporting will be handled by the ____________ [list team members] as part of general campus stewardship, reporting, and compliance processes.
Tip: Using the DMPTool
There are currently no specific formatting requirements included in the NIH DMS Application Guide. However, there is a helpful DMPTool, a free online wizard that walks you through the process of creating an NIH-compliant DMS Plan. The information in this article includes examples from DMPTool.
NIH Guide Notice: As outlined in the NIH Guide Notice Supplemental Policy Information: Elements of an NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan, DMS Plans should address six elements (areas): Data Type; Tools, Software, and Code; Data Standards; Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines; Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations; and Oversight of Data Management and Sharing, as described in the Application Guide. The NIH suggests that a DMS Plan be no more than two pages. The plan should be attached to the application as a PDF file, as outlined in the NIH’s Format Attachments page.
Additional Resources
Related Articles
- NIH DMS Policy Overview: This article includes an overview of the NIH DMS Policy and links to all other Element articles.
- Sample NIH Data Management and Sharing Plans: Examples of completed DMS Plans.
Sources
NIH Template Working Group*. (2023). DMPTool NIH-Default DMSP template, v9. In California Digital Library (Ed.), DMPTool [DMP authoring software]. Retrieved from https://dmptool.org/template_export/118304408.pdf
* More information on the NIH Template Working Group history and membership can be found at https://blog.dmptool.org/2022/08/18/supporting-the-upcoming-nih-data-sharing-requirements-with-the-dmptool/