STEM Education Data Management and Sharing Plan Guidance for Proposals and Awards

As described in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), the two-page Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) is a required supplementary document for any proposal submission to the U.S. National Science Foundation that will be considered under intellectual merit or broader impacts, or both, as appropriate.

Beyond the expectations for DMSPs in the PAPPG, below are additional details and guidance specific to investigators as they develop a proposal submitted to the NSF Directorate for STEM Education (EDU).

• DMSPs will be reviewed by panelists and EDU program directors and should be written with sufficient clarity and detail to support proposal processing and the merit review process. Generic DMSPs should be avoided.
• In 2022, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) required recipients of federal funding "to make publications and supporting data resulting from federally funded research publicly accessible without an embargo on their free and public release." Unless otherwise restricted by policy or regulation, EDU expects its awardees to provide access to data and products produced, and to share data and products as soon as possible.
  • "Access to data" refers to data made available without explicit request by a third party (e.g., data or products made available on a public website).
  • "Data sharing" refers to the release of data or products produced in response to a specific request from a third party. 
• Even if no data are expected to be produced, a DMSP document is required, which can state that no data will be produced in the project, along with an appropriate justification.
• DMSPs should be consistent with the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship.
• DMSPs should reflect best practices and standards for the types of data being generated.
• Each DMSP should describe data, data formats, metadata, samples, documentation, publications, other products (e.g., software, curricula, media, test scores, survey responses, images, data tables, video or audio data, exhibit materials) and dissemination approaches that will be used to make data and metadata available to others.
• As appropriate, DMSPs should be considered in the overall context concerning human subjects' protections (i.e., internal review board criteria) and other ethical requirements for data access and sharing with additional protections for privacy, confidentiality, data security, and intellectual property.
• EDU expects its awardees to describe how data and related materials are generated to allow others to reproduce the research study. Further, the DMSP should support the principal investigator's (PI's) ability to share data, products, and methods in such a way that others can understand, validate, and replicate research findings while protecting the confidentiality of participant information.
• EDU proposals often involve the collaboration of investigators and participants from many communities. Therefore, DMSPs submitted to EDU should be appropriate to the data being generated and reflect the procedures, standards and best practices developed by the communities of practice in the proposed area of research. PIs may also consider developing best practices regarding the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility and ethics).
• DMSPs should outline:
  • The types of data or products that will be generated.
  • What data formats will be used (e.g., XML files, websites, image files, data tables, software code, text documents or physical materials).
  • How data are to be stored, accessed, preserved and shared.
  • A description of the physical and cyber resources and facilities that will be used for the effective preservation and storage of research data.
  • How long access to data and products and sharing of data or products will be maintained after the life of the project, and how any associated costs will be covered and by whom.
  • If data or products are to be preserved by a third party, a description of the third party's preservation plans, if available.
  • Any guidelines for re-use, re-distribution or production of derivatives.
  • Any restrictions on data or product storage, access, preservation or sharing.
  • The roles and responsibilities of all parties with respect to the management of data. 
  • If appropriate, how data is to be shared and managed with partners, center members and other major stakeholders.
  • Provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, human subjects' protections or other rights or requirements.
  • If data cannot be made publicly accessible, justifications for exemptions, when warranted, should be provided.

Costs associated with implementing the DMSP for the duration of the award, including personnel costs, are allowable expenses. If applicable, these costs should be added to the respective budget sections and justified in the budget narrative.

EDU program directors monitor DMSP implementation through the annual and final research performance progress reports (RPPR), where the Products section should be used to report progress made in the management and sharing of data. The following information should be included in all project reporting (as applicable), along with any other specific activities described in the project's DMSP:

• The data produced during the reporting period.
• How the data were disseminated.
• Where the data generated by the project were deposited and stored for long-term public access.
• The standards that were used to make the data available to others, including format and metadata.
• Unique, resolvable and persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers [DOIs]; uniform resource locators (URLs) or similar) for each publicly released product referenced in the report.

Any changes from the original DMSP should be discussed with the managing EDU program director and should be reported in the Changes/Problems section of the annual or final RPPR.

Investigators developing a proposal submitted to EDU are encouraged to complete the following (as in the future, the following will be required): 

• Report on DMSP activities in subsequent proposals under "Results of prior NSF support." For guidance, review the current version of the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. 
• Include all products that are specifically mentioned in the "Results from Prior NSF Support" section in the References Cited section with unique, resolvable, and persistent identifiers (such as DOIs, URLs or similar).
• Where appropriate, investigators are encouraged to include evidence of deposition of products from prior NSF support in recognized, accessible, community-accepted repositories by listing such repositories and, if practical, metadata. 

NSF is aware of the need to provide flexibility in the assessment of DMSPs. In developing a plan, researchers may wish to consult with university or institutional officials, professional associations or other resources for guidance. 

Additionally, please check individual funding opportunities for any unique requirements for DMSPs. Please contact an EDU program officer if you have any questions related to a DMSP in response to a particular program or solicitation.