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Library - Research Data Management (RDM): Data Management Plan

Data Management Plan

A data management plan (DMP) is a written document that describes the data you expect to acquire or generate during the course of a research project, how you will manage, describe, analyze, and store those data, and what mechanisms you will use at the end of your project to share and preserve your data.

DMPs form part of RDM (term that describes the organization, storage, preservation, and sharing of data collected and used in a research project)

 

Data Management Plan

Data Management Planning Tool

DMP Tool is an online tool for building a data management plan.
You will need to create an account on the site to use the step-by-step guide.

DMP Template

What should I document about my research data?

Depending on your type of data, you might need to document some or all of the items below. Keep in mind what is the sufficient information needed for others to be able to use your data, understand or replicate your work.

Research Project Documentation:

  • Rationale and context for data collection
  • Data collection methods
  • Structure and organization of data files
  • Data sources used
  • Strategies for data validation and quality assurance
  • Analytical steps and pipelines (if any) used to process data
  • Information on data confidentiality, access and use conditions

Dataset documentation:

  • Variable names and descriptions (for quantitative data)
  • Explanation of codes and classification schemes used
  • Algorithms used to transform data (including code)
  • File format (including version) for any software used