All proposals or project plans submitted to NASA for scientific research funding will be
required to include a Data Management Plan (DMP) that describes whether and how
data generated through the course3 of the proposed research will be shared and
preserved (including timeframe), or explains why data sharing and/or preservation are
not possible or scientifically appropriate At a minimum, DMPs must describe how data
sharing and preservation will enable validation of published results, or how such results
could be validated if data are not shared or preserved.
DMPs must provide a plan for making research data that underlie the results and
findings in peer‐reviewed publications digitally accessible at the time of publication or
within a reasonable time period4 after publication. This includes data (or how to access
data) that are displayed in charts and figures. This does not include preliminary data,
laboratory notebooks, drafts of scientific papers, plans for research, peer review
reports, communications with colleagues or physical objects, such as laboratory
specimens. This requirement could be met by including the data as supplementary
information to the published article, through NASA archives, or other means. The
published article should indicate how these data can be accessed.
DMPs will be reviewed as part of the overall NASA research proposal/project plan
review process.
NASA program managers will provide guidance to proposers and awardees, as well as
monitor compliance with DMPs.
The November 2014 plan proposes to expand NASA's existing data management planning
policies, as defined in the Procedural
Requirements (NPR) 7120.8 document. The new policy states, in part:
DMPs will describe how
the proposed research plan conforms to NASA policy on the dissemination and sharing of
research results and will address:
the types of data to be produced in the course of the project;
the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content;
policies for accessing and sharing the data, including provisions
for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security,
intellectual property, and other rights or requirements;
policies and provisions for re-use, re-distribution, and the production of derivatives;
plans for providing access to the data used in any science publication; and
plans for archiving and preserving of the data, as appropriate (use of
existing databases or public repositories will be strongly encouraged),
including how long the data will be preserved and accessible.
Unidata has a sample Data Management Plan for an NASA proposal here.