Proper data management is usually underpinned by providing data management plans (DMPs) for research projects. A DMP defines what happens during and after a project with regards to data including information about origin, collection process, access restrictions, citability, long-term availability or deletion. In addition, responsibilities for data handling are defined. Increasinlgy, more and more funding organizations demand DMPs for grant applications such as:

FWF (mandatory after grant approval)

FFG (mandatory)

HORIZON Europe (mandatory)

ERC (mandatory)

Check the latest guidelines on Forschungsdaten.info and OpenAire

A data management plan consumes resources in its creation and offers many advantages at the same time.
A data management plan:

• creates a firm basis for a uniform handling of data in the research process
• facilitates the understanding of your own data
• facilitates the coordination between project partners
• helps to identify potential problems at an early stage and to outline solutions for them
• defines responsibilities
• regulates access rights
• helps to avoid data duplication, data loss and security loopholes
• can be (sometimes obligatory) part of a grant application

A useful initial consideration and argument for a data management plan is to think backwards, i.e. where and how should the data be archived or published? These considerations make it necessary to set the course in the data management workflow early on, e.g. with regard to formats, standards, metadata, licenses, etc.¹

¹Biernacka et al., “Train-the-Trainer Concept on Research Data Management”, FDMentor, 2020, Accessed on: 4.3.2021, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4071471

The following online tools can be used for creating DMPs:

Institutional tool

• TU Graz DMP Tool

External tools

• DMPonline
• Data Stewardship Wizard
• gfbio
• RDMO

Also, many funding agencies require a cost calculation for data management in the project application (e.g. personnel, infrastructure, training). The University of Utrecht and the UK Data Service offer tools for estimating the costs of data management.