Data Management Plan Checklist

Here is a checklist to consider as you write your NSF Data Management Plan (generic):

1. Data Description: What data will be generated? How will you create the data? (simulated, observed, experimental, software, physical collections)
2. Existing Data: Will you be using existing data? Relationship between the data you are collecting and existing data.
   
3. Audience: Who will potentially use the data?
   
4. Access and Sharing: How will data files be shared? How will others access them?
   
5. Formats: What data formats will you be creating?
   
6. Metadata and Documentation: What documentation will you provide to describe the data? Metadata formats and standards?
   
7. Storage, backup, replication, versioning: Are the data files backed up regularly? Are there replicas in different locations? Are older versions of the data kept?
   
8. Security: Are the system and storage that will be used secure?
   
9. Budget: Any costs for preparing the data? Costs for storage and long-term access?
   
10. Privacy, Intellectual Property: Does the data contain private or confidential information? Any copyrights?
    
11. Archiving, Preservation, Long-term Access: What plans do you have to archive the data and other research products? Will it have long-term accessibility?
12. Adherence: How will you check for adherence of this plan?