The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced a policy update requiring all grant applicants to submit a data management and sharing plan (DMSP) with their applications, aligning with subsequent guidance from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released in late August 2022, ensuring free, immediate and equitable access to federally funded scientific research and data. As a result, beginning Jan. 25, 2023, all grant applicants seeking NIH funding will be required to submit a DMSP, not just those valued at $500K or more as was previously required.

Now, all applicants need to submit a brief plan of when and how data would be managed and shared in a maximum two-page summary. Among other details, the plan should include how they will link to data sets, along with explanations of how the data will be accessed, metadata standards, and planned distribution approaches. Current grantees aren’t required to resubmit under the new requirements. However, competitive re-submissions will be held to the new requirement. Further, the policy strongly encourages the use of established repositories and grant applications can include data management personnel and repository storage costs. Read the NIH guidance on selecting a repository.

Visit our Author Services pages to learn more details about the NIH DMSP requirement with user-friendly information and tools compiled by Taylor & Francis. Find out more about the policy update on the NIH website.