Assessing data management and sharing plans: The “state of play” at Duke and opportunities for cross-campus collaborations

Over the past few years, the United States has implemented a second round of data management policies, exemplified by the 2023 NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy and 2022 “Nelson Memo.” Effectively supporting public access to data and a data sharing culture at an academic research institution requires collaboration across various research support staff and central offices as well as knowledge of the current practices of researchers. Two research support groups at Duke University, the University Libraries (DUL) and the Office of Scientific Integrity (DOSI), have forged a strong working relationship for supporting data management and sharing practices, including an active Teams channel for communication, developing tools collaboratively, delivering trainings, and providing co-consults for data management. To more effectively understand “the state of play” at our institution, DUL and DOSI analyzed data management and sharing plans (DMSPs) submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2021. The project team used a modified version of the DART rubric (https://osf.io/qh6ad/) to score DMSPs against required elements in key areas, including types of data; standards for data and metadata; access, sharing, and preservation; limitations on access, distribution, and reuse; and roles and responsibilities. In this paper we will present the key findings from the DMSP assessment project and discuss how, as data management specialists, we can use this information to plan for ongoing education, training, and resource development using a cross-campus collaboration model.

Duke Scholars

Author Sophia Lafferty-Hess