Data-Intensive Research: Planning for Data Management

What is a data management plan?

A data managent plan is a document which outlines how a researcher plans to work with their data both during and after a research project. This includes how data will be organized, maintained, and shared.

Why should you care about data management?

A DMP can help you think through your research workflow and account for forseeable barriers that may impact how you work with your data. It's also important for your work to be reproducible; well-managed data and research artifacts (like code and software) will help make your work reproducible. Also, many funding agencies are starting to require researchers to submit a formal DMP when applying for grants. The National Institutes of Health have instituted their own data sharing plan requirements that can be supplemented with data management plans.

• Research Data Management Services Group General Guide Guidance document produced by Cornell University's Research Data Management Services Group outlining general data management planning that is not specific to any particular funding agency.
• Applied Bioinformatics Core Help with data management for next-generation sequencing applications
• DataOne Primer on Data Management An introductory guide to what "you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)" about data management.
• DMPTool This web interface allows you to login using your CWID and password to create a custom data management plan based on the guidelines required by specific funding agencies.
• Guidelines for Responsible Data Management in Scientific Research Guidelines outlined and funded by the Office of Research Integrity, US Department of Health and Human Services

• WCMC Institutional Research Data Retention and Access Policy
• NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy Details about the NIH data sharing policy
• NIH Sharing Policies by Institute Full list of NIH policies by institute
• NIH Grant Data Sharing Workbook  This workbook shows how investigators working in a variety of scientific areas have shared their data. 
• NIH Data Sharing FAQ Frequently asked questions regarding the NIH Data Sharing Requirements
• NSF Data Guidelines Specific guidelines for grant applications through the NSF

The following links are located in every tab of this guide in the right-hand column for your convenience.

• DMP Tool Creating data management plans
• Research Data Management Services Group Resources and services at Cornell for data management
• REDCap HIPAA compliant data collection 
• Architecture for Research Computing in Health (ARCH) Secondary use of EHR data
• WCM Data Core Secure, scalable computing and storage environment
• WCM Applied Bioinformatics Core Computational resources, data lifecycle management and bioinformatics consulting 

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