The National Institutes of Health has developed an updated Data Management and Sharing Policy to promote the sharing of scientific data [1]. This policy goes into effect on January 25, 2023 and requires all applicable research funded by the NIH to include a two-page "Data Management and Sharing Plan" that describes how the scientific data will be managed and shared. In reference to this policy the NIH wrote, “Sharing scientific data accelerates biomedical research discovery, in part, by enabling validation of research results, providing accessibility to high-value datasets, and promoting data reuse for future research studies.” [2]
The National Center for Data Services (NCDS) has been providing free educational sessions to librarians across the country to help them prepare for this policy at their institutions. Our past webinars on the NIH policy are available as an on-demand class series [3], and we will be holding 6-hour immersion workshops in December 2022 to introduce librarians to the policy components. To further assist with policy compliance, we have compiled the NNLM Toolkit for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, which includes resources for understanding and complying with the policy [4].
This toolkit addresses the major areas where libraries can assist their institutions and researchers with the NIH policy. Among other things, it includes a policy readiness checklist for librarians, guides for writing and reviewing data management plans, information on data sharing requirements and available repositories, and relevant classes that librarians can take at their own pace.
Many of the resources we listed in this toolkit were developed by the NIH DMSP Guidance Working Group, which is a team of information professionals working to collect and create implementation guidance for the NIH policy. Their goal is to help libraries, librarians, researchers, and research support staff prepare for policy compliance. Their work can be found directly at osf.io/uadxr, where anyone can download materials and see updated releases from the group [5]. The NIH DMSP Guidance Working Group encourages everyone to use and adapt these materials but asks that if you draw from them that you credit the group and include a link to the group’s OSF page.
As libraries prepare for this major shift in the data sharing landscape, we hope that this toolkit, as well as other NCDS programming, will provide guidance and support. We welcome input from the community on these resources, as well as suggestions for additional ways we can support libraries on data services topics. Feel free to reach out to us at ncds@nnlm.gov.
Download the Toolkit
References
- National Institutes of Health. Data Management & Sharing Policy Overview [Internet]. National Institutes of Health; 2022 [cited 21 Nov 2022]. https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/about-data-management-and-sharing-policies/data-management-and-sharing-policy-overview
- Ibid.
- National Center for Data Services. Data Management Sharing Policy Webinars (DMSP) On Demand. National Institutes of Health Network of the National Library of Medicine; 2022 [cited 21 Nov 2022]. https://www.nnlm.gov/training/class/data-management-sharing-policy-webinars-dmsp-demand
- National Center for Data Services. NNLM Toolkit for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy. National Institutes of Health Network of the National Library of Medicine; 2022 [cited 21 Nov 2022]. https://www.nnlm.gov/guides/nnlm-toolkit-nih-data-management-and-sharing-policy
- Working Group on NIH DMSP Guidance. OSF.io. 2022 [cited 21 Nov 2022]. https://osf.io/uadxr/
