Data Management Plans: Data Management Overview

Data Management Plans (DMPs) are living documents that explain:

• the legislative, contractual, ethical and University policy requirements that you must adhere to in the management of your research data
• methods for data collection and quality assurance processes
• the format and volume of data that you will use or generate
• plans for where you will store your data during the project to keep it safe and secure
• processes for documenting your data during the project to ensure that your data can be understood by yourself and others
• plans for sharing your data at the end of your project
• where you will preserve your data after the end of your project, and the length of time that the data must be preserved.

The Digital Curation centre holds a range of example Data Management Plans for different funders, and some researchers have made their Data Management Plans publicly available through DMPOnline. 

The University of Bath Research Data Policy requires all new projects to have a Data Management Plan. Funders often have their own Data Management plan template (see UKRI Funder Requirements and Other Major Funder Requirements tabs) and many funders require a Data Management Plan to be submitted at the time of grant application. We provide extensive guidance on writing Data Management Plans for grant applications, and provide a Data Management Plan review service for plans required as part of grant applications. If your funder does not provide a Data Management Plan template you can use the University of Bath Data Management Plan Template. 

If you are a Doctoral Student you are required to submit a Data Management Plan at the time of confirmation. We provide a self-paced online training course on Writing a University of Bath Data Management Plan (requires University of Bath login) suitable for staff and students. We also provide a Doctoral Data Management Plan Template and guidance on reviewing Doctoral Data Management Plans for supervisors.

Writing a Data Management Plan at the start of your project can identify potential issues you may encounter during your project and ensure that you have a plan to address these before they result in delays during your project or at the point of publication. Data Management Plans are particularly useful if you are conducting collaborative research.