Library Subject Guides
The data policies of individual funders specify how grant-holders must manage research data. You should therefore read your funder's data policy and any guidance provided to ensure you can meet your obligations.
"Publicly funded research data are a public good and produced in the public interest. They should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner." - Common principles on research data
UK Research and Innovation (URKI) has agreed a set of Common principles on research data and is a signatory of the Concordat on open research data.
UKRI provides guidance on best practice in the management of research data, including recovering research data management costs within grant funding.
All seven Research Councils support the common principles but each has specific requirements for data management plans and the sharing of research data.
The sections below give a summary of data policy requirements from major research funders.
The AHRC do not have their own data policy, and instead share the UKRI Common principles on research data.
Data management plans
Applicants are required to submit a data management plan (but not for Research Networking).
Plans will be revisited each year during the award and for as long as is required.
Data sharing
Research data should be shared for a minimum of three years from the end of project funding.
Data access statements
Published results must include a statement, providing information on how to access the supporting data.
AHRC guidance
Data management plans
Data management plans must be submitted at the grant application stage.
Data sharing
Research data will be released at the time of publication of the main findings, and no later than three years after its generation.
Research data should be shared via an appropriate, established repository for at least 10 years.
Data access statements
Published results must include a statement, providing information on how to access the supporting data.
BBSRC guidance
Data management plans
Data management and sharing plans are required by grant applicants planning to generate data (but not for studentship funding).
Data sharing
Research data must be deposited within three months of the end of the grant. The UK Data Service is the approved data repository for ESRC-funded research.
In general, research data that support published research findings will be findable and accessible at the time of publication of the findings.
ESRC grant holders will seek to secure appropriate informed consent for data sharing or alternatively anonymise the data or discuss secure access mechanisms in order to make sharing possible for data obtained from human participants.
Data access statements
Published results will always include information on how to access supporting data and/or associated metadata.
ESRC guidance
The UK Data Service is responsible for providing guidance, advice and training to ESRC grant holders on implementing good data management and sharing practices at the outset of a project.
Data management plans
Data management plans are not required with grant applications. However, project-specific plans should be in place.
Data sharing
Research data should be stored in repositories guaranteeing safe storage, for at least 10 years.
Metadata will be published within 12 months of data being generated, enabling others to understand what research data exists, why, when and how it was generated, and how to access it.
Data access statements
Published results must include a statement, providing information on how and on what terms the supporting data may be accessed. Statements must include a DOI or another persistent identifier that points to the data or to a metadata record.
To meet the EPSRC expectations a dataset record in PURE is required for all archived/deposited research data.
Data management plans
Full funding proposals and funding reviews should include a data management plan.
Data sharing
Research data must be made available with as few restrictions as possible and shared in a timely and responsible manner, and in line with relevant legal, policy and ethical standards, including when operating internationally.
Data access statements
Peer-reviewed publications must include a data access statement, providing sufficient information on how to access the supporting data.
MRC guidance
In the MRC's DMP template you are asked to note any related policies. University of York policies for DMPs [Google Doc] provides an example answer for you to adapt and use in MRC (or other) grant applications as appropriate.
Data management plans
Applications for NERC funding must include an outline data management plan. In conjunction with a relevant NERC data centre, a fuller plan must be provided within three months of the project’s start date.
Data sharing
All environmental data of long-term value, generated through NERC-funded activities, must be submitted to a NERC data centre. Data should be deposited as soon after the end of data collection as is possible.
Data access statements
All research publications acknowledging NERC funding must include a statement on how the supporting data and any other relevant research materials can be accessed.
NERC guidance
Data management plans
Proposals must include a data management plan, or an attachment explaining why a data management plan is not relevant. STFC encourages applicants to follow the guidance provided by the Digital Curation Centre.
Data sharing
Research data should be deposited in an appropriate repository “chosen to maximise the scientific value from aggregation of related data."
Data underpinning published findings will be available within six months of the output’s publication.
Data access statements
Published results must include a statement, providing information on how to access the supporting data.
STFC guidance
Other funders - international, societies, charities and foundations - have published requirements for research data management and data sharing.
If your funder isn't included here, you can check for data management and open access policy requirements of funders through the Sherpa Services database.
Data management plans
Applicants are required to submit data management and sharing plans as part of funding applications.
CRUK will not provide funds for data sharing.
Data sharing
Research data will be released no later than the acceptance for publication of the main findings (exceptions apply). Research data is expected to be shared for a minimum of five years from the end of a research grant.
CRUK outlines accepted methods for data sharing and information on the use of data sharing agreements as a means of managing access to data.
CRUK guidance:
Data management plans
Data management plans are required within the first six months of the project. As a minimum, updated versions of plans should be delivered by the mid-term and final review.
"Costs associated with open access to research data, can be claimed as eligible costs of any Horizon 2020 Grant."
Data sharing
Research data needed to validate published research findings must be deposited in an online repository as soon as possible. Projects will also provide information about the tools and instruments necessary for validating the results.
Zenodo is identified as a facility for depositing data and publications in the same place, along with re3data.org to help identify a suitable data repository.
Data access statements
Open Access guidelines recommend authors to provide links between publications and underlying data, and to achieve this through the use of persistent identifiers (e.g. DOis) and data citations in publications.
European Commission H2020 guidance:
Data management plans
Data management plans are required for all projects generating or reusing data, and should be updated regularly. An outline of how data will be managed is required with proposals.
Costs for making data open access are eligible and should be budgeted in the proposal.
Data sharing
Research data must be deposited as soon as possible and no later than the end of the project. Research data underpinning published findings should be deposited no later than at the time of publication.
Research data should be deposited in a trusted data repository or if required in the call conditions, in a repository federated in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
Data access statements
Open Research Europe, an open access publishing platform for European Commission-funded researchers, requires that all articles must include a data availability statement. A statement that data is available upon request from the author is not permitted.
European Commission Horizon Europe guidance
Data management plans
For in-scope research studies, a data management and access plan must be completed during the start-up of research. Plans will be published on the NIHR Funding and Awards website. NIHR will monitor the submission and implementation of plans.
No explicit guidance is provided on funding data management costs.
Data sharing
The release of data is subject to a data use agreement between the organisation contracted to perform the research and the party requesting the data.
Where research data is deposited in a data repository or archive, a DOI/URL for the dataset should be supplied for display alongside the published report on the NIHR Journals Library website.
Data access statements
Data sharing statements, describing how to access the underpinning research data, must be included when publishing research findings.
The acknowledgements section of the final report must include a statement on data sharing and accessibility.
NIHR guidance
Data management plans
Applicants who expect to produce data of significant value to the research community must submit an outline data management and sharing plan at the grant application stage (for most schemes). Check each scheme's guidance notes for information on the expected content of plans.
The costs of data management, infrastructure or sharing are not explicitly addressed.
Data sharing
To ensure that data is accessible, assessable, useable and traceable, datasets should be deposited in an appropriate and openly available repository. Where appropriate, research data will be made openly available within a reasonable timeframe and with as few restrictions as possible.
The cost of depositing research data with Dryad will be covered for all Royal Society science journals.
Data access statements
Data access statements can be used to fulfill the requirement for data underlying a publication to be traceable.
Royal Society guidance
Data management plans
An outputs management plan is required by applicants if the proposed research will create data, software or materials with significant value for others in academia or industry. Plans are assessed for their appropriateness and adequacy as part of the application process.
Any justified costs for delivering the plan are recoverable within grant funding.
Data sharing
As a minimum, data and software underpinning published research findings should be made available from the time of publication. Data related to public health emergencies must be shared as rapidly and openly as possible.
Research data should be deposited in recognised subject-specific repositories, where these exist. Data should be held by the repository for a minimum of ten years, or 20 years for research based on clinical samples or relating to public health.
Data access statements
Research articles acknowledging Wellcome funding must include a statement explaining how any data, original software or materials underpinning the research can be accessed.
Wellcome Trust guidance
DMPonline, a web-based tool provided by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), can help you create an effective data management plan that meets the requirements set by your funder.
To get started, first create an account, then sign in with your institutional credentials. After signing in, click on ‘Create a plan’ and select your funder from the list of suggestions. For additional guidance in completing your DMP, choose to see guidance from the University of York and from the DCC in the template provided. Click on the 'Request feedback' button if you want the Open Research team to review your draft plan and provide feedback on it.
View our DMPonline user guide [Google Doc] for guidance on using the tool.
DMPonline makes available public DMPs, plans created in the tool with visibility set to public.
Digital Curation Centre provides example plans organised by research funders.
University of Bristol provides detailed planning guides for researchers applying to major funders.
In the MRC's DMP template you are asked to note any related policies. University of York policies for DMPs [Google Doc] provides an example answer for you to adapt and use in MRC (or other) grant applications as appropriate.