Data Management Plans in bioscience research

Why is data management planning important?

Data Management Plans (DMPs) are a required part of funding applications to UKRI and other major funders. They outline how data will be collected, documented, shared, stored, and preserved — aligning with the FAIR principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
Yet DMPs often fall into a “set and forget” mindset. ELIXIR-UK and the wider ELIXIR consortium are working to change this by promoting DMPs as living, machine-actionable documents that support the project or data throughout its lifecycle.
Templates
Examples
Case studies
Videos
Guidance
Acknowledgements

Custom DMP templates using the Data Stewardship Wizard

Through work supported by the UKRI-funded BioFAIR digital research infrastructure, ELIXIR-UK is developing and promoting UK-specific templates in the Data Stewardship Wizard (DSW) – an ELIXIR-recommended interoperability resource and a Horizon Europe-recommended resource for DMP creation.

These templates reflect the requirements of UK funders, such as BBSRC and MRC, and allow institutions to:

  • Adopt headings of common DMP templates from funders 
  • Add sections for specific data types or policies
  • Provide reusable boilerplate text to ensure consistent wording
  • Link their DMPs to community standards, databases and policies via DSW’s link to FAIRsharing.

17 DMP Examples

Using the templates created in the DSW

Written and reviewed by data stewards at:

  • Oxford Brookes University
  • Cardiff University
  • University of Manchester
  • University of Birmingham
  • University of Edinburgh
  • Rothamsted Research

Browse examples

They cover diverse data types and organisms, using a template aligned with the BBSRC Data Sharing Policy. All are hosted on the UK national DSW instance and available on Zenodo.  

Two versions of each DMP exist:

  1. A longer version uses a template built from the BBSRC template, enabling a greater depth of granularity over a longer word count
  2. A concise, summarised version with a 500-word limit is based on page 7 of the BBSRC data sharing policy
ChIPseq RNAseq

Exploring the transcriptional program that instructs remodelling of the branchial arches (BA) in the heart

Munazah Andrabi

The University of Manchester

Case studies

DSW and DMPs in action

Learn more about DSW

RDMbites

Quick videos on how to write DMPs

Created by ELIXIR-UK Fellows as part of the ELIXIR-UK DaSH project, these short videos reflect real-world experience and provide practical guidance on writing and reviewing DMPs. They are a direct ELIXIR-UK output.

Things to consider when writing a DMP

Description of the Data

Data collection / generation

Data management, documentation, and curation

Data sharing and access

Data security

Other sections

Responsibilities and policies

RDMkit: the biosciences FAIR data management toolkit

To support better data practices for researchers, data managers and data stewards.

Learn more:

Community-led

A centralised, community-curated guide to FAIR data management

Practical & domain-specific

Advice and a catalogue of tools and resources, including guidance on managing DMPs.

UK led

Maintained by the ELIXIR community and co-created and co-led by ELIXIR-UK members.

Supported by

  • A logo of BioFAIR, conceived by ELIXIR-UK
    BioFAIR
  • ELIXIR-UK DaSH

This work is part of the UKRI Innovation Scholars – DaSH programme (MR/V038966/1) and BioFAIR.  

Contributors

Allyson Lister, Gabriela Vieira, Korneel Hens, Liz Merrifield, Marek Suchánek, Mo Aboshokor, Munazah Andrabi, Nick Owen, Reuben Noy-Scott, Richard Ostler, Robert Andrews, Vasileios Panagiotis Lenis, Jamie McQueen.  We also acknowledge UKCEH for the discussions on DSW implementation.

How do we contribute as a Node

ELIXIR-UK supports the development and adoption of FAIR-aligned data management practices through:

  1. Content creation and curation: Contributing to RDMkit guidance around DMPs and specific UK-related data policies. 
  2. Tool adoption: Supporting the deployment of the Data Stewardship Wizard (DSW) across UK institutions through templates, training and configuration support with practical examples.
  3. Training and community engagement: Producing RDMbites and case studies via our Fellowship programme, highlighting real-world applications of DMP tools.
  4. Advocacy and integration: Promoting machine-actionable DMPs and aligning UK practices with international standards through ELIXIR collaborations.