A data management plan helps you track your data
Writing a data management plan helps you to structure management of your research data. If your research involves multiple participants, the DMP is also a practical way to communicate workflow, role assignment, data ownership, and synchronised data processing. You can use the information classification and the risk and vulnerability analysis as a basis for some parts of the data management plan.
Read more about data management plans at Researchdata.se
You are recommended to draw up a data management plan
Many major research funding bodies require the project instigator (PI) to write a data management plan for a funded project. Even if there are no requirements from your funding body, it is recommended that researchers at Umeå University write a data management plan. As a doctoral student, you should develop a data management plan together with your supervisors when you write your research plan.
Create your data management plan using DMPOnline
In the DMPonline tool, you can easily create a data management plan and revise it regularly to create different versions as needed. You can share the plan with others and choose whether it should be available publicly.
Templates in DMPonline
DMPonline contains ready-made templates from various funding bodies and other organisations to base your work on, such as the Swedish Research Council and the European Commission.
Umeå University has developed a template based on the recommendations from Science Europe, which the Swedish Research Council and Formas have also adopted. The University’s data management plan template is available in the following versions:
- an open-ended template (Swedish and English);
- a question-based template (Swedish and English); and
- a question-based template adapted for the Chemical Biological Centre (KBC) (English).
The open-ended version has all the questions, while the question-based version adapts the questions to your answers and provides suggestions on how you can answer them.
Log into DMPOnline and create a plan
Log into DMPonline with your UMU ID and password. The first time you log in, you will need to create a user account. After logging in, you will be taken to your dashboard where you can see your existing data management plans.
To create a plan based on Umeå University’s data management plan template:
- Choose “Create a new plan”.
- Enter the project title and choose whether it should be a mock project.
- Keep Umeå University as the primary research organisation.
- Tick the box for no funding body to access the templates from Umeå University (alternatively search for a funding body in the search field if you want to use a different template).
- Select which template for data management plans that you would like to use.
Update existing plans
A data management plan is a dynamic document that you may need to update during the research process, for example based on changes to staff, research methods or legislation. It is therefore a good idea to review the data management plan regularly. If you have EU funding, you also need to submit updated versions of your data management plan.
Your data management plan must be archived
The data management plan is complete when there are one or more publications to link to the data described in the plan or when the researcher believes that the purpose of the collected information has been achieved. You should then archive the data management plan according to your department’s instructions.
Archiving your research material
Do you have questions about research data?
The University has a cross-functional team that supports you with research data issues in areas such as archiving, legal affairs, IT support, open data, and information security. You can contact the research data support team using the following form:
Contact the research data support team if you have questions
