Tips for Writing Data Management Plans
I. Collection of Information
Inform yourself on the requirements of the research funding agency to which you will submit your DMP at an early stage. The SNSF offers the following assistance:
General information on the DMP
Other research funding bodies may have different requirements.
If you would like an appointment for an initial consultation before writing your DMP, please contact us at data(at)hbz.uzh.ch.
II. Creating a DMP
Use the chapter structure provided by your research funding agency to create your draft. For the SNSF, the DMP consists of 4 chapters with sub-chapters, which must be entered in the mySNF form.
If you would like to create your draft in Word, you can use the following pre-structured file in English (DOCX, 13 KB) or the pre-structured file in German (DOCX, 13 KB) in which we have replicated the chapters of the SNSF DMP. The language of the DMP should be the same as that of your application.
If you are working with a DMP template, make sure that it meets the requirements of your funding agency. One danger of using templates is the inadvertent adoption of statements that do not apply to your own project.
Practical Tips for the DMP Chapters
Tips for writing Chapter 1 |
In the first chapter, we recommend creating a table with the different
data types data formats data volumes and numbering them. Example table (PDF, 461 KB) In the following chapters of the DMP, the respective data type can be referenced. Note: No tables can be created in mySNF, but tables generated in Word (maximum width 15cm) can be copied into the input mask of mySNF and edited there. |
Tips for writing Chapter 2 |
In order to check whether data are ethically harmless, the Ethics Commission of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers a checklist for the self-evaluation of studies on ethical harmlessness as well as individual counselling. The Department of Data Protection advises on legal issues relating to data protection. |
Tips for writing Chapter 3 |
Consult your institute's IT service about how and at what intervals backups are performed. |
Tips for writing Chapter 4 |
Whenever possible, it is advisable to choose a discipline-specific repository for reasons of better findability. A possible starting point for searching for repositories is re3data. |
III. Finalizing the DMP
You may not be able to answer some points of the DMP spontaneously. The Data Services team will be happy to help. Depending on your question, you can also contact the following experts, with whom we can also put you in touch if you wish.
Center for Reproducible Science
You are welcome to send your DMP to the Data Services team for review before submitting it to your research funding agency.