Navigating Institutional Research Information Management Priorities: Rolling out of an Institutional Data Management Plan (DMP) Requirement

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Our School of Medicine’s Research Administration identified several priorities related to Information Management, with one of them being the implementation of required Data Management Plans (DMPs). The impetus for the requirement was risk mitigation and preparation for a forthcoming NIH requirement. Our role has been to lead the process for the entire medical school including the communication, progress, and guidance. We completed the first round of DMP collection prior to the release of the NIH Policy on Data Sharing and Management. We will share our outcomes and how the NIH policy informed the development of our new DMP collection tool. DESCRIPTION: Working with an Advisory Board, we designed a PI-based DMP collection tool vs. an award/project-based DMP. The library took the lead developing the DMP questions, tracking for compliance, creating FAQs, designing the communications to PIs and directing outreach to PIs in departments to move the initiative forward. The rollout of the DMP initiative started in mid-2019, with the deadline for DMP completion initially slated for March 2020. In mid-2020, we started planning for the second iteration of the Qualtrics DMP form. Using a university-developed tool, we worked with the university technology development team to identify possible APIs to improve the form and reached out to faculty and staff stakeholders. This second iteration will be rolled out late 2020.

CONCLUSION: The new iteration of the DMP will speed up the time it takes to complete a DMP, better integrate into departmental annual reviews as a metric, and prepare our PIs to meet the new NIH Policy on Data Sharing and Management. The library’s leadership continues to showcase our value to our institution and move strategic priorities forward for our School of Medicine.