{"id":1376,"date":"2026-06-17T09:39:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/?p=1376"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:39:56","slug":"wondering-about-comments-on-a-data-management-plan-heres-an-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/2026\/06\/wondering-about-comments-on-a-data-management-plan-heres-an-example\/","title":{"rendered":"Wondering about comments on a data management plan? Here’s an example"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part of my day job is to comment on data management plans (DMPs) that researchers send to me. Most of them are needed for grant applications, a few for ethics applications and the odd one just because it’s good practice (it is very good practice!). Perhaps you’re wondering what kind of comments you’ll get, so I prompted Copilot to “write a basic 200-word data management for a UKRI grant”. Here’s what it gave me, together with my comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copilot<\/th>Comment<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
This project will generate quantitative and qualitative research data, including survey responses, interview transcripts, and analytical datasets. All data will be managed in accordance with UKRI data management and sharing policies, ensuring it is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR).<\/td>There is no mention of who will be surveyed or interviewed and how the analytical datasets will be generated.

For the personal data, at-risk participants would require a higher level of data security, for example. If the participants are in another country, then the personal data legislation of that country needs to be considered.

Analytical datasets involving biological samples would require special handling. If the datasets are from a third-party, issues such as copyright and access need to be considered.

And there is no mention of exploring prior datasets. The UKRI DMPs usually include a section outlining where the researcher has looked for (and not found) possible existing data.<\/td><\/tr>
Data will be stored securely on institutional servers with regular automated backups and access controls. Personal or sensitive data will be handled in compliance with GDPR and anonymised at the earliest opportunity. Consent procedures will clearly inform participants about data use, storage, and sharing.<\/td>At Loughborough University, very few researchers use institutional servers. Most use OneDrive, as per the university guidelines<\/a>, so one can be specific here. OneDrive is an industry standard, so there’s no need to say that there will be backups and access controls.

In the UK, there are two pieces of legislation for personal data: UK GDPR<\/a> and UK Data Protection Act<\/a>. Both should be mentioned. If the research involves participants or other researchers from another country, then the legislation for that jurisdiction needs to be considered. If I know which countries, I would provide more detail on participant permissions pertinent to the jurisdiction.

Consent procedures should not simply inform participants, but seek their explicit consent. On the consent form, this would be three separate items: to use, store and share. If any cross-border sharing is taking place, this needs to be explicit as well. Again, I will provide details where I can.<\/td><\/tr>
Metadata and documentation will be created alongside data collection to ensure transparency and reproducibility. Standard, non-proprietary formats (e.g. CSV, TXT, PDF\/A) will be used wherever possible to maximise accessibility and long-term preservation.<\/td>In addition to non-proprietary formats, one should also use lossless formats<\/a>, which a PDF\/a might or might not be. Lossless formats do not degrade over time and are thus strongly preferred for preservation.

For metadata, it would be better to be specific. If the Loughborough University Research Repository is going to be used, say that the metadata will use the DataCite schema<\/a>; if the UK Data Service<\/a> will be used, say that it will be the Data Documentation Initiative<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>
Upon project completion, non-sensitive datasets will be deposited in a recognised UK repository (e.g. UK Data Service or institutional repository), with appropriate licensing (e.g. CC BY) to facilitate reuse. Any access restrictions will be clearly justified and documented.<\/td>Which repository is it? If the funder is the ESRC, the UK Data Service is preferred. There are no restrictions on using another, but you’ll still have to log your metadata with the UK Data Service.

What will guide your choice of licence? The Loughborough University Research Repository has a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC) licence as a default, but it is entirely the researcher’s choice. Happy to chat with any researcher who needs more information before making an informed decision.

What access restrictions are anticipated? Adding details shows any reviewer looking at this DMP that such matters have been considered.<\/td><\/tr>
Data will be retained for a minimum of ten years in line with institutional policy. Responsibilities for data management will be assigned to the lead investigator, supported by institutional research data services, ensuring compliance and good practice throughout the project lifecycle.<\/td>Current best practice at Loughborough University is to retain data indefinitely.

If the DMP is going to refer to policy, it is best to specify which policy, such as the Loughborough University Open Research Policy (Data and Methods)<\/a>.

What’s missing is a mention of data ownership. At Loughborough University, the Copyright Policy<\/a> (section 3.1) states that ownership of research data remains with the researcher. The same might not hold at other institutions. If the project involves collaborators from elsewhere, it would be best to clarify rights and ownership upfront, in a Data Sharing Agreement.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By and large, you’ll see that my comments are around specificity. Adding the unique details relevant to your project, institutional setting, and policy environment shows that you’ve put in the time and effort to think through exactly what you might need to manage your data properly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re new to crafting DMPs or just want to take some of the thinking out of it, I suggest starting with DMPOnline<\/a>. It’s a great tool that has most of the funders’ requirements preloaded, so you don’t have to look them up. There are helpful tips, sample phrases, and you can share the plan directly with me for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I regularly do online calls with researchers to talk through anything from the basics to the fine details. Or maybe you’d just prefer email – I can be reached at <RDM at lboro.ac.uk>. Always happy to help ☺️<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part of my day job is to comment on data management plans (DMPs) that researchers send to me. Most of them are needed for grant applications, a few for ethics applications and the odd one just because it’s good practice (it is very good practice!). Perhaps you’re wondering what kind of comments you’ll get, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":720,"featured_media":1275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"lboro_blog_alternative_thumbnail_image":"1275","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[169,170,6,7,95,69,163],"tags":[17,76,70],"class_list":["post-1376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-collection","category-data-management-plans","category-ethics","category-grants-and-costs","category-open-data","category-open-research","category-repository","tag-data-management-plans","tag-open-data","tag-open-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1376"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1431,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376\/revisions\/1431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/rdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}