Data management plans (DMPs) are written documents that describe how research data will be organized throughout a project, from initial planning stages, to collecting/generating data, to analysis, and finally to storing the data and publishing the research. Creating a data management plan before your project starts is a great way to help ensure that your research data will stay organized, accessible, and understandable to yourself and all members of your research team.
DMPTool is an online platform providing ready-to-use templates for creating data management plans to be used in grant submissions for funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Department of Defense, and many more. Visit dmptool.org and sign in with your CMU credentials to get started! We also offer several sample DMPs, created by our Research Data Services team, which you are free to use as guides for your data management plans. You can view these under "My Dashboard" and scroll towards the bottom of the page to the section titled "Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Plans."
DMPtool is quick to learn and navigate. Here is a short tutorial to help you get started.
If you are unsure of the data management policies or practices best suited for your research, or if you have any other questions, please contact the University Libraries Data and Publishing Services team.