W&M Libraries can help you navigate the steps needed to plan how you will manage your data. It is best to start developing how you want to manage and share your data at the start of your project by thinking about how you will document, organize, secure, store, and share your data at the project conclusion.
Federal agencies often mandate researchers to create a data management and sharing plan as part of a grant. We recommend using the DMPTool to create your plan, access grant templates, and see examples of data management plans crafted for specific types of grants.
Please visit our Data Management and Sharing Plans research guide for each of the elements you need to address to create an effective data management and sharing plan. This guide covers the following topics:
- Writing a Data Management & Sharing Plan
- Best practices for managing your data including file naming conventions and structure, and the preferred file formats to use for preservation and access
- Guidance on how to document your project and what metadata standards to use
- Data security and ethics including maintaining privacy and confidentiality
- Data storage options and sharing your data