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NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

DMS Policy Basics

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy promotes the sharing of scientific data to accelerate biomedical research discovery by enabling validation of research results, providing accessibility to high-value datasets, and promoting data reuse for future research studies.

Under the DMS policy, NIH expects that investigators and institutions:

  1. Plan and budget for the managing and sharing of data

  2. Submit a DMS plan for review when applying for funding

  3. Comply with the approved DMS plan

The NIH DMS Policy is in Effect on January 25, 2023

Specifically, this date applies to:

  • Competing grant applications submitted to NIH on, or after, January 25, 2023

  • Proposals for contracts that are submitted to NIH on, or after, January 25, 2023

  • NIH Intramural Research Projects conducted on, or after, January 25, 2023

  • Other funding agreements (e.g., Other Transactions) that are executed on, or after, January 25, 2023, unless otherwise stipulated by NIH

    Note: Competitive renewals occurring after January 25, 2023, for previously funded awards are also subject to the 2023 DMS policy.

Individual NIH Institutes, Centers, or Offices may have specific policies or expectations. The NIH maintains a list of NIH Institute and Center Data Sharing Policies for reference.

How to Comply

This guidance is based on the structure and resources made available by the NIH Scientific Data Sharing portal, structured to reflect Data Management Sharing resources and the related Overview.

Checklists and Templates

Streamline your NIH compliance with our curated collection of DMS templates, checklists, and sample plans.

DMS Policy FAQ

Find answers to frequently asked questions regarding NIH data requirements, sharing logistics, budgeting, and locating relevant datasets for your research.

Northwestern Resources

Access specialized Northwestern support through IT, University Libraries, and Galter Library for data storage, training, and NIH compliance.

Cited Resources

Explore scholarly articles, official NIH guides, and institutional toolkits used to develop these comprehensive data management resources.