By Jenna Somers
A growing number of federal agencies require researchers to establish data management and sharing plans to receive federal funding. The National Institutes of Health's policy took effect in 2023, requiring researchers to include these plans in their grant proposals and to share their data upon publication of their project's first paper.
Data sharing can improve evidence-based policymaking and strengthen transparency and accountability. It also stewards American tax dollars efficiently by allowing other researchers to use existing, federally funded data in their research. However, many scholars, even established ones, are not familiar with the best practices for research data management and data sharing, or with creating those plans, which could compromise their chances of receiving federal research grants.
Scholars in learning and developmental sciences may benefit from the week-long Data Management for Data Sharing workshop at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development. It was held this June for the second year in a row. Jessica Logan, associate professor of special education, and Sara Hart, a professor at the University of Waterloo, guided researchers through best practices for data management and sharing. Support for the workshop comes from a four-year, $837,860 grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Logan and Hart taught the workshop to 25 early- to established-career scholars from across the country, advising them on preparing to share their data, including where, when, and how to share, as well as why data sharing is important.
The workshop included seven modules that covered data management practices for collecting, organizing, validating, and securing data. It also discussed how to enter data into a data sharing repository. The last module walked participants through the process of creating a data management and sharing plan for grant proposals. This is important because the NIH now evaluates proposals, in part, for whether researchers have dedicated enough resources to the process of managing and sharing data.
"We're trying to minimize barriers that we have found hinder researchers in sharing their data. Some people struggle to complete these required data management and sharing plans because they don't understand what's required. I hope this course inspires confidence in our colleagues and that more people will join us next summer," Logan said.
The workshop is open to principal investigators in learning and developmental sciences. Researchers interested in joining next summer are encouraged to complete this survey.
