Research Data Management

Research data management (RDM) concerns the organisation of data, from its entry to the research cycle through to the dissemination and archiving of valuable results. RDM helps researchers navigate the increasingly complex landscape of data planning, storage, and sharing.  It is part of the research process, and aims to make the research process as efficient as possible, and meet expectations and requirements of the university, research funders, and legislation.

RDM  concerns how you:

• Create or collect data and plan for its use,
• Organise, structure, and name data (e.g. files),
• Keep it – make it secure, provide access, store and back it up,
• Find information resources, and share with collaborators and more broadly, publish and get cited, allowing for your data to be reused.

Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy (March 2021)

• This policy will be phased in over the next few years and will not apply to research that has already been awarded funding prior to March 2021.
• The objective of this policy is to support Canadian research excellence by promoting sound RDM and data stewardship practices.
• This policy is not an open data policy.
• The agencies acknowledge the importance of Indigenous data sovereignty and RDM principles that recognize and respect self-determination for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples through a distinctions-based approach. In an effort to support Indigenous communities to conduct research and partner with the broader research community, the agencies recognize that data related to research by and with Indigenous communities must be managed in accordance with data management principles developed and approved by these communities. These include, but are not limited to considerations of data collection, ownership, protection, use and sharing.
• Data management plans: All grant proposals submitted to the agencies should include methodologies that reflect best practices in RDM. For certain funding opportunities, the agencies will require data management plans (DMPs) to be submitted to the appropriate agency at the time of application, as outlined in the call for proposals; in these cases, the DMPs will be considered in the adjudication process.
  • See below for a list of CIHR, SSHRC, and NSERC funding opportunities requiring DMPs (updated 2024-07-11. For a complete and up-to-date list, see the Government of Canada's page on funding opportunities requiring data management plans):

    • CIHR

      • Network Grants in Skin Health, Bone Health and Muscular Dystrophy (October 2022)
      • Team Grants: Strengthening the Health Workforce for System Transformation (June 2023)
        Note: Formerly "Virtual Care/Digital Health Team Grants"
      • Team Grants: Lung Health (July 2023)
      • Operating Grant: Clinical Trials Projects (July 2023)
      • Team Grants: Improving Health and Administrative Data and Monitoring for Rare Diseases (August 2023)
      • Infectious and Congenital Syphilis in Canada: Implementation and Intervention Research Response (September 2023)
      • Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (September 2023)
      • Team Grants: Embracing Diversity to Achieve Precision and Health Equity (November 2023)

    • NSERC

      • Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants - Individual and Project (November 2023)

    • SSHRC

      • Partnership Grants Stage 2 (October 2023)
• Data deposit: Grant recipients are required to deposit into a digital repository all digital research data, metadata and code that directly support the research conclusions in journal publications and pre-prints that arise from agency-supported research.
  • Determining what counts as relevant research data, and which data should be preserved, is often highly contextual and should be guided by disciplinary norms.
  • Grant recipients are not required to share their data. However, the agencies expect researchers to provide appropriate access to the data where ethical, cultural, legal and commercial requirements allow, and in accordance with the FAIR principles and the standards of their disciplines.
  • The deposit must be made by time of publication. 
  • After reviewing the institutional strategies (due 2023) and in line with the readiness of the Canadian research community, the agencies will phase in the deposit requirement.

For more detailed information, refer to the Tri-Agency RDM Policy Frequently Asked Questions page.

For McGill researchers and affiliates, please refer to the Digital Research Services Hub for resources related to RDM or with any questions about the Tri-Agency RDM Policy

National Science Foundation (NSF)

• "The two-page data management and sharing plan is a required part of a proposal to the U.S. National Science Foundation." Policy: English
• " Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF grants."

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Policy overview: English
• "The final DMS Policy does not create a uniform requirement to share all scientific data", but there is "an expectation that researchers will maximize appropriate data sharing" as described in Data Management Plans
• "The final DMS Policy requires submission of a [Data Management and Sharing] Plan for extramural grants at application"
• The final DMS Policy states that “[s]hared scientific data should be made accessible as soon as possible, and no later than the time of an associated publication, or the end of the award/support period, whichever comes first.”

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

• Requires data management plan: English
• Generally encourages data sharing in a timely manner, but does not define timelines

Many journals have instituted policies regarding the availability of research data underlying publications. In many cases, journals require that data are made openly available as a condition for publishing an article.

The following list covers a few major publishers as examples:

• Science journals require all data be made available upon reasonable request. See policy here (scroll to "Data and Materials Availability after Publication").
• PLOS journals require authors to make all data necessary to replicate their study’s findings publicly available without restriction at the time of publication. When specific legal or ethical restrictions prohibit public sharing of a data set, authors must indicate how others may obtain access to the data. Read the full policy here.
• Nature (SpringerNature) requires authors to make materials, data, code, and associated protocols promptly available to readers without undue qualifications. Read the full policy here.
• Wiley journals may adopt a range of data sharing policies from less restrictive ("encourages data sharing" to mandatory "mandates data sharing"). Read about the policies and associated journals here.