Statement on Digital Management

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Statement on Digital Data Management has been developed with input from a variety of stakeholders in this mission. These requirement do not apply to application to use Office of Science user facilities.

All proposals submitted to the Office of Science for research funding must include a Data Management Plan (DMP) that addresses the following requirements:

• DMPs should describe whether and how data generated in the course of the proposed research will be shared and preserved. At a minimum, DMPs must describe how data sharing and preservation will enable validation of results, or how results could be validated if data are not shared or preserved.
• DMOs should provide a plan for making all research data displayed in publications results from the proposed research open, machine-readable, and digitally accessible to the public at the time of publication. This includes data that are displayed in charts, figures, images, etc. In addition, the underlying digital research data used to generate the displayed data should be made as accessible as possible to the public in accordance with the principles stated above. This requirement could be met by including the data as supplementary information to the published article, or through other means.
• DMPs should consult and reference available information about data management resources to be used in the course of the proposed research. In particular, DMPs that explicitly or implicitly commit data management resources at a facility beyond what is conventionally made available to approved users should be accompanied by written approval from that facility. In determining the resources available for data management at Office of Science User Facilities, researchers should consult the published description of data management resources and practices at that facility and reference it in the DMP.
• Data archives that include easily accessible information about the data holdings, including quality assessments, supporting ancillary information, and guidance and aids for locating and obtaining the data.
• DMPs must protect confidentiality, personal privacy, Personally Identifiable Information, and U.S. national, homeland, and economic security; recognize proprietary interests, business confidential information, and intellectual property rights; avoid significant negative impact on innovation, and U.S. competitiveness; and otherwise be consistent with all applicable laws, regulations, and DOE orders and policies. There is no requirement to share proprietary information.
• DMPs will be reviewed as part of the overall Office of Science research proposal merit review process. Additional requirements and review criteria for the DMP may be identified by the sponsoring program or sub-program, or in the solicitation.