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NSF Data Management Plans

DMP Re-use and Redistribution Guidelines

This section is closely related to the previous section; use it to describe who will have access to the data and identify any restrictions that you will place on who has access to the data or how the data can be re-used or disseminated. If you are planning on limiting others' abilities to re-use or re-distribute the data, you will need to explain your rationale as well as how you will enforce and communicate these restrictions.

  • Who is likely to be interested in your data? What information, if any, will be made available to the general public? (The NSF encourages broadly sharing data in order to reach unexpected potential users outside of your discipline; at the same time, the organization expects data sharing to follow common practice within a research community).
  • Who are the intended users of the data? What is the anticipated use of the data?
  • Will any permission restrictions need to be placed on your data? If so, why? How will these restrictions be enacted?

Sample Language for Re-use and Redistribution

If your data is not of a sensitive nature, you may want to consider making it available under an Open Database License. Feel free to use or modify the below language for your DMP.

"As the data is not of a private or confidential nature, it will be made freely available under an Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/). The public will be able to share, reuse, or adapt the data, with the understanding that credit will be given to the researchers."