NSF To Require Data Access Plans

Grant proposals submitted to NSF will soon need to include a plan for how the resulting data will be shared publicly. This change to the current policy, which requires sharing research data within a reasonable time as long as the cost was modest, takes effect on or around Oct. 1, according to NSF officials. The data management plan will take the form of a two-page supplementary document required for all grant proposals and will be subject to peer review. “This is the first step in what will be a more comprehensive approach to data policy,” NSF Acting Deputy Director Cora Marrett said in a statement earlier this month. The specific details of the revised policy’s implementation are being left to individual directorates and divisions and will be released at a later date.