Are you prepared for the 2023 NIH Data sharing policy?

Currently, authors of articles published in various journals are encouraged to share their research data including raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, and methodology. Effective January 25, 2023, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will begin requiring most of the 300,000 researchers and 2,500 institutions it funds annually to include a data management and sharing plan in their grant applications and eventually make their data publicly available (Kozlov, 2022).

According to NIH, these are the future requirements of the new Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMS Policy):

• Include a data sharing plan in research proposals seeking $500,000 or more in direct costs describing how final research data will be shared. Alternatively, the investigator is expected to explain why data sharing is impossible.

• Release and share the data, as described in the approved application, no later than the acceptance for publication of the main findings from the final dataset.

• Report any progress made on data sharing progress in the annual submission of their Research Progress Performance Report (RPPR)

This new data sharing policy has been defined as a “seismic shift“. It is also hoped to introduce a ripple effect that could induce smaller funding agencies and other industries to implement similar changes. 

Read on to learn more details about the new NIH data sharing plan and how ODC-SCI can help you make its implementation a smooth process.

Prior to the new NIH data sharing policy, the Open Data Commons for Spinal Cord Injury, ODC-SCI, had recognized the need for data sharing and the principles of good record keeping, known as the FAIR principles.

ODC-SCI data repository platform provides user-friendly features that allow for data storage, sharing, searchability, and full dataset publication (DOI). Importantly, at ODC-SCI the data owner has complete control of their datasets. The datasets are password protected and meet all necessary safety requirements. 

We are here for you, and we are happy to assist you with your data sharing needs to comply with the new NIH data sharing policy. This will improve the translatability and reproducibility of your research. By enabling reproducibility and corroboration of data, we are advancing towards a more open research landscape  to facilitate faster and more effective research discoveries. It is a win-win situation!

References:

NIH: Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing

https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/about-data-management-sharing-policy/data-management-and-sharing-policy-overview

Kozlov M. NATURE 2022 NIH issues a seismic mandate: share data publicly

Keizer J. SCIENCE AND POLICY 2019 Why NIH is beefing up its data sharing rules after 16 years. doi: 10.1126/science.aba1768